Think about yourself as a potential freelance illustrator who is getting ready to undertake client-led work.
Identify an easy client you could work with. Somebody who would benefit from having an illustrator to do some work for them. Use SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats posed by such a venture. For example, working for a client may limit your creative freedom but provide you with a context in which to see your work, while working freelance gives you freedom, but also the problem of how you structure your time.
Document and reflect on the experience. What does this tell you about the skills you have and those you might need to develop further? What additional research do you need to do to understand how to work successfully with a client?
Rather than finding a particular client that I could hypothetically work for, I decided to instead base the SWOT Analysis on a generic client. I thought that possibly there would only be some very specific details to differentiate between clients, and so my assessment of the situation would be more or less the same regardless of the project. Additionally, I saw the SWOT analysis as an evaluation of me in the scenario, rather than a particular client, but maybe I have misinterpreted the point.
SWOT Analysis – Hypothetical Generic Client (HGC)
STRENGTHS
What do you do well? What unique resources can you draw on? What do others see as your strengths?
I am good at absorbing and processing information. This would enable me to interpret a client’s brief and understand what is required, or if any additional input from the client is needed.
Once committed to project or task, I focus all my energy and attention onto it until completion. I have regularly been informed that I am a very hard-working and efficient individual.
I do not think my illustration work follows a specific style or current trend, such as manga or fantasy art, which means I can offer a more unique, individualised approach.
I am proficient at written communication and thus would have no problem communicating with a client in this manner. I also believe I am continuing to develop the ability to communicate visually through images alone.
I am quite broad-minded and, therefore, would be open to working on most creative projects. I am a fast learner and enjoy learning new skills/information, so any novelty of a project would not deter me (although it would, of course, mean I would have even less experience and this may be a deterrent to some potential clients).
I am a non-confrontational individual and tend to build positive working relationships.
WEAKNESSES
What could you improve? Where do you have fewer resources than others? What are others likely to see as weaknesses?
If I did plan on working as a freelancer and, therefore, dealing with clients, I would absolutely need to work on improving my verbal communication skills so that I am able to interact effectively with the client and present my ideas. This also relates to increasing self-confidence/belief in my ideas and creative suggestions. In addition, I would benefit from becoming more assertive so that I am not taken advantage of by the client. On the other hand, I would need to ensure I did not become too attached to any work produced and accept constructive criticism by the client by not taking this as a personal ‘attack’. I would need to remember that, ultimately, the work is for the client and, therefore, they are entitled to have preferences that I may not feel are the best options.
Tied in to the above, I have very poor self-promotion skills and networking is my idea of a nightmare, so these are areas that would need to be considered. It seems that the creative world mostly revolves around ‘who you know’ so building up a selection of contacts is a major key to gaining work. I probably would be more open to self-promotion/increasing visibility in terms of a building a website portfolio or posting images of my work on Instagram, for example, rather than promotion in its face to face forms.
Although I stated in the Strengths section that I do not tend to produce work that fits into what is currently on trend, it would be prudent to be more knowledgeable about what this actually includes, in case a client does request something along these lines.
My lack of experience is a glaring weakness, which can only be gradually addressed by continuing to learn and produce work to, hopefully, demonstrate an increasing level of ability and knowledge.
Another side of working freelance that would need to be addressed is my lack of knowledge about the business and financial side of working in this capacity.
OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities are open to you? What trends could you take advantage of? How can you turn your strengths into opportunities?
Working for a client would allow me to gain experience, add to my portfolio and build up a reputation.
If successful, the work may lead to further projects together in the future as well as opening doors to other possibilities and contacts.
Working with a client who would be aware of my inexperience would offer the potential for constructive feedback and advice.
My current status as an inexperienced student, would likely mean a lower expectation from client (and lower financial investment) and, therefore, allow for greater room for experimentation.
THREATS
What threats could harm you? What is your competition doing? What threats do your weaknesses expose to you?
Working for free, or a bare minimum rate, could set a precedent that may follow me to future clients. I would need to be able to negotiate a fair fee that would not allow the client to take advantage of my lack of experience, which goes back to increasing self-confidence and assertiveness, as well as awareness of the current rate expectations.
Working in a home environment (i.e. my bedroom and not a separate studio space) allows for too many distractions, which could implicate on time management.
There is always the possibility of copyright infringement or the use of any work produced without consent, particularly if an illustration is displayed online. There is a lack of control that comes with producing work and releasing it into the world, which is why it important to know the rules when it comes to copyright, contracts and the like.
There is fine balance between having a certain specialism in terms of, for instance, style or media, associated with your work or being too generalised. This could, perhaps, be addressed by knowing if there is a specific area of illustration I would most like to work in or whether I would rather be seen as more of ‘all-rounder’ in terms of what I can offer.
There are so many illustrators/artists available for work, that it is very difficult to stand out in the crowd. This is where self-promotion, developing a brand or having ‘personality’ online seem to play their part, although whether all of these individuals are actually very ‘good’ is probably dependent on personal taste.
Final Thoughts
I am not sure that I completed the SWOT Analysis exactly as suggested in the brief, I did find it quite useful to note down the various points looking at my current strengths and weaknesses in general. I could not, however see myself producing one of these for any hypothetical work with future clients.
What does this tell you about the skills you have and those you might need to develop further?
The process of working through the SWOT Analysis highlighted more or less what I was already aware of in terms of my current skills and what I need to work on, and these have been outlined above.
What additional research do you need to do to understand how to work successfully with a client?
I believe a good starting point would be to join the AOI and continue to look through the resources provided by the organisation as I found the free ones to be very insightful. Joining the AOI wold also mean I could contact them for advice on charging clients, etc, which would be invaluable at the early stages of a potential career as a freelancer.
Bibliography
Mind Tools Content Team (2023) SWOT Analysis – Understanding Your Business, Informing Your Strategy. Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/amtbj63/swot-analysis (Accessed 15 February 2025).