Whatever part I take, it does not come back half done. If it is the illustration, you get the agreed artwork. If it is the whole pack, you get it laid into your dieline.
A fixed layout. Or an open brief.
Illustration and illustrated packaging for branding studios and art directors.
My part can start with either one. We agree what is fixed, what is open, and what comes back at the end.
Where the work starts.
The layout is fixed.
You send the layout, the colours, the references and the space the drawing has to fill. I draw that part and return the artwork we agreed on.
The brief is open.
You send the brand, the product and the limits. I come back with a few directions, not one. I explain what each one does on the shelf, and finish the one you pick.
Most projects are between the two. What is decided and what is still open — we agree that first.
01 · Creative fit
One hand, six registers.
Illustrators are told to pick a style and stay in it.
I was trained the other way. Charcoal, sanguine, pastel, watercolour, oil, monochrome painting — one after another, for years, and you don't get to like all of them.
The materials were never the point. Construction, tone and composition don't change when the tool does. That part transfers.
The six below give us a working range, not six separate styles.
Point at two of them and tell me what belongs between them. That is enough to start.
Working from your moodboard is normal. Copying a named illustrator is not.
02 · Professional fit
What is set. What I solve.
01
We agree the line first.
What is already decided stays decided. What is still open becomes my part. That line is different in every project, and we set it before the work starts.
02
Questions come first.
I ask what I need at the beginning, while changes are still cheap. I will not read your mind. I look for the gaps early.
03
The answer matches the brief.
A tight brief gets a precise answer. An open brief gets directions, reasons and a recommendation.
04
One set of comments per round.
Art director, account, client — however many people look at it, what reaches me should be one agreed list. If two comments point different ways, I say so before I draw either one.
05
My part comes back finished.
Sketches you can show your client. Decisions I can explain. Changes carried through. Files in the format we agreed.
03 · Production fit
Built to your printer's specs.
I work with the dieline and the specs you send, place the artwork in them, and hand over the final files. If the printer asks for corrections to my file, I fix them until it is accepted. That is part of the job.
A new dieline, a different size or a changed pack is a new brief. I quote that separately.
What stays where.
The client and the brand stay with you.
The relationship is yours. Everything goes through you.
I don't need to know who the end client is unless you tell me. I don't appear in their meetings, and I don't write to them. Your NDA is fine — send it over.
I am responsible for the part you give me.
Inside the line we agreed, I make the decisions and I carry the result.
Half the decisions in any project were never in the brief. I make those and tell you what I chose and why, so you can put it in front of your client without translating it first. When something doesn't add up, you hear it early, while it's still cheap to change.
Start with one part.
A drawing inside an existing label. One illustrated pack. One character for a system already in place. Real work with a clear limit — fixed price, fixed scope, a date agreed before I start, and no need to continue after it.
What things cost.
Fixed fee per job, priced from the scope you send. Same numbers whether it's your first project with me or your fifth.
Illustration inside your design.
€500–800
You've got the layout, the type and the logo. I draw into it — knowing where the header sits, what must stay clear, and where the figure has to lead the eye. More constrained than a standalone illustration, not less work.
Illustrated label or packaging.
€900–1,200
Brief, references and product from you; design and illustration from me, built together rather than one after the other. Includes laying it into the dieline you supply and taking the file through to the printer's acceptance.
Next label in the range.
€600
Once the first one exists, the rules are already set, so the next label costs less than the first — a new drawing, but not a new system. Longer ranges are priced as a run.
A cast of characters.
€1,200
For the shared framework and the first character, then €400 for each one after. For brands that need a new hero every season rather than one hero forever.
Large key visuals and poster compositions are quoted separately.
Before you ask.
How much direction do you need?
As much as the project already has. A finished layout can be the brief. So can a brand, a product and a problem to solve. We agree what is fixed, what is open and what I am responsible for before I start.
Who makes the creative decisions?
You keep the client, the strategy and the brand system. I make the decisions inside the part you give me, within the direction we agreed.
What rights does the client receive?
An exclusive, worldwide, perpetual licence to use the artwork on packaging, merch, print and marketing — the same terms as if they'd hired me directly. The copyright stays with me, as it normally does in illustration, unless a buyout is agreed separately.
Can we pass that licence on to our client?
Yes, to the client named in the project — included, not a separate line, and it doesn't lapse if they later stop working with you. What it isn't is a general right to resell the artwork onward to other clients.
What files do you hand over?
The standard set is PDF, AI, EPS and PNG, built to the dieline and specs you supply. If a project needs something else, or layered working files, we agree that before I start.
What if the printer rejects the file?
Then I fix it. Corrections to my artwork against the dieline and specs you supplied are included until the file is accepted — that's the job, not an extra. A new dieline, a different size, a changed pack or a different substrate is a different brief, and I'll price it as one.
Will you publish the work?
After the public launch, never before it — tell me the date and I'll hold it. If your client's agreement runs on a different schedule, or rules out contractor publication, say so at the start and we'll write that in.
Do we have to credit you?
No. Nothing has to carry my name — white-label is normal and I won't ask. When I show the work in my own portfolio the branding is credited to your studio and the illustration to me, in whatever wording you give me.
What's your day rate?
I don't work in days. Illustration is quoted as a fixed fee for the job, so an overrun is my problem rather than a line on your invoice. Send the scope and you'll get a number quickly.
Do you take on pitch work?
Yes, at a fixed fee, priced the same whether you win the account or not. Speculative work isn't something I do — your commercial risk shouldn't become mine.
What about revisions?
Two rounds are included. Further changes are quoted before I make them — repainting a character and changing numbers on the back are different jobs, and they shouldn't cost the same.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes. Send yours over.
Do you work with direct clients too?
I do, and those prices are published in the open. They're a different product: a brand buying a finished label system isn't buying the same thing a studio buys from me.
Tell me which part you want to hand over.
Send the layout, the open problem, or anything between them. I'll tell you what I can take from there.