The Good Ship Illustration

Latest Episodes:

The burnout life raft (for when you're drowning in to-dos) Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Show Notes

Feeling frazzled & running on illustration fumes? You're definitely not alone!

In this episode, we wade on in to discuss the murky waters of burnout. Don't worry, we've got your life raft right here! We chat about what burnout actually IS, why it seems to be so common amongst illustrators & creatives, and most importantly, what you can do to nip it in the bud, or escape it if you're already knee-deep.

So grab a cuppa, put your feet up, and recharge your batteries with us for a bit.

Timestamps:

00:38 Defining burnout

04:37 💰 What's money got to do with it anyway?

04:54 The Instagram hamster wheel and how to escape it

05:35 Virtual assistants = sanity savers

11:30 "Illustrator's boob" - yep, it's a thing!

Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com
p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

What do illustrators DO all day? Featuring keep-fit cuppas, & coworking 🤓 Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

Are you as nosy as we are? Weyyyy, you're in the right place.
In this episode, we talk about our daily routines as illustrators. What do we DO all day?

We discuss morning routines, our creative processes (or lack thereof), and the importance of deciding when to eat dinner.

When we said we'd love to hear about your day-in-the-life, we mean it! Come over to Instagram and say hello / tag us in your daily routine posts :) We're @thegoodshipillustration on there.

Timestamps:

00:18 Tell us about your day, then

01:46 Morning routines

04:02 Keep-fit cups of tea

05:37 Daily work and to-do lists

07:57 Balancing work and toddler-wrangling

14:32 Tania = the night owl

Should I have 2 websites?” + how many mailers until you see results? Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!
You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you're listening to this, you can jump into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car' challenge here in the meantime:
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar

(Once those Business Course doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)
Show Notes
As soon as we start talking about marketing for illustrators, we (almost always) get the question, 'Should I have a separate Instagram account for my illustration work?'
See also: Do I need more than one website? Do I need more than one newsletter?
In this episode we're answering that burning question, plus lots more all about the rollercoaster that is sharing your illustration work online.
Your online presence does NOT have to be shiny and polished. We're all about done-is-better-than-perfect, and we hope this episode gives you the firm-but-tender Good Ship kick up the bum you need to start sharing your stuff more consistently, whatever consistency means to you.
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro and today’s big question
00:36 – One account or two?
01:25 – The “doorway method” for your website
04:38 – Juggling different styles in one space
05:38 – Why adding a personal touch is key
10:18 – Tweaking your marketing so that you get noticed
19:52 – Wrapping it all up with some final thoughts
p.s. it's NOT all about social media. We talk about offline options that are super effective too.

Get your illustration work noticed by people who actually want to buy it. Oct 16, 2024

Show notes

Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!
You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you’re listening to this, you can join the waiting list for a future round. You can get stuck into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car’ challenge here in the meantime: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar

(Once those doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)
**Shownotes:**

Yes yes, there is a HUGE amount of joy to be had in the creative side of illustration.
But when your work is both a joy to make, and sells well, too? That's a whole new level of good stuff.
In this episode, we talk all about selling your work! All 3 of us have run online shops at some point in our illustration careers, and we dig into the things that worked for us to get our work seen and, most importantly, sold.

We're not shy about talking about pricing and the perils (+ good bits) of managing an online shop and in this episode you can expect

🚢 Social media marketing for illustrators running a product-based business
🚢 Building an email newsletter audience
🚢 Selling your illustrations & illustrated products at fairs
🚢 Running an online shop & more 🤩
See you in there!
x Helen, Katie & Tania

Timestamps:

00:00 Hello!

00:59 Running an online shop: what's it like? What works well?

03:15 Marketing strategies 🤓 for online shops

04:38 Pre-selling - your new secret superpower (so that you don't end up living in a house full of unsold products.)

07:37 Postage challenges

09:46 Selling to other shops and wholesale
13:28 Pricing strategies and stuff to consider
20:36 In-Person Markets and Pop-Up Shops

23:17 👋🏻 Byee!

Busy? How to handle multiple illustration projects like a pro. Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!
You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you’re listening to this, you can join the waiting list for a future round. You can get stuck into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car’ challenge here in the meantime: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar

(Once those doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)
**Show Notes: **

In today’s business podcast **puffs up shoulder pads** we had a good chat about the fine art of juggling when you have more than one illustration project on the go.

Setting boundaries and managing expectations came up a LOT. Clear communication and smart scheduling are biggies, especially when it comes to working with publishers and keeping yourself sane & your deadlines on track. We also touch on negotiating rush fees and the importance of having a dedicated schedule for client feedback so you don’t get stuck in one of those endless revision loops of doom! 😩

Plus, we grilled Helen on the nitty-gritty of working in the publishing world.

Behoooold, the timestamps!

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction and Listener Questions

00:22 – Managing Multiple Projects and Avoiding Burnout

01:00 – Scheduling and Client Communication

05:53 – Setting Boundaries and Handling Rush Jobs

07:43 – Client Feedback and Project Management

10:58 – Publishing Industry Insights

16:42 – A nice awkward Good Ship goodbye 👋

Pricing your illustration work 💸 & how to handle ghost-clients that disappear 👻 Bit of a scary episode. Sorry about that. Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

Welcome aboard the Good Ship Illustration podcast! In this spooky, scary episode, we tackle one of the trickiest areas for illustrators: pricing and negotiations. (Aaaagh!)
Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!
You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you’re listening to this, you can join the waiting list for a future round. You can get stuck into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car’ challenge here in the meantime: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar

(Once those doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)

**Show Notes:**

In this episode, we dusted off the crumbs from our Greggs Vegan sausage rolls (v good lunch Helen, thank you) and settled into Tania’s living room for a thorough no-holds-barred chat about MONEY STUFF.
One of our favourite things to talk about is how different the money/pricing stuff can be in different markets, and different bits of the illustration industry.
We put the world to rights and covered everything from knowing what’s ‘normal’ in the industry, to how to negotiate fees for different types of projects. Budgets can really vary depending on the market. We also bang on about the importance of charging what you’re worth. (And we’ll carry on doing that until the starving artist myth is where it belongs → in the bin.)
Ghosting from clients? It happens to the best of us. We share some tips in this episode on how to deal with it, and why it’s important not to take the silence personally.
Katie gets excited about how much she loves using automation to manage the behind the scenes stuff in her business. And to wrap things up, we remind you to think of yourself as a business, not just a creative. Your creativity brings HUGE value to your clients. Don’t forget it.
Charge your worth.
If you’d like a bit of help with quoting confidently, come and have a look at The Business Course. We’ve got a whole entire module dedicated to the money stuff (the practical bits *and* the mindset stuff.)

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

Timestamps:

00:06 – Navigating pricing as an illustrator

01:00 – Negotiation tactics and client budgets

03:06 – Understanding the publishing world

10:55 – Dealing with clients ghosting you

14:52 – The Smeg Story 😆 and rejections

15:54 – Business systems and processes

19:37 – Final thoughts and one of our nice traditional awkward Good Ship goodbyes

Figuring out your illustration style - how long does it take? Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

Feeling stuck? Creative block be GONE! Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

This episode is chock full of our very toppest of tips for overcoming creative block. Buckle in 🙂

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

Want to get your illustrations published? Here are Good Ship’s top tips Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

This episode is JUICY. Here’s a checklist of action items if you want to put it on your studio wall and get some more eyeballs on your work.

Reach out to publishers directly by sending samples and requesting meetings to show your folio and get feedback
Send out batches of samples at a time
Follow up with publishers by sending new samples every 3 months
Research publisher websites and publications like The Writer and Artist Yearbook to find calls for submissions that match work
Ask other illustrators for recommendations on who provides constructive portfolio reviews (not all portfolio reviews are created equal!)
Consider sending thumbnail sketches and illustration samples in addition to dummy books for feedback from publishers

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

How to describe your illustration style Apr 22, 2024

Show notes

In this episode we dig into some juicy questions about describing your own work (aaaargh!) marketing, authenticity, and using your past to find your creative voice.

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

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