There Are 12 Kinds of Ads in the World

In 1978, Donald Gunn was a creative director for the advertising agency Leo Burnett. Though his position implied expertise, Gunn felt he was often just throwing darts—relying on inspiration and luck (instead of proven formulas) to make great ads. So, he decided to inject some analytical rigor into the process: He took a yearlong sabbatical, studied the best TV ads he could find, and looked for elemental patterns.

After much research, Gunn determined that nearly all good ads fall into one of 12 categories—or "master formats," in his words. At last year's Clio Awards, I saw Gunn give a lecture about these formats (using ads mostly from the '70s and '80s as examples), and I was fascinated by his theory. I soon found myself categorizing every ad I saw on TV. It was a revelation: The curtain had been pulled back on all those sly sales tactics at the heart of persuasive advertising.

http://www.slate.com/id/2170872/slideshow/2170932/fs/0//entry/2170934/

1. Gunn's first format is the "demo." This is a visual demonstration of a product's capabilities. You've seen hundreds of demo ads on late-night TV, for things like kitchen knives (watch it slice through that tin can!) and stain removers (it can't possibly erase that red wine blotch—and yet!). Some of the ads introducing Apple's iPhone are just straight-up demos, pointing out the product's features as the viewer looks on.

This spot, for Samsonite Spinners luggage, is a particularly stylish example of the demo format. We see the suitcase's four spinning wheels in action (look at them navigate that crowded sidewalk!), but along the way, we get a tasty world-beat track and some vivid streetscapes to hold our attention.

2. The second format is "show the need or problem." First, you make it clear that something's not up to snuff in the consumer's life. Then, you introduce the remedy—which is, of course, the product you're selling.

In this Cingular ad, we see a man suffer the dreadful consequences of a dropped cellular call. A screen then appears with the Cingular logo. The text reads: "Switch to the network with the fewest dropped calls."

3. The third format is a variation on showing the problem. This time, you employ a "symbol, analogy, or exaggerated graphic" to represent the problem. In this Theraflu ad, for example, the problem is that a man's flu symptoms make him feel like an ogre. Thus, the ad portrays him as a literal ogre. When the man takes Theraflu, he returns to human form.

This format has become very popular of late, as computers make it easier to create outlandish graphics, animations, and special effects. One familiar (and much-hated) ad in this category is Lamisil's "Digger the Dermatophyte" spot, featuring an animated, fungal beastie who lives under your toenail. Another example—a personal favorite—is the Levitra erectile pill ad where a guy attempts to throw a football through a tire. The football keeps bouncing out, and the poor guy's face is a portrait of futility. (When he takes Levitra, he rams the football through the hole—straight and true, again and again, with a great big smile.)

4. The fourth format is "comparison." Here, the spotlight's on the claim that your product is superior to those of your competitors. In this Charles Schwab ad, a man complains that he hates his current stockbroker's hefty commissions. At the end of the spot, Schwab promises a better deal.

To me, the difference between "comparison" and "showing the problem" can get a bit fuzzy sometimes. By definition, a comparison highlights the problems with your competitor. Many ads fall somewhere along a continuum between these two formats. Others are more clearly in one camp or the other. For example, a new product treating a malady you've never even heard of before—like, say, "restless leg syndrome"—is a good candidate for a pure "show the problem" approach. (In some cases, the problem is so new that there aren't yet established competitors to compare yourself with.)

5. The fifth format is the "exemplary story." These ads weave a narrative that helps illustrate the product's benefits. In Gunn's words, the key is to create "a situation where you'd use [the product] and be very glad for it."

With only 30 seconds to spin a yarn, many story ads end up feeling hokey. (Sissy's school play is tonight, but there's a stain on her carrot costume. What will mom do?) But a well-done story spot can be a gripping little episode.

Consider this Volkswagen ad. It's shocking and violent, but at heart it's really just an exemplary story spot. Once upon a time, some people went for a ride in a Volkswagen, gabbed about trivial matters, got into a scary accident, and emerged unscathed—thanks to the VW's excellent safety features. The end.

6. The sixth format is "benefit causes story." You conceive the ad back-to-front, by imagining a trail of events that might be caused by the product's benefit. In the example Gunn uses, a man on a safari screams when a lion charges him. It's then revealed, to the amusement of the man's friends (and also the viewer), that he's been looking through the powerful zoom lens of his Olympus camera. The lion is, in fact, hundreds of yards away.

In this Lynx ad, we see a series of attractive women forgiving a guy's uncouth behavior. (It's OK that you're late, it's OK that you forgot my birthday, it's OK that you cheated on me, and so forth.) In the payoff, it's revealed that the guy has been using Lynx body spray. The product's benefit—beguiling women to the point of dementia—creates the story.

By my informal tally, this is the least popular of the formats—perhaps because it requires a bit of deduction on the viewer's part. That extra work may be too much to ask of an audience in the era of short attention spans and widespread TiVos.

7. The seventh format is "tell it"—also known as "presenter," "testimonial," or "A-tells-B." This can take the form of a kindly neighbor or best-friend spot ("Oh, I used to get arthritis when I gardened, too—here, try my Ouch-Be-Gone pills"). It can be a "real person" testimonial ("I've never slept so well before—thanks, Adjust-o-Foam mattress!"). Or it might be a classic talking-head ad (often the talking head will wear a white lab coat—which assures us beyond doubt that he's a trustworthy expert).

This UPS spot is a presenter ad with a twist, injecting a little welcome novelty into the format. Here, the talking head spices up his presentation with a series of mesmerizing whiteboard drawings.

8. The eighth format is "ongoing characters and celebrities." One big challenge when making an ad is to ensure that your brand "gets credit" for the spot. The viewer may remember the ad just fine and yet forget which brand it was for. The use of a recurring character, or celebrity, can help cement a brand's identity into the viewer's brain.

Think Jared for Subway. Or the Energizer bunny. Or, my favorite, shown here: the Geico cavemen.

9. The ninth format is the "symbol, analogy, or exaggerated graphic" demonstrating a benefit of the product. (Recall that earlier we saw this technique used to demonstrate a problem that the product solves.)

A Starbucks spot from a few years ago used the '80s band Survivor to symbolize the invigorating effects of a double-shot espresso drink. In the spot's formulation, sipping the espresso makes you feel like the band is trailing you around all day, shouting out your name to the adrenaline-pumping chords of "Eye of the Tiger."

The promised benefit of Metamucil is, of course, egestive regularity. In the rather cringe-making ad shown here, the geyser "Old Faithful" becomes a symbol of that benefit.

10. The 10th format is "associated user imagery": The advertiser showcases the type of people it hopes you'll associate with the product. Often these will be hip, funny, or good-looking people. But sometimes the associated users are goofy or geeky—it depends on the target market.

This Nike spot is one of my favorite ads ever. I love its brilliant editing (watch the cuts accelerate), its ass-kicking AC/DC track (I air-drum each time I hear it), and its inspirational vibe (it makes me want to just, I don't know ... do it). It's also classic associated user imagery. Who wears Nike? Dedicated, hardworking athletes, like Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, that kid practicing soccer, and that gray-haired jogger lady. Those sprinkled shots of everyday people are key to the ad's genius. In some ads, we just see the star jocks on screen and are expected to make the associative leap on our own. (Hey, I'll be like Tom Brady if I buy Nike stuff.) This ad helps make the leap for us.

11. The 11th format is "unique personality property." These spots highlight something indigenous to the product that will make it stand out. It could be the country of origin (a sports car boasting about its German engineering). It could be the product's unusual moniker ("With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good").

Or it could be the company's founder. In this ad for Dyson vacuums, founder James Dyson describes how he carefully designed his product. By putting Dyson front and center, the spot adds a memorable dimension to the brand: "Oh, that clever British chap invented it."

Note that this ad (like many others on TV) might be considered a hybrid of multiple formats. Besides the unique personality property, it also throws in elements of showing the need. And it even has some associated user imagery. Yes, Dyson is the company founder. But he also comes off as a smart, vaguely hip, functionality-obsessed fellow—just the sort of person the Dyson consumer imagines himself to be.

12. The 12th and final format is the "parody or borrowed format." This is a popular approach these days, perhaps because pop-culture references have become our common language. Recent ads have parodied movies, TV shows—and even other ads.

At its worst, a parody is a lazy way to gin up some tepid humor. Done well, however, a parody can be both memorable and hilarious. My favorite parody ad (and another of my favorite ads of all time) is Geico's "Tiny House." This spot plays on the endless proliferation of reality TV shows, and the parody is so perfectly executed that it actually fooled me more than once.

You might think the new advertising landscape—with viral videos and branded Webisodes—would render Donald Gunn's theory obsolete. But in fact, I find the theory still holds strong. The famous BMW films series was just associated user imagery, with some demo elements tossed in. Burger King's "Subservient Chicken"? A symbol of the product's benefit: Your chicken sandwich is made to order, however you like it.

Gunn has always viewed his theory as a useful crutch for the desperate ad writer. When stuck for an idea—late at night, with the client expecting a presentation in the morning—the crazed creative can run through the 12 formats in hopes that one will strike a spark of inspiration. (What if I try this spot as a demo? Or wait—it might be perfect as a parody!)

To me, the 12 formats serve equally well as a weapon of defense for the consumer under assault from endless advertising messages. It's like learning how a magic trick works: Once the secret's revealed, the trick loses all its power.

KEMEROSOTAN SEKTOR PERKHIDMATAN PENGIKLANAN TEMPATAN AKIBAT TIADA SOKONGAN GLC

Kandungan :
Strategi Dasar Liberalisasi Perkembangan Sektor Pengiklanan di Malaysia
1.1 Pendahuluan
1.2 Status perkhidmatan pengiklanan di Malaysia: Makluman Umum
1.3 Tiada sokongan dan kesepakatan daripada
Syarikat Milik Berkaitan Kerajaan (GLC)
1.4 Kepincangan, perkembangan dan pengagihan kekayaan
di dalam Sektor Pengiklanan.
1.5 Pengiklan sebagai pencetus minda kepada rakyat.
1.6 Dasar Pengiklanan Negara.

2. Perkembangan pasaran iklan di Malaysia.
2.1 Dominasi pasaran iklan
2.1.1 Iklan TV
2.1.2 Iklan Akhbar
2.1.3 Lain-lain Iklan
2.2 Top 5 Pengiklan di Malaysia(GLC)
2.2.1 Petronas, Mas, TM, TNB,CIMB

3. Industri Pengiklanan Tempatan hadapi saingan sengit
3.1 Tiga agensi pengiklanan gergasi bertaraf dunia
menguasai pasaran pengiklanan tempatan
3.2 WPP, InterPublic dan Publicis Groupe
3.2.1 Latarbelakang WPP
3.2.1.1 Sir Martin Sorrell
3.2.2 Latarbelakang Interpublic
3.2.13 Latarbelakang Publicis

3.3 Kelembapan ekonomi
3.4 GLC mengamalkan budaya ‘double standard’.
3.5 Sokongan Kerajaan boleh membawa perubahan dalam sektor
pengiklanan dan komunikasi.

4. GLC memperkasakan ekonomi rakyat tempatan
4.1 GLC harus mengutamakan syarikat tempatan
4.2 GLC harus memberi peluang kepada syarikat tempatan
menguruskankempen pengiklanan mereka.
4.3 Senarai GLC
4.3.1 Petronas - Petronas Dagangan, Petronas F1, Petronas Carigali
4.3.2 Malayan Banking Berhad
4.3.3 Telekom Malaysia - TM, Celcom, TMnet, TMpoint,
4.3.4 Malaysian Airlines System
4.3.5 Proton Holdings Berhad
4.3.6 Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad
4.3.7 Sime Darby Berhad
4.3.8 Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)
4.3.9 Pos Malaysia
4.3.10 UMW Holdings Berhad

4.4 Senarai Kementerian
4.4.1 Kementerian Kesihatan
4.4.2 Kementerian Kesenian,Kebudayaan dan Warisan
4.4.3 Kementerian Pelancongan
4.4.4 Kementerian Belia dan Sukan

4.5 Agensi/Jabatan Kerajaan
4.5.1 Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan
4.5.2 Agensi Angkasa Negara

5. Anjakkan Keuntungan (Kumpulan Ilham)
5.1 Senarai Perbelanjaan GLC bagi tujuan Pengiklanan dan Promosi (A&P)
5.1.1 Tourism Malaysia 2007 - RM 400 juta
5.1.2 Petronas 2007 - RM 130 juta
5.1.3 MAS - RM 100 juta

6. Kumpulan Ilham
6.1 Tujuan Penubuhan Kumpulan Ilham
6.2 Struktur organisasi syarikat Kumpulan Ilham
6.2.1 Ilham Impak
6.2.2 Ilham Nusantara
6.2.3 Ilham Pujangga
6.2.4 Ilham Media
6.2.5 Ilham Budi
6.2.6 Ilham Siber
6.3 Carta Organisasi Kumpulan Ilham
6.4 Pecahan Perbelanjaan
6.2.1 15% untuk perbelanjaan produksi/aturcara majlis
6.2.2 70% untuk perbelanjaan media
6.2.3 10% untuk perbelanjaan kreatif
6.2.4 5% untuk cukai perkhidmatan
6.5 Struktur Ekuiti Syarikat

Malaysia: Strategies for the Liberalization of the Advertising Services Sector.

As Malaysia begins to position itself strategically in the knowledge-based economy, the advertising services sector has been earmarked as its next engine of growth. This idea, in its rudimentary form at least, has been bounced around the discussion circles of policy-makers, policy scholars and various other intellectuals involved in influencing national policy for more than a decade now. Indeed, the importance of the services sector to further Malaysia’s economic growth has been increasingly highlighted in the country’s various development plans.

I. The services sector in Malaysia: a brief update.
The tradability of services is set to be enhanced further by the development of new transmission technologies facilitating the supply of services (e.g. electronic banking, tele-education, tele-medicine), the deregulation of monopolies (e.g. voice telephony), and the gradual liberalization of hitherto regulated sectors such as financial services and transport combined with changes in consumer preferences. The share of services in the Malaysian gross domestic product (GDP) has expanded from 48.8% in 1987 to 60.8% in 2003, if construction services are included. This simple picture of services growth, painted by existing statistics, can only become more vivid in the near future.

In terms of WTO commitments, Malaysia has signed the agreement under the single undertaking rule and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as part of the whole package. Under GATS, which follows a positive list approach, Malaysia is expected to identify services sectors or sub-sectors and the modes of supply in which it is willing to make commitments through the process of ‘scheduling’, as well as to indicate any limitations on market access and national treatment.

As of mid-2005, Malaysia had received requests from twenty-one countries. Generally, the requests received covered a wide range of professional services, advertising, news agency services, telecommunications and computer-related services, and focused on areas such as the liberalization of additional sectors not committed under GATS, for example further liberalization or the elimination of restrictions placed under the current commitments (for example, limits on foreign equity and intra-corporate transferees) and transparency of policies and domestic regulatory procedures (e.g. visa approval, incentives, licensing). On the other hand, Malaysia has also forwarded its own list of requests for market access to forty-five countries covering architecture, engineering, accountancy, construction and telecommunication services. These are areas where Malaysian services providers have demonstrated the capacity to export.

In terms of sectoral commitments, foreign companies in the field of accounting, auditing, bookkeeping and taxation, as well as engineering services (joint ventures only) could enter through local partnerships or joint ventures, and their equity in the company should not exceed 30%. The same goes for distributive services such as the wholesale and retail trades, which Malaysia has yet to list in its national schedule of offers under GATS. Regarding legal services, foreign lawyers are not allowed to provide services in Malaysia. However, foreign legal firms can do so through companies incorporated in Labuan. Foreigners in the medical field can practise in private hospitals controlled by Malaysian companies. In the realm of information, communications and technologies (ICT), a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)-registered company can be fully owned by a foreign company.



II. Challenges for the Malaysian services sector in the wake of GATS
The adoption of WTO trade rules in services presents us with opportunities as well as threats. One thing which is certain is that the globalization process together with participation in the WTO will reduce the areas of domestic policies which can be manoeuvred, in Malaysia and other countries. In order to enjoy greater business opportunities arising from the global liberalization of services, Malaysian services industries will have to adapt to a more open market environment. In this context, the sector needs to build up efficiency, productivity, and thus competitiveness, through essentially market means as it becomes increasingly open to foreign participation and global best practice standards, including transparency of rules and regulations.

Although the pressure on Malaysia to liberalize further will always be present, the GATS provides the flexibility to open up fewer sectors and to impose specified conditionalities in the concessions on market access. Despite such flexibility, the main concern for the policy makers is that there is only a limited number of services suppliers which are competitive by international standards. The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) agrees that the services suppliers need to be ready and approach the ongoing negotiations from the perspectives of both the external and domestic markets.

The gradual liberalization measures will inject some elements of competition and prepare suppliers to the domestic market. The commitments undertaken by Malaysia under the GATS would eventually lead to a greater presence of foreign services providers in the country. This is envisaged as creating stiffer competition to local providers, but the extent of such competition would depend, in part, on the type, quality and price competitiveness of services offered by the foreign providers. Although Malaysia has yet to make any offer in certain areas, there is already a foreign presence in Malaysia. For example, Malaysian legal practitioners are already making good indirect use of alliances with foreign legal firms.

While the multinational corporations (MNCs) and large enterprises are generally ready to deal with changes in the global landscape, most of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still require capacity building to prepare themselves.(1) Because of the incipient stage of development of these SMEs, they will find it tough to compete in the domestic market, let alone taking advantage of the vast opportunities associated with services market openings. These SMEs, like their larger counterparts, are also adjusting and learning to cope with WTO commitments in the area of GATS, TRIPS (the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and other regulatory changes that are needed for compliance. An indiscriminate liberalization of the services sector can thus create a lot of problems for the SMEs, resulting in their closures, net job loss and so on.

On the other side of the coin, the ongoing negotiations will provide suppliers to the international market with the opportunity to seek further market access in both the developed and developing countries. However, these suppliers encounter various problems as well. There are two aspects of cross-border supply problems: internal and external challenges faced by services suppliers. The internal aspect deals with the capacity and capability of the services suppliers, in terms of financial, technical and human resources. These providers need to explore ways to position themselves better globally. Externally, the services exporters would benefit significantly from understanding the market destination, with respect to trade and non-trade barriers, as well as business and social culture. For example, in the area of professional services, a plethora of regulations in the guise of economic needs tests (and local market tests and management needs tests), processing of visa applications, residency requirements, recognition of educational qualifications, social security contributions, minimum capital and investment required for commercial presence, local partners, profit repatriation and other hindrances stand in the way of obtaining market access.

Thus the challenge is to reconcile the need to protect the national interest in these sectors with the need to benefit from services liberalization. The developments mentioned thus far bring to the fore new challenges for the Malaysian economy, strengthening the need for comprehensive strategies to be formulated to address them.


III. Policies and strategic initiatives to prepare the services sector
In preparing the services industry to meet the challenges posed by the globalization and liberalization process under the WTO, the Malaysian government has developed and explored various strategies to enhance the competitiveness of the Malaysian services sector. Some sectors, such as tourism, private education, promoted manufacturing services, health and construction services, have been able to capitalize on greater market liberalization, while others may face problems adjusting to the evolving landscape. These strategic initiatives are aimed at preparing services suppliers domestically and assisting thriving services exporters.

While Vision 2020 provides the general direction of Malaysia’s development aspirations, the specific strategies involved are contained in the two Industrial Master Plans,(2) the three Outlook Perspective Plans, and the various five-year Malaysia Plans. Policies to promote specific services industries, such as shipping, education, tourism and, more recently, ICT, already exist. All that is needed, albeit crucially, is to tie these various industry-specific policies together in a coherent and synergistic manner so as to guarantee their efficacy, thereby providing a powerful boost to the country’s economic growth and development. In the meantime, the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) would be responsible for the development and promotion of the services sector in the country, except for financial services (Central Bank of Malaysia, BNM) and utilities (Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, MCMC).

In architectural terms, the successful construction of a building depends in large part on the quality of the blueprint and its execution. Likewise, in creating a new service-oriented economy, there is a crucial need to develop a ‘services master plan’ to guide its development. Up until now, the various planning documents have presented the various services as separate sub-sectors whose roles were regarded as social or facilitative in nature. As a result, the development of services in the past lacked coherence and, more often than not, proceeded in an ad hoc and fragmented manner. Although a framework for the coherent development of the services sector that takes these into consideration is still in the making, the government is profiling the services sector in an attempt to understand the sector better, while the Department of Statistics is looking into ways of measuring the sector more effectively.

To prepare services providers, one of the first steps undertaken is the creation of awareness and dissemination of information on GATS. This includes the provision of briefings and updates on the latest developments with regard to the process of globalization and liberalization, as well as making available to members critical information related to liberalization and the export of services on a timely basis. For example, the WTO Technical Trade Barrier Notifications issued by the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM), which provides updates on a regular basis, would be useful. Furthermore, it would be useful to obtain feedback through periodic surveys on the needs of the services providers with regard to liberalization and WTO issues (informational WTO digest) and export-readiness, and then fine-tune or formulate the necessary strategic response based on the findings.

Conversations with chambers of commerce and trade associations reveal that most Malaysian services providers are aware of the WTO and GATS but lack understanding of the implication of the world trading body for their businesses. Respective ministries related to the services sector are involved in the capacity-building efforts one way or another. It is thus essential for the ministries concerned to be in constant discussion with the various professional bodies, chambers of commerce, business associations, and key industry players on the services Malaysia can open up to foreigners and the services in which Malaysian providers can venture overseas. According to Stewart Forbes, executive director of Malaysia International Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MICCI), ‘MICCI engages government at every opportunity to accelerate the liberalization process in the belief that this will attract new technology and processes, which can be passed on to Malaysians and act as catalysts for subsequent development’.

Moreover, MICCI’s president, Jon Chadwick, feels that ‘greater contact between private sectors internationally can only assist in developing a better awareness of business opportunities, a better understanding of doing business in different countries and an ability to find business matches more easily’. In this respect MICCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chamber of Commerce of the Northern Territory (CCNT), Australia, which provides an international business linkage that it hoped would ensure that businesses in Malaysia would be aware and kept informed of trade and investment opportunities. More of such international alliance would serve as a good training ground for Malaysian companies towards full services liberalization.

As mentioned earlier, SMEs are likely to be on the receiving end. In the light of this and the fact that SMEs are most likely to play a bigger role in the services-oriented economy, efforts to encourage SMEs to concentrate on developing specific skills and competencies for the export market are most important. SMIDEC has an array of policies to promote SMEs such as the Global Supplier Programme, the factory audit scheme and Enterprise 50.

MICCI has also launched an SME development programme in the second half of 2004 to include elements such as (i) increased awareness of branding importance and assistance through a branding award for SMEs; (ii) a series of dedicated chamber-to-chamber linkages through IT with a number of other countries so as to offer new and more specific partnership opportunities to smaller companies seeking to develop overseas linkages; (iii) low-cost IT-based trade services aimed at increasing SME exposure and international credibility. The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) has set up the Science, Technology and Innovation Committee to assist SMEs by participating actively at meetings or dialogues organized by relevant government ministries and to contribute to government’s formulation of policies and implementation of programmes and activities to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs.
In the context of market access, various government agencies have identified services sectors where there is current potential for exports. According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), these include healthcare services, education, construction and related professional services such as engineering and architectural services, printing and publishing services, as well as IT services. In line with Malaysia’s needs and priorities, the government has autonomously liberalized some of these services sector.

Effectiveness in promoting services also depends significantly on the state of export readiness of the Malaysian services sector. Before the government can design programmes to enhance export capability and capacity, they need to identify the ‘what, who, where’ candidates, that is, what services to export, who is ready or at least keen to export and where to export to. After the identification process and the setting up of an extensive database for ease of use by budding exporters in the future, the government (through MATRADE) can educate services exporters to be aware of and compliant with the standards and guidelines in the destination market, in accordance with the WTO rules.

With the objective of supporting and promoting the export of services, the Malaysian government has set up two bodies, the NAPSEC (National Professional Services Export Council), which is responsible for the promotion of export of professional services, and the PSDC (Professional Services Development Corporation), which is tasked with the responsibility of providing capacity building to the professional services sector. The representation of various professional bodies in these two entities is a reflection of the close collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote the export of services.

The key agenda of the PSDC is to enhance the skills and knowledge of all Malaysian professionals and to promote their marketability in an increasingly borderless world. The PSDC believes that Malaysian professionals will need to stand out in the global trading sector of professional services. For them to be recognised and respected as competent, experienced, skilful and dynamic professionals, it is imperative that the PSDC develop their capability and capacity (see Box 1 for the role of the PSDC). According to the PSDC, the local professional services providers lack financial strength, track record, exposure, marketing skills and branding. Besides training, the PSDC is putting these professional services providers together in a consortium in bidding for projects abroad. This would serve to strengthen the providers by leveraging on each other’s complementary skills.


A background to the PSDC
The setting up of the Professional Services Development Corporation (PSDC) was initially proposed by the National Economic Action Council (NEAC), with the aim of assisting professionals in the construction industry to meet the challenges of globalization. The proposal was subsequently approved by the cabinet and the PSDC was established on 30 April 2002, with initial capital obtained from the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

Currently, the PSDC looks into the interests of the professional bodies in Malaysia —such as engineering, architectural, legal, accounting, planning, surveying, medical and pharmaceutical — which collectively have more than 80, 000 registered members.
The PSDC is tasked to assist firms to shift from providing low-value- to high-value-added services, where this ‘value migration’ could be done systematically and through a concerted effort. The aim is gradually to create a unique Malaysian brand of multi-disciplinary professionals to perform in the international arena. Among the strategies undertaken are branding, marketing and promoting the Malaysian brand of professionals to other countries; establishing Malaysia as a centre for the capacity-and capability-building of professionals who are competent global players; and establishing Malaysia as an information hub for the enhancement of the intellectual capital of professionals.

To operationalize the strategies, the PSDC would encourage the use of research and development output; promoting the use of best practices; strengthen financial, marketing, management and communications skills through systematic training and continuous re-learning; establish strategic alliances and international networking; promote international accreditation for professional services providers; and maintain an effective representation in the WTO and other similar international bodies. In addition, the PSDC board members provide a wide wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as an excellent track record on the local and international scenes.

In short, the PSDC aspires to be the service provider in capacity building to both foreign and local professionals, the point of reference for professional services development and enhancement (a voice for the professionals and an information hub for all local professionals), and an international hub for professional services’ networking and partnering.
Source : Information obtained from the PSDC.

On the other hand, the NAPSEC, which will complement the PSDC, deliberates on issues, mainly incentives for the services export sector and the identification of priority markets for the export services (see Box 2 for NAPSEC’s functions). MATRADE, in co-operation with the relevant professional bodies and government agencies, such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Construction Industry Development Board and the Ministry of Entrepreneurial Development, has organized promotional activities overseas for the promotion of the services sector.



A background to NAPSEC
To assist MATRADE in drawing up programmes and approaches in promoting the services sector, NAPSEC (the National Professional Services Export Council) was launched by the Minister of International Trade and Industry on 20 August 2001. NAPSEC serves as an advisory council to the MATRADE (the Secretariat for NAPSEC) board of directors on matters relating to the export of professional services. It comprises representatives from the relevant professional bodies as well as the public sector.

The professional bodies involved are architects, constructors, surveyors, engineers, accountants, lawyers and healthcare. With the participation of these bodies, NAPSEC provides a forum for obtaining private-sector views and inputs in the formulation of strategies and programmes for the export of professional services.

The terms of reference of NAPSEC are to formulate and review national strategies and promotion programmes relating to the export of professional services, including construction services;

to recommend and facilitate funding for the export of professional services;

to formulate strategies to increase participation by Malaysian professionals or companies in overseas projects funded by international lending agencies;

to gather and disseminate information related to market opportunities;

to review and recommend incentives for the export of professional services;

to compile databases or directories on export-ready professional services providers with support and feedback from the industry;

to develop databases on market access issues and regulations affecting export of professional services, including facilitating mutual recognition agreements;

to identify approaches to publicize the skills and capabilities of the professional services, including construction services, in international markets;

to monitor global developments and their implications for Malaysian professional services exports; and

to monitor developments and provide inputs towards the formulation of Malaysia’s position and commitment in WTO negotiations in the professional services sector.
Source: Information obtained from NAPSEC.


Even Malaysia’s usually conservative professional bodies, the legal, medical and engineering fraternities, are beginning to allow their members to utilize IT and the Internet to promote their services, in preparation for the eventual liberalization of services under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and WTO agreements. Moreover, for local services providers to venture abroad, mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) would need to be negotiated between Malaysia and the foreign countries, ensuring harmonized benchmarks for the services rendered.

In addition, MITI has decided to repeal the Promotion of Investments Act, 1986 (PIA) and replace it with a new act including wider scope for the development of the services sector, as well as fine-tune the Industrial Co-ordination Act, 1975 (ICA) to ensure that procedures and processes add to competitiveness. The government has also identified other constraints to be reviewed such as variations in the granting of incentives, anomalies in conditions for applications of incentives and the lack of clarity on effective dates for tax relief under Pioneer Status.

Changing the attitude of ‘waiting for governments’ should be the next step towards dealing with the WTO. The services providers should come forward and take a pro-active role and lead government policies in countering challenges to the domestic economy. The global trends in business have exposed a nation’s industry to the test of the international standards of productivity. According to Mustapa Mohamed, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, as quoted in the New Straits Times of 10

May 2004, ‘there are quite a few Malaysian companies that have made good abroad, but they are small in number. To build strong companies and strong brands, companies cannot merely rely on government handouts and protection.’

With respect to human resources development, there are currently gaps in terms of what is needed to develop the services sector in Malaysia, particularly those related to highly skilled human resources in the various services industries. Mustapa suggested that ‘radical changes to the country’s education system are both necessary and inevitable, but this will inevitably take some time’. While currently high investments in the education sector should ameliorate the human resource problem in the medium and long term, the increasing mobility of people and the tradability of services leave Malaysia with little time to train effective human resource in the services sector. Hence a succinct and effective action plan is needed, to prepare and equip local undergraduates with competencies and skills to be globally competitive.


Coupled with the government’s efforts to nurture the business community through a variety of entrepreneurial support services, MICCI has also started a series of ‘industry-university’ dialogues to address directly the issue of workplace readiness among graduates, and a soft skills development programme is being explored with an international leadership institute.

The government needs to ensure that domestic regulations are WTO-compliant as well as WTO-consistent. Working closely with the relevant bodies is crucial. A periodic review of the regulations, particularly on professional standards and elements of transparency, would give services providers a big helping hand in preparing for liberalization. For instance, in the area of accounting, Malaysia continues to maintain its philosophy of convergence with international accounting standards, harmonizing its standards by minimizing differences to the greatest extent possible and modelling its standards very closely on international standards.
On the multilateral front, Malaysia has always pushed for the Emergency Safeguard Measures (ESM) provision in GATS, which calls on WTO members to negotiate on measures that can be used temporarily to address the adverse impact of the increased inflow of services imports into the domestic market. Current negotiations are focused on developing modalities for ESM. Malaysia, together with some ASEAN members, submitted a proposal on possible mechanisms. The ESM is important in offering confidence to countries, particularly developing nations, in progressively liberalizing their services sector and imposing temporary safeguard measures, if needed, to prevent irreparable damage to domestic industries.


IV. Conclusion
Malaysia is currently experiencing a ‘shifting of gears’ within the economic engine. While it is acknowledged that making the various structural adjustments necessary to realize its goal of creating a service-oriented economy will undoubtedly be a painful process, it is, ultimately, necessary.
To reiterate, a policy framework and strategies for the development of the services sector are vital for Malaysia’s economy to continue to grow and develop. Crucial for the success of these policies and strategies is a supportive physical and human infrastructure. More than the agriculture or manufacturing sectors, the services sector is highly dependent on the abilities and know-how of people. Therefore human resources development must be an integral part of any services sector development plan.

The services industry needs to have a level playing field when competing with foreign services suppliers. While pressing for such privileges at the multilateral front, it is necessary for them to consider domestic reforms in various services sectors where increased competition is likely to surface in the years ahead. The WTO, in this context, provides the ambience for the creation of a credible and reliable system of international trade (in services) rules. It is important to note that services-sector liberalization is not independent of other facets of the economy, for example investment liberalization. And there are many benefits to be gained from recognizing the complementarity between efforts in these areas and undertaking effective actions. The services industry players need to undertake a proactive role rather than a reactive one and take advantage of the system.















Bibliography
Bank Negara Malaysia (1995), Annual Report, Kuala Lumpur: Government Printers

Mahathir Bin Mohamad (1991), ‘Malaysia: The Way Forward’, working paper presented at the Inaugural Meeting of the Malaysian Business Council, Kuala Lumpur, 28 Feb. Available at http://www.epu.jpm.my/epu-mservis-v2020.html

Ministry of Finance (1999), Economic Report, Kuala Lumpur: Government Printers

Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) (1996), Second Industrial Master Plan 1996-2005, Kuala Lumpur: Zainon Kassim

Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia (MITI), Annual Report, various years

National Economic Action Council (NEAC) (1998), National Economic Recovery Plan: Agenda for Action, Kuala Lumpur: Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department

Raja Zaharaton bte. Raja Zainal Abidin (1996), ‘Services Industries as Source of Economic Growth’, paper presented at the National Outlook Conference organized by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Kuala Lumpur, 3-4 Dec

Romer, Paul (2000), ‘Perpetual Growth’, speech given at the World Knowledge Forum 2000, Seoul, 17 Oct

Saifuddin, Sadna (2004), ‘Mustapa Outlines Eight Key Areas for Malaysia to Focus On’, New Straits Times, 10 May 2004

Sieh, Lee Mei Ling(1991), ‘Services in Malaysia: On the Threshold of a New Era’, paper presented at the National Outlook Conference organized by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Kuala Lumpur, 3-4 Dec

Sieh, Lee Mei Ling (1994), ‘The Role of Services in Development: The Case of Malaysia’, in Malaysia’s Development Experience — Changes and Challenges, Kuala Lumpur: INTAN, pp. 726-49

Sieh, Lee Mei Ling (2002), ‘The Services Sector as an Engine for Growth: Niches for Malaysia’, paper presented at the National Outlook Conference organized by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Kuala Lumpur, 17-18 Dec


NOTES:
1.- Although it is often suggested that only large enterprises have the capacity and capability to export their services, there might very well be some scope for SMEs in this area. back to text
2.- The Second Industrial Master Plan (IMP2) promulgates a two-pronged development strategy — the Manufacturing Plus Plus strategy and the cluster-based development strategy. In broad terms, the cluster-based approach aims to promote specific industries in an integrated and synergized manner to spur the development of higher-value-added activities, while the Manufacturing Plus Plus strategy calls for the participation of domestic producers and service suppliers in the whole value chain of a product, from the initial stage of product design and prototyping to the production stage of processing and assembly and, finally, to distribution and marketing

101 tips for pro illustrators

By :
Ahmad Anis b. Mohd Fauzi
Faculty of Creative Multimedia,
Multimedia University
63100, Cyberjaya.
anis.fauzi@mmu.edu.my


Want to be a pro illustrator? Or maybe you already are, but fancy picking up some tips that may have passed you by. Well, here they are, in bite-sized nuggets-the 101 tips that could put you ahead of the field!

That killer portfolio
In this first section we investigate the dos and don’t of portfolio presentation. We look at how to present your work to its best advantage and which format is best for you and your potential clients…

1. format
Depending on who you plan to work for, you’re still likely to need that old-fashioned leather portfolio with plastic sleeves.Clients like something printed in front of them. It works in meetings and doesn’t suffer from compatibility problems. Buy the best you can afford.

2. spend wisely
Buy leather portfolio. It will save you money in the long run. Leather wears so much better than plastic. Its says that you take pride in your work and may help you command higher fees because it shows that you mean business.

3. presentation
You live and die by the quality of your portfolio. Your work may be up against work by other illustrators, so make sure that your portfolio is well presented. Clean or change the plastic sleeves in your folder on a regular basis.

4. Keep it concise
Be clear about what your portfolio says. You may not be with your work every time it’s viewed. Keep it clear, concise and precise and present a positive image. Choose your strongest work; work that you feel positive about. Don’t include anything that you may have to apologise for.

5. who is it for?
You need to show potential client what you can do. Your clients, usually a designer or art director, may need to show it to their clients to get approval. Your portfolio must be able to speak to a whole range of different audiences, so remember this when you put it together.

6. Up-to-date portfolio
Other tips for smart professional portfolios: get into the habit of regularly adding new printed work as you produce it, keeping your folio fresh and up to date. Make sure the running order makes sense group work depending on the type of client it was produced for.

7. Strongest image
Kick off your portfolio with your strongest image and end on an equally high note. These are the most important images in your book. Keep a list of exactly what is in your portfolio and the order it was in clients will rearrange your work, and putting things back in the right order can be a real headache.

8. Double up
Create at least two, may be here portfolios, if you are planning on being busy. Many designers and art directors simply don’t have time to meet all illustrators and want you to ‘drop off’. Keeping more than one portfolio circulating means no dead time.

9. Be prepared
With more than one portfolio, you never run the risk of being called in for that lucrative advertising commission at short notice without a folio to hand. It happens, so be prepared and have one next to the phone.

10. Websites
Important, useful and a great complement to that leather bound folio, a website will greatly add to your client base. Directing clients to your site means that they can view your work whenever, wherever. Cut your courier bill by not having to ship your portfolio all over town.

11. Be creative
Use your site to showcase commissioned work, non commissioned work and even work in progress. Remember to update your site on a regular basis and let folks know that you have too.

12. The interactive CD-ROM
Another extra to your leather folio but not to be overlooked. Being able to leave this portfolio with clients is cool. So long as it works with theirs kit and is bug-free! Think about your audience-will they appreciate your extra costs in time, energy and materials?

13. Focus your work
Think carefully about the work you show. Don’t think that clients will want to see a couple of drawings from an evening class you did over ten years ago. Make sure that the work sits together well and doesn’t cover too many styles.

14. The postcard
The original format for illustrators promoting their work is the postcard: full colour image on one size and one colour on the reverse for contact details. Cheap, cheerful and quick to produce, they fit in the sleeve inside your portfolio too. Beat that!

15. Print runs
The unit cost of a postcard goes down the more you have printed. Before you order 1000, though, think about whether you will use them all before you are sick and tried of the image. Look at the costs of shorter runs using a digital press rather than off-set litho.

16. Shop around
You could get together with other illustrators and take a whole sheet; postcards are printed 16 or 32 up. It will work out cheaper but could be a hassle. If not, play the card printers off against each other to get the best price.

17. Other formats
Postcards make sense but may seem boring. Think about other formats that you could adopt. Calendars have a one year shelf life, if they are liked and used. Desk tidies are naff and should be left to Blue Peter.

18. Contact details
Your final choice of self promo should show an image, your name and contact details such as web address and phone number. Sounds straightforward but many illustrators concentrate on the image and forget the details.

19. Annuals
Get your work in annuals. Art buyers in advertising agencies swear by them. The pay-for-page illustration annuals like Contact and The art Book aren’t cheap at between 600-1000 per page but many illustrators claim they work better than anything else.

20. Press release
Send out a press release to design magazines and journals when you create high profile work. Send good large-format transparencies as well as concise ‘story’ about the job. The design press have pages to fill and you can provide the content: hey presto- free publicity!

21. Competition
Enter your work in national and international competitions. Many of the big organizations produce thick, glossy annuals of the best work and some run touring exhibitions as well as websites that feature the work.

22. Freebies
From your website, sell limited edition, signed digital prints. Not all publicity material has to be given away. Encourage users to download free screensavers you have created. Imagine your work on the screen of a computer in a busy design studio.

23. No spam
Don’t spam! Nobody wants mail that they did not ask for. Once you have started to work for a client they may be happy to receive a regular email newsletter or set of low-res images, but wait until they are clients.

24. Contact galleries
Have an exhibition and invite potential clients to a private view. Let the design and local press know well in advance. On the night, stay off the white wine and use the event to make contacts and meet new faces.

25. Avoid the tacky
Spending money on getting pens printed with your name on, sticks of rock with your email address running through or cheap diaries with your contact details across the front aren’t big or clever.

26. Mouse mats
Don’t waste money on getting mouse mats made up with your work on: many designers use Macs and the Apple Pro Mouse killed off the mouse mat!

27. Publicity
Keep folk up to date with what you are doing. Spend time and cash on creating new publicity, showing how your work is evolving. Have a long-term plan for maintaining contact with your clients.

28. List of creatives
Think about buying lists of creatives from companies like File FX in London. For a reasonable fee you could have the name of all the art buyers and creative directors in top 200 advertising agencies in London. Think about how much time that could save you on the phone.

29. Research
Spend time conducting some research. If you want to create illos for magazines, browse through them over coffee in places like Borders. Target the right folks; try art editors and art directors.

30. Other artists
Every time you see an interesting book jacket or CD sleeve, make it your mission to discover who created it and who commissioned it. Send the commissioning designer a copy of your publicity if you think that your work fits. Follow it up with a phone call to make an appointment to show your portfolio.

31. Telephone manner
Be polite on the telephone and keep a pen to hand to write notes. Make sure that you’ve sent samples or publicity in advance. Trying to explain what your work looks like over the telephone isn’t easy.

32. Database
Invest in a good database app and get used to updating it with new info on a regular basis. Enter a broad range of fields that include the obvious things like name, addresses, and contact details, as well as the type of company and the last time that you mailed publicity or made contact.

33. Swot up
Whenever you visit a potential client with your portfolio, arrive a few minutes early. This gives you a little time to sit in the reception area browsing their bound copies of recent publicity or magazines they publish. A little knowledge can go a long way..

34. To the point
Be patient, explain your work carefully but don’t outstay your welcome. Most designers, art buyers and art directors will be able to give you just ten to fifteen minutes. Make this time count, keep focused on the work you want them to see and be ready to exit!

35. Taking notes
Take a notebook to every meeting with a client. Take notes if you need to and if they like your work, ask them to recommend commissioning designers that you could visit at other companies. Word of mouth can be a real benefit.

36. Calling cards
Be prepared to drop your portfolio off rather than always meeting person to person. If you would like them to leave comments, provide a piece of paper taped to the side of your portfolio and remember to put fresh promo cards in too.

37. Etiquette
Keeping clients is a huge part of the job. If you are a pleasure to deal with, you are likely to get repeat business and recommendations. Nobody likes to work with a pain in the backside, however talented you are.

38. Get organized
It makes sense to join an organisation that can give you advice when you need it. The Association of illustrators helps members with issues regarding fees and legal matters. Check them out at www.aoi.co.uk.

39. Quoting fees
Quoting fees on jobs is never easy. Try to get a budget from the art director commissioning you. Ask what they’ve paid for previous work of the same scale and usage. They normally know what they want to pay.

40. Put in writing
If you need time to think about a fee, say that you will get back to them. Use the time to call fellow illustrators or the AOI for advice. Put your quote in writing and date it. Get the client to formally agree in writing to your quote or amended quote if you agree to adjust.

41. Rates
Remember, rates depend on a number of issues and it always makes sense to clarify exactly where your work will be used, at what size, the print run (if applicable) and the length of time the image is to be used for.

42. Who pays what?
A general rule of thumb is that advertising work sits at the top of the pile, fees-wise, followed by work for design companies. Book publishers run next, followed by magazines. You could create a small image for an advertising campaign that pays 1000 and the same size image for a mag that brings in 100!

43. Large jobs
With large jobs it is worth getting a contract sorted before you even start the work. Outline the fee breakdown-with agreed amounts for visuals as well as delivery of final artwork. Put in delivery dates that are realistic. If the client wants it all tomorrow, charge more.

44. Know your rights
If the client rejects your artwork at the visual stage, you can charge 25 percent of the full fee, if they reject on completion, through no fault of yours, go for the full fee. Be prepared to negotiate, though, you may only get 50 percent!

45. Educate your client
The visuals stage is just that. It gives you the chance to show the client what you are planning on doing for the final artwork. It could show the general layout of the image as well as your ideas for how the work communicates. It is not the finished thing.

46. Terminology
Learn some technical terms. Make sure that you understand the terminology used by your client. If you are not sure what ‘bleed’ is ; ask. Don’t try and wing it-it will end in tears.

47. Questions
Make sure that you leave the briefing session with all of your question answered. If not, call the client when you get back to your studio. It is vital that you understand what you are being asked to do.

48. Format
Check what format they would like to receive the work in, and whether it’s EPS, JPEG, be sure they can open it. Check the resolution it is expected in too. Understand why newspapers are different from glossy publications. If in doubt, check it out!

49. Colours
Don’t trust the colours on your monitor, check chosen color against print spec charts. Check how the job is being printed. Will all your chosen colours be easily achieved from the four-colour set? Avoid some oranges they can go mucky.

50. Fifth colours
If the job requires ‘specials’, colours printed using specially mixed colours, check the client has authorized this. Using silvers and metallic colours in your artwork will add to the print cost.

51. Correct formatting
RGB or CMYK? Be sure that you format the artwork correctly. Is the image for screen or print? Set your application up properly before you start your job. It is very simple to forget and submit the wrong format.

52. Ownership
When you are commissioned to create an illustration, you sell the rights for its reproduction, unless otherwise agreed. The illustrator retains the ownership of the artwork itself as well as, more importantly with digital work, the copyright. Remember this!

53. Copyright
You can charge 100 percent of the original fees for the sale of the copyright but then lose any rights to the work. Make sure you consider the pros and cons.

54. Taxing matters
Get legal: register your business with your local tax office. You are likely to be classified as a sloe trader and will have to start paying tax on your profits. Get organized right away!

55. Employ an accountant
The best practice is to be recommended one that understands the job of the illustrator. They can then advise on tax deductible items to keep your tax liabilities down.

56. Keeping track of invoices
Invoice work as soon as it is completed. Make sure that your invoice includes all of the details of the work carried out and who you’d like the cheque made out to. And where you would like it sent to, of course.

57. Numbers
Legally your invoice must carry an invoice number. You can start the running order at any number. You may wish to start at 00100 so that you look like you’ve been trading longer.

58. Chasing payment
It is likely that your invoice will sit on a couple of a desk before it is finally paid. State your payment terms on your invoice and start chasing, on the phone, as soon as that period is up. Start with the accounts department and work your way up the food chain, if you get no luck.

59. software police
Software should be street legal and legit and you should use only fonts that you own. The software police are watching you!

60. Studio space
The life of the illustrator can be lonely. Are you the kind of person that enjoy working on your own in the back bedroom at home? If not, consider a shared studio. Scan local newspaper for studio space. Shared facilities mean less financial outlay.

61. Equipment
Get your studio equipped. You will need the following: phone; answer-phone; mobile phone; email (with ADSL or ISDN if you are sending artwork down the line); fax( if you produce visuals on paper); CD Burner (archive your work as you go); good lighting and a very comfortable chair.

62. Make a routine
Get into a routine. Arrive at your studio, at home or elsewhere, at a regular time. Forget the world a daytime TV and instead, tune into reality of checking your email, reading your post, chasing unpaid invoices and other associated tasks before you actually start illustrating.

63. get insured
Get your studio insured. Get your portfolio insured and insures yourself against injury-it’s unlikely but it may happen. Studio insurance covers you if visitor falls and break a leg and having your portfolio insured means that if it goes missing, you get some financial remuneration.

64. your computer
Think about the kind of computer you are going to be using. A desktop machine tied to your desk in your studio five miles from home may not be ideal if you tend to do your best work late in the evening. You may wish to go portable and have the flexibility of working anywhere.

65. the design press
Read the design press on a regular basis for news about projects that design companies are involved in and news of new companies starting up. You don’t have to buy them all- get back to borders or your local library.

66. change of address
If you move studio, make sure that people know. A change of address card is a good excuse to send out more promotional material. Obviously, if people don’t know how to get hold of you, they won’t.

67. keep creative
Push your work by adding to your portfolio, with work that you want to do rather than just work you are paid to do. You can lead the type of work that you’re offered by showing similar examples.

68. visit exhibitions
Look at the work of other illustrators as well as artists and photographers. Examine the methods and techniques, as well as the ideas, in their work. It’s a good idea to buy exhibition catalogues, or postcard if your budget is limited.

69. read more fiction
As an illustrator, you are expected to bring text and copy to life. If you read more and create thumbnail sketches of ideas in response to these texts, you’ll keep in practice.

70. just the facts
Read more factual and non fiction work. Illustrators need to understand the issues raised in a writer’s text. If you get to grips with the copy, you stand a far chance of illustrating it well.

71. other art forms
Go to theatre and the cinema; engage with dance or opera. Above all, enjoy other art forms. You can take inspiration from all sorts of sources-anything from new combinations of colours in a theatre costume to the framing of particular images in film. Be inspired!

72. sketchbook
Draw, draw and draw and the draw some more. Take your sketchbook everywhere and use it in cafes, bars, on the bus and in the park. If your work doesn’t rely on drawing but concentrates more on photographic imagery, then keep your camera with you all the times.

73. behind the scenes
Get yourself invited to exhibition private views and meet other artist and illustrators informally. Normally getting onto a mailing list for a gallery is as simple as phoning and asking.

74. local groups
Check out local groups run by the Association of illustrators that meet on a regular basis. Many groups invite professional illustrators to give slide lectures about their work and experiences; learn from others.

75. smell the coffee
If you find that you’re really short of work, offer to work as an assistant to a busy illustrator or illustration studio free of charge for the experience, and to pick up more tips. As a general rule, you’ll make coffee, mix paints, book couriers and hunt for reference materials.

76. competitions
Use dead time to produce work for competitions. Real dividends can be had from winning or being a finalist in illustration competitions. You can get your work recognized and seen by others. Unknown illustrators often come to prominence this route.

77. network
Make the time to meet other illustrators on a regular basis and swap stories, contacts and advice. It is vital that you keep in touch with developments in the illustration world. From a morale point of view, it is good to have a shoulder to cry on and an audience for your positive stories too.

78. doing business
Illustration agencies are businesses. To operate, they have to make a profit. This means that they must represent busy illustrators and plenty of them. If you are not happy being part of this business, go straight to the next session…

79. Want an agent?
Investigate the agencies that are out there: they all have different areas of expertise. Hunt out the one you and your work are most suitable for. Be sure that they operate in the areas of illustration that you do.

80. agent’s fees
Be prepared to give up 25-30 percent of your income in commission but recognize that agents can command higher fees. This may well make up for the commission. If you are lucky enough to be taken on by an agent, check what percentage they take first. Feel free to negotiate.

81. take your time
Just like clients, agents are very busy too. Don’t hassle but be polite. Offer to send samples and wait to hear back. Offer to visit ; they will want to meet you if they like your work.

82. How do they operate?
Ask the agent that you meet about their techniques for getting artist’s work. Do they rely on printed publicity? Do they have a website? Do they go out and tread the streets with portfolio? Are they proactive?

83. What does it cost?
Agents charge (on top of commission) a percentage of the cost of advertising an artist. Make sure you understand how much this may cost you in your first year. Can you afford it? Do they want the cash up front or will they take it from fees owed to you? Check the details.

84. meeting
Ask about meetings for the illustrators represented by the agency. If they happen regularly, it means that they have happy artist, which is a good sign. Its is useful to have a meeting point to discuss issues with other illustrators.

85. sole representation
Agents may expect to have sole representation of your work. They may want to handle your own clients too. Are you prepared to hand them over? Another point to discuss before making a final decision.

86. thinking long term
Think carefully about how you present your portfolio at any meeting. Agents will be interested in who you have worked for, as well as how your work has developed. They will be thinking long term investment. Think the same thought!

87. up front
Agents don’t tolerate artists working for the agency’s clients without declaring it. Some clients are slippery. Don’t make the mistake of losing your gent because you have been working behind their back.

88. permanent contracts
More and more design companies are starting to employ illustrators or designers that can illustrate on permanent contracts. Check the design press for ads and be prepared to send samples and CV at short notice.

89. publishing companies
Approach publishing companies and greeting cards companies if seeking full-time positions; they are still the most likely. Write a covering letter, introducing yourself and your experience and expertise and be prepared to follow it up with a phone call.

90. interview techniques
If given an appointment or interview, be on time, be presentable and know as much as you can about the company. Ask intelligent questions and be keen. All fairly obvious tips but easily overlooked by some.

91. temporary placement
Offer to work on a temporary placement basis to gain experience. This is a must if you are a recent college graduate. In return for poor payment, you will get good experience and hopefully a project or two you can add to your portfolio.

92. model employee
Once on a placement, demonstrate yourself to be so good they have to ask you to stay. Don’t complain about working long hours-it is the done thing in design and advertising. Get yourself noticed, ask questions and offer to help others out with presentation.

93. illustration agency
If you want to go into freelance illustration but would like to understand the business in more detail first, try seeking a job at an illustration agency. You’ll meet lots of illustrator and clients and see projects through from conception to completion.

94. studio management
Other areas to try your luck at include studio management. Be the person responsible for keeping a design studio running. You could be involved in all aspects of the design process; one moment discussing project with designers, illustrators and photographers and the next checking proofs on press at the printers.


95. contacts
Keep a record of all contacts while looking for work and after you get the job. These will prove invaluable. All designers and illustrator have favourite printers, repro houses; places to source references and the list will start to grow. Use your contacts and keep them organized.

96. follow it up
Make sure that your client is pleased with the work that you have produced. Many designers are simply too busy to call to let you know that they have receive your artwork. Phone them to check that the work was ok, they’ll appreciate it.

97. borrowing work
Don’t ‘lift’, ‘copy’. ‘borrow’ or be too influenced by the style of another illustrator. Forge your own look; it is the only way to create real lasting interest in your work. Be original.

98. Credits
Make sure that, were possible, you are given a credit for a illustration. If you have a web address, ask the designer to use it in the credit. It will add to the traffic to your site and may lead to further commissions.

99. Building your portfolio
Chase up copies of the work when it is in print. Do this as soon as the publication is out. The art director or designer should be happy to send you three or four copies. These tear sheets will make up your portfolio.

100. sticking to deadlines
Produce work to the deadline given, unless you have an agreed extension. If the deadline appears unworkable, ask for more time before you take on the job. If you spot problems, resolve them early on.

101. And remember….
Have fun, work hard, play hard and good luck.

100 ways to create better illustrations

By :
Ahmad Anis b. Mohd Fauzi
Faculty of Creative Multimedia,
Multimedia University
63100, Cyberjaya.
anis.fauzi@mmu.edu.my

Ten leading illustrators and digital artist give you their tips on creating better digital illustrations. I’ve covered it all-from vectors graphics to composition and structure.

Being a professional illustrator is one of the more satisfying professions. But while it’s rewarding in terms of job satisfaction, it’s also very challenging. If the creative juices aren’t flowing (the visual equivalent of writer’s block) your work can become bland, repetitive and a chore to produce.

And if you’re unfortunate enough to have a difficult client who is simply trying to express their own stunted creativity by hiring you and telling you how to do your job, well, it’s like selling your soul to Satan.

To make the way forward that little bit easier for digital artist, I’ve rounded up some of the most experienced and creative mind in the illustration business and asked them for their tips on specific areas of digital illustration.

If you’re new or aspiring illustrator you’ll find these tips invaluable.

If you’re an established illustrator or creative professional, these tips should be of interest. They may help you brush up on some of your ideas, or u can just compare what our pros say to your own experience.








Vector illustration

As with any form of drawing, you need to be comfortable with the media you are using; so practice, learn the ins and outs of the software and push your own capabilities. Don’t expect the software to do all the work. Vector programs make it easier to draw more accurately, not necessarily better. Domanic Li of The Organization is an experienced vector illustrator. Here are the tips…

1. Plan out your images beforehand and use scanned drawings as templates. Most drawing packages enable you to bring in an Illustrator 8+, open an image and choose Template from the Layer palette. This will automatically lock and dim the layer. To change the dim settings just use the layer options.

2. Start off simple and build up complexity in stages. When creating your illustration it’s usually easier to start by ‘blocking out’ any large shapes or areas of colour, and adding details on separate layers. This way you can break down the illustration into more manageable chunks. Working with layers helps you manage your work as you go.

3. Learn shortcuts and keyboard modifiers to speed up workflow-you’ll be able to work much faster when you don’t need to keep up moving the mouse to menus. The latest versions of vector packages also enable you to create your own shortcuts too.
4. Use pathfinders to create complex shapes from smaller, simpler shapes. Pathfinders are filters that enable you to take two or more separate shapes and combine or intersect them in different ways to create new, more complex shapes. You can also usually use an unfilled path to bisect or divide another shape with much greater accuracy than just using Knife tool.

5. Use blends to create merged shapes. Blends are great for creating multiples of the same shape, or for merging one shape into another. In Illustrator 8+ you can also blend groups of objects too-great for creating animations. Expand the blend afterwards and you can also edit the blended objects or groups too.

6. Create your own libraries of often-used things like shapes or objects, as well as colour schemes, swatches and so on. If you’ve spent time creating something quite complex, save it for possible use in another project. Rather than starting from scratch you may be able to just edit something you’ve created previously.
7. Create your own startup file. In Illustrator you can edit the existing file or use it as a template to create your own. This file determines what swatches and gradients appears in any new file you create, as well as the default settings in page set-up and document set-up dialog boxes, and view preferences.

8. Create multiple views to speed up navigation. In Illustrator, if you create a new view it will remember not only the view position/magnification, but also any layers or objects that are locked or hidden or displayed as artwork. This way you can just jump from view to view, rather than having to manually unlock or hide things.

9. Sometimes you may need to make a path larger by an equidistant amount. You can usually offset the path but this can sometimes give unexpected results. A cleaner method is to stroke the path by the amount required, then outline the path and merge the results. You can also use stroke settings to round-off the path.

10. No matter what program you use, remember that it just a tool. No matter how feature-heavy an application may be, the work that you produce is more dependent on what your computer or your software is capable of.


Natural media

Curiously enough, generating and manipulating real-world textures and tactile elements is a very popular practice among digital artist. The question is, do you want your digital work you ape things that are better done using pencils, pens, oil, paints and all the rest? Or do you want your illustrations to use digital technology to take the next step? Derek Lea lights the way…

1. The first thing to do is to start collecting things. Pick up bits of old paper, leather, and rusted metal… things that you can throw on your own scanner. Also begin compiling photos, shots of cracked concrete, crumbling brick, peeling paint, or anything tactile you find appealing. It’s good to have a library of different textures.

2. Don’t be afraid to just use small sections of your textures. Also, visualize things in grey scale, think of how useful something could be as an alpha channel. Open an image or photo in Photoshop and look at the channels independently-sometimes the data, in a single channel can provide the basis for a custom alpha channel.

3. Start with lesser technology than your computer. Experimenting with a photocopier can create interesting grey scale images to use as channels. Using a hairdryer on thermal fax paper can make a cool burnt paper effects on scanning. The best way to create natural media is to use natural media; the best way to create crumple paper is to scan crumpled paper.

4. Create your own brush in Photoshop. Face it, no real brush is as perfect as those round default brushes in Photoshop. Convert some images to grey scale and use rectangular sections to define custom brushes. You can crate some irregular and unique custom brushes this way. Imperfection and diversity is the goal.

5. To get a smooth stroke while painting in Photoshop, reduce spacing in the brush options to 1. If you don’t, the brush will stagger on the canvas. To paint convincingly in Photoshop, a pressure-sensitive tablet is essential. It enables you to take advantage of brush dynamics and to vary size and opacity with pressure.

6. Be subtle and gradually build up layers. For instance, if you have a photo of a stone wall and you want to blend in an image of rusted metal, don’t simply leave the mode of the rust set at Normal and reduce the opacity. Duplicate layers, and use combinations of layers with various blending modes and opacities.

7. Take advantage of Painter. Painter has some really great tools, especially the chalk, oil pastels, watercolour brushes and coloured pencils. Take an in-progress Photoshop file into Painter, the pick up existing colours in the image and use some of the natural media tools to start to paint over certain areas or blend things together using paint effects. You can often bounce back and forth between Painter and Photoshop.

8. Create custom alpha channels using Painter. By using Painter’s tracing paper and in your in-progress Photoshop file as a clone source, you can paint using your original image as a template. Try painting in greyscale-that way, when you finish you can use the finished file in Photoshop as an alpha channel that lines up nicely with your file, try creating Adjustment Layers using this channel as a mask, or fill the selection with colour on a new layer with a different blending mode.

9. Make your own brushstrokes using India ink. The best way to get a nice dye-brush stroke is to paint it and then scan it. Use your scanned brush stroke as alpha channels to create borders and frames. Create many, as diversity is what makes them appealing.

10. Use real paper or canvas scan for overall surface textures. Stay away from patterned fills or tiled paper textures. Tiled surface textures are quite unnatural. Try making alpha channels out of greyscale versions of your scans, and use channels to create a series of layers and Adjustment Layers to apply the highlight and shadows of the surface texture to your image as a whole.


Photo manipulation

Some illustrators use Illustrator, other use FreeHand, and others till use Painter. Somewhere along the line, however, nearly everyone uses Photoshop. Our tips collection wouldn’t be completed without considering the kinds of illustration that can be achieved thanks to the photo manipulation. Benedict Campbell is a big exponent of this form of illustration…

1. When starting with a scan of a transparency, the better the quality, the more you can do. The ideal scan should have no sharpening, and good shadow and highlight detail. Make sure the file size is big enough for the end result. If working for print, take into consideration any cropping. Keeping this scan as un uncompressed file, like TIFF, is a good backup idea.

2. When you think you have all the elements you need, try doing a low-res dummy run. This is like doing a sketch. It will enable you to work very quickly, to try out new ideas.

3. Doing a low-res dry run gives you an idea of how you can even drag and drop some of the elements from your low-res such as paths, soft masks, and if you are using Photoshop 6, things like Adjustment Layers.

4. Another useful aspect of working with a low-and-high-res version of the same image, is low-res airbrushing. Even the fastest machines slow down on a 900-pixel brush, making it tricky to see what’s going on. Having a low-res to work on, of the same proportion (just lower dpi), makes it much quicker and easier. When you are satisfied, drag the layer on to the high-res and resize the dpi of the low-res, then copy and paste. It sounds long winded, but it works.

5. CMYK or RGB? People ask whether you should start with a CMYK scan, and work in CMYK for CMYK print? Since colour trannies or digital camera files start life as RGB and print repro is generally CMYK, there will have to be a conversion at some stage. My preferred way of working is to scan for RGB and work in RGB with the CMYK view on. In Photoshop, that’s View and then CMYK Preview, converting to CMYK when you’ve finished. This gives you all the fine control of RGB, with an idea on how it will print in CMYK.


6. Grain. One thing to bear in mind when retouching photographs is film grain. For in stance, if you are smoothing out someone’s skin by airbrushing on a layer above, you’ll need to add some grain or noise with a little blur. This helps blend in the grain of the photograph. To produce quality retouching, this detail is essential.

7. A great way to check your retouching for flaws is to use levels to preview the image. Dragging the Black and White sliders beneath the histogram towards each other will pronounce any glitches you’ve missed that might show in print later. If you’re working with Photoshop 6 you still can use the new Adjustment Layer/levels. You can check your works as you go by clicking the layer on or off.

8. Vectorising a photograph. If like me, you’re a fan of pop art, turning photographs into vector images and removing bits is very exciting. Start by simplifying the image using filters like Cut Out in Photoshop, and then auto tracing them in a Vector program such as Illustrator, or ideally Adobe Streamline. Now play.

9. Composition. The best way of composing your art work is to look it small-about size of a playing card. If viewed full screen for instance, your eye will have to travel about the image, not giving you a clear snapshot. When you think you’re happy with the image, go away, and don’t look for a while. When you come back to it, if it doesn’t do it for you, it won’t do it for anyone else. Change it.

10. When using photography in illustrations, you don’t have too think too literally: anything goes. An abstract detail of the most mundane thing can be fantastic. One picture can be cut up, smudged, inverted, blurred, desaturated, over and over again. Make endless works of art-let yourself go!


Pixel art

It might be retro, it might look jaggy, but the pixel art style is going strong. It speaks to a generation of video-game-playing mobile-phone freaks, and interest in pixel art is fierce. In fact, illustration studios specializing in the style are as busy as ever. Engine took time out between clients to send in these ten tips. All relate to pixel art in Photoshop…

1. Preparation is the key to pixel illustrations. Whether it be whole scene or just a character, you’ll need to sketch it out first. This will determine all the views, angles and details you’ll need to create your won image.

2. First your illustration will have to be produced as a 72dpi document. You’ll need to create a pixel grid. This is done by going to the Preferences>Guides &grids settings. Make sure you use a light grey, dashed line with a gridline everyone pixel with Subdivision also set to 1.

3. Remember to turn off Anti-aliasing when using the Circle, Marquee or Lasso tools. This will give you defined edges to all your shapes. You don’t want or need any stray pixels.

4. it’s best to work on your illustration at between 800 and 1600 per cent zoom. This means you’re not going to be able to see exactly what you’re working on, so always have a new window at 100 per cent sitting next to it. To do this jut go View>New View.

5. There are two ways to create an illustration. One is to use the Pen tool set on the pixel, and you then draw the elements you need. The problem with this method is that it’s not very accurate. The other way is to use the Marquee tool and select all the areas you want to fill. This way is a lot slower in production, but you have a lot more control over what you’re doing.

6. When creating an object or character, it’s important to use as few colours as possible-too many can look messy. Start with the black outline and then fill this with a flat colour. Then use two progressively darker shades of that colour to crate the shadowing, and two progressively lighter shades to create the highlights.

7. A great way to save time is to set up various alpha channels, each one containing re-occurring shapes, for example different diagonal lines which are used regularly. So if you need a top-left to bottom-right line, highlight the alpha channel and cut it to the length you want. So why not just use Line tools? It isn’t very accurate, and can easily put pixels out of place.
8. The first of a couple of quick points. Take note: lighter pixels look bigger than darker ones, so use this to your advantage in small areas, and always use levels to create shadowing around the edges of an object-it’s quicker an gives better effects than trying to colour the blocks.

9. When your illustration is ready to go to print, you’ll need to up the image size from 72dpi to around 300 or 350dpi, so the image-setter can handle the file correctly. But you can’t just size it to any resolution, it has to be a multiple 72dpi, otherwise you’ll get some wonky-looking pixels. Within Photoshop, go to Image and change the resolution to either 288 or 360dpi, and the bottom where it says Bicubic, change that to the nearest neighbour-this process ensures that your pixels won’t anti-alias.

10. For your first attempt at isometric views, don’t try and create a whole scene, just try a character. A great way to test your skills is to take a flat image of a character and try to recreate it as a three-quarter pixel image. Give it a go. But remember, be patient-it may take along time.


3D compositing

The variety of illustration tools available today means that creating 3D renders is becoming an increasingly viable option for all computer-based artists. However, diving into 3D can be tricky both technically and creatively. Some never manage to pull it off. One very experienced company in the field is Studio Liddell-here are its tips for 3D illustration…

1. Gathering all the required images and renders together at the outset, and planning a well-constructed composition before any Photoshop compositing is started, will give a clear mental picture of what you’re trying to achieve.

2. Always create renders and choose images with the final printed size in mind, ensuring that all the foreground imagery is of similar resolution and quality. Background image sizes can always be interpolated up and softened with blur or median filters in Photoshop.

3. Keep the lighting consistent on all the renders, making sure that shadows fall in the same time direction and light colours and intensities are similar. Also, creating a focal point with the lighting can help to frame an important area (see Jorvik Viking Center image below).

4. Alpha channels. When using many 3D elements to create a composition the alpha channel can be hindrance as most packages render the environment black, invariably leaving a fine, black halo around the render object. Try rendering on a background which is coloured similarly to the colour the object is being placed on.

5. Perspective. When rendering separate 3D models for composition try using the same camera throughout, keeping the objects’ position and distance from the camera as they will appear in the final composition. This will result in a well-ordered appearance.

6. Layers. When compositing the final image, keep each main element complete and on a separate layer. Use layer to masks to remove any unwanted areas. If any compositional changes are required later they can be dealt with quickly and painlessly.

7. Effects and glows. Piecing several dominant images together can lead to a lot of confusion within the image. It’s important to clearly separate the boundaries between each element. Try introducing a glow around the object’s edges or adding some mist or smoke to distance objects from the foreground- see the effects in the main image above which make the text stand out.

8. If the image is looking like there are too many cut-out, elements pieced together, a simple remedy is to apply a fine layer of noise over the entire image. This will help to soften the transition from one element to the other.

9. Its good to get the habit of saving many different layered versions as the job progresses. Doing this can save a lot of heartache if a file gets corrupted or mistake goes unnoticed, or maybe you just prefer what was created two days ago!

10. Hardware. The job’s finished, you’ve waited 20 minutes for the machine to prepare to save, and now you are being told that you scratch disk are full. It’s worthwhile investing in new technology. But a huge hard drive and as much RAM as possible-this will save hours in the long run.

Commercialism and creativity

Changing an image at the whim of a client is difficult. And there’s a difficult choice between putting aside your own judgment, and sticking to your creative principals. This feature wouldn’t be complete without tips on treading the fine line between commercialism and creativity. Jacey is one of the best in the business her it comes to creating stunning images that fir the brief…

1. Have a style. You’ve been to school, collage or university, and hopefully you picked up someone relevant skills in the years you’ve been there, but most of the important thing you need is a style. Make sure you have a look of your own. be sure it’ not out of date, and try not to follow trends when everyone else is moving on to the next big thing. Having a fresh cutting-edge style will bring you interesting work.

2. Understand production work. Learn to differentiate between a creative open brief and a production brief. If clients like your style, they may want you to join them as a sort of art-machine, churning out images-this sort of work. It can b your bread and butter. There may be no creative freedom, but if you what you’re getting into the beginning there’ll be no tears or upset.

3. Be willing to adapt your style, and even create new styles. You can’t be a prima donna in this game. To make money you have to be ready to sell your soul. You do need an element of consistency in your life style-but varying your style a little can help maintain your creative integrity.

4. Get out there. Hen you’re busy you tend to go with the flow and keep the regular clients and similar jobs. But when you do the same work over, you start to get bored and disappear and a machine-like process sets in. when this does happen, find new clients and get out and about and show other people what you can do and have done. You must regularly update your portfolio to keep it interesting.

5. Push regular clients to allow you to develop your designs. There‘s a good side to having regular clients especially the ones with an open minded. Show them new styles and let them adapt to your creative process. A good client will accept that you’re an artist, and shouldn’t expect you to keep doing the same old thing.

6. Being polite to your client is one of the best way to get your own way. Explain why you feel a company’s comments are not right. Work together to sort out the problem. This way, the company is more likely to trust you, and less likely to reject your piece.

7. Organise your finances. This is just as important as doing the illustrations. Make sure you’ve spoken to the right people: bank managers, friends, family other artists. You have to pay all kinds of things: tax, VAT, agents, National Insurance.. the list is endless. Find a good accountant who will show you ho to save and make money; and most of all who needs paying, how much and when.

8. Use an agency. Finding a good agent can be hard, if you are a busy artist and you need someone to take care of your portfolio and financial matters-like billing clients and dealing with purchase orders-then go for it. Agents can help you find or get work from places you wouldn’t think of. A good agent will push you as an artist and push your style.

9. There are other artists out there ready to do your job, and accepting this will keep you on your toes and give you the edge and drive to make sure you’re producing the best you can do. Make sure you see what others artists are doing for their clients. See how they are mixing the creativity with the commercial aspect. They might be doing something tat you didn’t think of. Feed off other artists, but don’t rip them off.

10. Just say no. being able to say no to a client whether you are busy or just don’t want to take on the job, can help your creative process on jobs you’re doing, or on others you have planned. Worrying about fitting in new jobs or doing something you don’t want to do will show, either to the client or to you.


Character design

Putting human or character forms into your imagery is a way of bringing it to life, introducing eye contact and essential elements of facial body communication. A character can ruin the feel of a picture, or completely change its focus. Bill Fleming is a computer artist with vast experience, who develops characters for animated and still work in the US…

1. Character biographies. Nothing is more valuable or necessary than a detail character biography. Before you embark on your character illustration you should invest time in developing a comprehensive biography on the character, such as where does it live, what does it eat, what hazards does it face, etc. only after you develop the biography can you truly realize the ideal character. Everything you do with your design is then based on the biography.

2. Character proportions. Quite often artists will make the head of their characters too large for their bodies. A good rule of thumbs is that a norm al human is seven to eight heads high, with a superheroes being more in the nine-to-ten heads range. Unless you are making a monster be sure the head is no more than one third of the width of shoulders.

3. The eyes are most critical detail of a character. Non-expressive eyes plague too many character illustrations. If you want your character to grab the viewer you need to focus on the eyes, which means you need to add plenty of detail. Spend the time to create a complex iris-the result will be worth your time.

4. Character expression. Your viewers will tend to focus on the face of your character, making the character’s expression crucial. The expression must exemplify the emotional state of the character, reinforcing its posture. Spend time at the mirror exploring expressions before you develop your illustrations.

5. Hands. The hands also need to work hard to reinforce the mood of the character. They should also be detailed in comparison to the rest of the body. An oversimplified hand will quickly undermine the integrity of your character illustration.

6. One shortcoming of many character illustrations is poor representation of fabric folds in clothing. Your viewers will be very critical of these details, since they are constantly subjected to them in reality. The best course for ensuring your fabric folds are perfect is to photograph a subject wearing a similar clothing in a similar pose and to use the photos as references.

7. Use plenty of colour. Consistent tones ruin the depth in an illustration. To keep your characters from appearing stale you should ensure your colours have many subtle variations. For example a red shirt should have many subtle colour changes over the surface, such as oranges, purples and yellows to break up the monotony. Colour detail makes illustrations more compilling

8. The balance or even presence of light in an illustration is critical. All too often there is an absence of specular highlights on character surfaces, or conflicting highlights that don’t conform to a single source. To achieve true lighting of your characters, use a simple action figure and adjustable lamp to stimulate your lighting effect before you apply it.

9. Colour theory. The colours you choose for your character define it’s personality. Batman’s colors are black and purple, which reflect his link with the darker things in life. While he’s a good guy, the colour he wears are very similar. Creating a strong character biography will mean you are less likely to dress it inappropriate colours.

10. Symmetry cause many probs. Perfect symmetry just doesn’t happen in reality and when it occurs in illustration the characters to be asymmetrical. The easiest means to accomplishing g this to make the clothing, particularly accessories, different on opposite sides of the body.


Illustrations for online use

Illustrations are crucial element for any Website. They make the click-happy viewer spend a bit more time looking at a page. No one likes to be confronted with a page full of text with no pictures and very often artwork will grab the imagination and take up far less bandwidth than photography. Here are ten tips by online illustrator and animator Andy Wyatt…

1. Use a suitable colour palette. Unlike print, where you have complete control over the colour, there is no way of telling what monitor a viewer will be using , so always reduce the risk by sticking to the standard Web palette of 216 colours, which will look pretty much the same on all computers and through all browsers.

2. Take care with colour graduations, and be careful if you use any graduations or blend between two colours. Even if they are Web-safe colours, the blended in between colour may turn nasty and murky. Check what they look like with your monitor set to 256 colours.

3. Keep things simple. The illustrations that seem to work the best online are the ones that are bold, simple and colourful. Intricate details and subtleties are likely to be lost, so don’t make the illustration too busy by outing in background action or lettering and expect it to be seen.

4. Be original. There are plenty of good illustration programs available, but all seem to create a very similar style by default. Experiment and develop your own unique look. Try using pens and pencils to begin with and scan your work in. then take it ti your illustration application. Sometimes it is great to get back to basics.

5. Scan artwork, if using traditional illustrations, always scan your artwork at the highest resolution (600dpi is safe free bet), then manipulate and shrink it ready for the web. Never publish an untreated scanned image, as there are always adjustment’s to be made. Badly scanned illustrations do you no favours.

6. Answer the brief, or keep the context in mind. A good illustration should be relevant to the text it is a accompanying. The illustration should give a clear indication of what the text is about. Test your roughs on people unfamiliar with the text you’re illustrating, to see if they can tell what it supposed to be about.


7. Protect your art work against piracy. You can safeguard against your artwork being stolen by placing a copyright symbol and your name, with the date, somewhere on the illustration. As an extra precaution, various software is available to digitally watermark your work, tracing unauthorized use on the web.

8. Create your image in the correct file format. Irrespective of how you created your illustration, always save your image in the most suitable compressed file format, the images with solid colours and sharp lines are best save as GIFs and illustration with gradients and blends work best as JPEGs.

9. Your image should download as quickly as possible. It’s no good having a lush illustration if it takes forever to download. With careful manipulation, it should be possible to reduce an illustration to the recommended size of 30-50K without losing noticeable quality.

10. Why not create an interactive illustration? Many illustrators/designers do not exploit the full multimedia potential of the web. Add interactivity to an illustration for extra effect. A picture of a sheep for example, could be made to ‘baa’ when the visitor’s mouse roles over the image, and it doesn’t detract from the text.


Mood and emotion

So much computer-generated artwork ends up looking flat, unfeeling and distant. If you want an illustration to engage your viewer, there are subtle tricks you can employ to play with their emotions, or to create a mood and atmosphere within your image. Freelance artist, Christian Tucker specializes in this sort of work, this is what he suggests…

1. Do not allow the machine to dictate your artistic direction. It’s extremely easy to exploit the power of technology to create something visually impressive, yet in doing so true artistic emotion doesn’t carry through. Think of the computer as a tool like any other and control it.

2. Use sketched work before employing the machine. My personal method of working is to sketch y ideas in pencil before I use photography or Photoshop. This enables me to gather and record my feelings and ideas for a piece when the muse strikes, and recall them later.

3. Think in terms of visual metaphors. Visual expression is a personal language that you can create, so try to interpret your feelings using your own imagination. Much more of my work explores male and female nudity, because I found endless ways of using form as an emotional metaphor.

4. Incorporate mixed media. Using a computer is the process of creation can be combined with traditional methods and different media. Use your own photography, paintings and sketches in your own work as these organic processes carry with them a mood of sensuality and physicality that cannot be achieved using the computer a lone.

5. Understand shape and forms. The contours of your subject matter will generate different feelings. Obtuse and circular shapes offer an organic feel, while sharper angular line can convey aggression. Use this knowledge as a guideline to expressing your ideas.

6. Use depth of field. Obliterating parts of the detail within an image using blurring techniques in Photoshop will bring an element of depth to your images. Used correctly can draw immediate attention to those parts of the image that remain focus.

7. use colour as expression. Colour can be used as a very powerful way to articulate emotion and atmosphere, using vibrations of hue and saturations. Use these controls with great care and consideration for the impact they will have on a final piece.

8. To create both dramatic and ambient moods, experiments with brightness and contras in Photoshop. Contrasting light indicates drama, where values that are closer together generate subtlety.

9. Use composition to achieve feeling. Symmetrical composition can give an impression of ease whereas asymmetry can create the feeling of tension. I use many forms of asymmetrical formations, separating subject matter from large areas of darkness which creates an air of enigma.

10. Use texture to reinforce concepts. Depending in the type of feeling you wish to convey, try using texture to enhance, rather than create, mood. Detailed texture can create dynamics and lack of textures create feelings of space, the ratio between gives a feeling distance.


Composition and structure

Creating images is only part if the purpose of the illustrator. As pretty or innovative as your pictures are, the basic function of an illustration is to communicate. You are a visual communicator. One of the best ways of ensuring your images speak with clear voice is to take a controlled approach to image composition. The illustrators at Magictorch provided the following tips.

1. Have a strong focal point to catch the viewer’s attention. This may seem obvious but it’s often neglected, leaving you with a bland piece of digital wallpaper.

2. Creating a pretty picture is only a half battle- remember that if you’re illustrating for print, your job is to communicate. You’re creating an image to advertise and complement a piece of text or product, so make sure your image has relevant meaning, it may be a cliché but it’s worth bearing in mind: a picture is worth of thousand words…

3. Successful internal geometry is key to reeling in the viewer-lead the viewer’s eye around the image as if telling a story. This is especially important if you’re aiming for quite a narrative-driven image.

4. Whether you’re using 3D or going for more flat graphical approach, set up a strong diagonal to draw the eye into the image and add a sense of movement to the composition. A further angled element running opposite direction may further increase the dynamics by setting up a conflict.

5. When using 3D for your images, it’s important to go for a dynamic angle rather than a central face-on view. Twist your camera and move the target (and therefore the vanishing point) away from the centre of the canvas. This gives an instant dynamic composition.

6. Placing the vanishing point roughly in the area where any text may sit will aid internal geometry dramatically-the perspective of the image will lead the viewer’s eyes towards the text.

7. Plan the structure of your image carefully from the outset, especially when working across a double-page spread. Think about the placement of key elements and their relationship with the magazine or editorial-steer clear of the page fold and keep your key elements away from any text if possible. Your image will lose impact if it clashes with the text.

8. Give through to any text that may accompany your image. If the text is going to run over your image on a magazine for examples, make sure you leave uncluttered areas for headline and copy. These areas should be tonally consistent-either light or dark so text can be easily read.

9. Make good use of your canvas area-use little imagination and you can double the impact of your image easily. Experiment with negative space and try breaking out of the canvas with your image. But make sure if it’s ok with your client first.

10. Don’t over do it. An image can be loaded with too many disparate elements vying for the viewer’s attention, so don’t be afraid to mercilessly chop things up or remove unnecessary elements. As a result you’ll have a purer, more concise image with a clear meaning.