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How to choose an artist at Colagene?

Are you wondering how to choose your future illustrator? First, define the desired style or technique for your project. Because at the clinic there are several choices: drawing by hand, drawing by lines, vintage or modern collage, 2D vector or 3D look, photomontage, cut paper, watercolor, realism photography, digital painting, 3D…

Then there are the different services: illustration, rough or storyboard, and motion design. We even have artists who offer the artistic direction, such as: Jenue, Pablo Pasadas, Wearbeard, Les Tontons Makers…

The color palette can also influence your choice, as artists often have a nice unity in their book or through a series of illustrations. A pastel signature and a more saturated one with bright colors do not give the same tone to a project. But, if you like a style, know that artists often want to explore other avenues to meet the constraints of a project and the result is often beautiful!

Does the project require the artist(s) to be from here and from Canada or may be from somewhere else? Sometimes, some brands promote local artists for a number of reasons: encouraging local artists, being well-regarded by their clientele, for grants or other...

The language of the artist can also be an important point, if the artist must speak French because your team is francophone, or the project requires a lot of exchanges and he or she must participate in person in a few meetings. A francophone, otherwise, if your teams are bilingual, all our artists speak English and especially write it very well and have experience.

The budget and the production time can also help to define which technique is favorable, some require more production time. For example: drawing or photo editing are faster, versus 3D or cut paper. Sometimes you have to look at a technique that provides a lot of flexibility for a more complex project that may require a lot of back and forth or precision in the expression of a concept.

The delivery format can also influence the chosen technique, for example it will be easier in vector for a campaign with several different media and large outdoor advertising formats. And, if we have to make declinations or use parts of the illustrations, the Photoshop format and the different layers well organized in the final file will be more than necessary. These two formats require additional time, versus the delivery of a flat file or a scanned drawing by hand or to the graphic palette.

It is also necessary to define if the project requires an artist with notoriety or rather a rising star in order to have a new style that will give a very unique touch to the advertising campaign, the magazine article or cover of a book, web pub or TV.

Will there be variations on other media or a need to animate everything? Our artists can do motion design, do illustration and even animation.

Colagene agents have a profile in graphic design and artistic direction in addition to being attentive and generous project coordinators. They can therefore help you choose the right artist according to the specific constraints or customer desires related to a project.

Please feel free to send us a few details by email at illustration@colagene.com or call us at +1 514-845-4730 so that we can offer you our best talents for a creative result. 

- Marie-Christine Brisson, Agent, Partner
+ Colagene, Creative Clinic