No.91 The Guidebook For Independent Illustrators

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No.91 The Guidebook For Independent Illustrators丨独立插畫師的生存指南

In this age, career building and survival methods are more diverse. The flourish of events like art book fairs and art festivals, numerous expression tunnels provided by social media, and the ever-increasing demands for various creating styles from brands, have all blessed artists of different types and experience with endless possibilities in career building and professional path. Among them, “independent illustrator” is probably a group that has been shining brighter, and has attracted many to join.

What is “independent illustrator”? Many may imagine this occupation to be a pleasant one, because independence and freelance implies freedom in project choosing and time arrangement, and financial independence while doing what you are good at and what you truly enjoy. But the reality is not that simple — it is more like a room where angels and devils coexist: a freelance workday is usually more messy, requiring the artist to spend time and energy on management and communication outside their creation. For freelancers, time management and mentality adjustment may be more stressful and difficult than for full-time workers.

這是一個職業發展與生存方式越來越多面向的時代。藝術書展、藝術集市等新型活動的興起、不同社交媒體平台帶來的多種發聲渠道、各大品牌對多元風格作品日漸增加的需求，都讓不同類型與資歷的創作者有了更多的發展空間與職業路徑。在這當中，“獨立插畫師”可能是越來越耀眼、並且吸引許多人加入的一個群體。

何為獨立插畫師?在許多人的想象中，成為獨立插畫師是一件令人嚮往的事情，因為它往往意味著可以按照自己步調去創作與挑選項目，並且自由地調整創作節奏，在做著喜歡且擅長的事情同時還能實現經濟獨立。但現實更多是“天使”與“魔鬼”並存的局面——獨立經營下的工作日常往往更雜亂無章，需要在創作以外花費更多的力氣與時間去處理運營與溝通的問題。在這種情況下，時間管理與心態調整可能比起正職工作者都有著更大的壓力與難度。