Creative Biz Note #13

The Missing Tear Sheet Link

The "PixelBoys" (that's what our rep calls us) feel "it's" one of the most important elements to have on your portfolio website...very few artist sites have it and art directors love it...it's called a downloadable PDF tear sheet or a "virtual tear sheet".

Some of you that are just starting out may be saying,"What the heck is a tear sheet?" Well, a tear sheet is used in the advertising world--it's a page from a publication to prove to a client that an advertisement was published. An example, illustrators will receive about 500-1000 tear sheet pages from publishers for ads they place in source books. These ad pages can be handed out or placed in the back of a portfolio or even mailed for promotional purposes.

So, as an illustrator, you would want to have on your website/blog a downloadable PDF page (or two) displaying your best pieces. Everyone can view a PDF--Acrobat Reader is standard on most machines.

A Quick Story: From an art director's perspective, when I flip through a 400-page source book and find that one perfect illustrator--I eventually look on his or her website. I want to see more. At this point I will need to probably color copy the ad out of the cumbersome book and may even need a job number to make a damn color copy (if I work at a large agency)!!! Then I can take my color copy to the creative director's meeting to push the artist as a possibility for the project. I may be sticking this copied page on the wall as a reminder for a project that isn't scheduled to start until two months from now. Either path, a downloadable PDF would instantly place your art on the art director's machine allowing he or she to show other team players and print it out with ease. This is a very helpful tool.

The Idea: Make it easy for art directors and art buyers to sell your artwork.

Sites I've read on this subject: http://www.adbase.com/Insight

Next Creative Biz Note #14---Deductions: Keeping More of Your Money
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