The Pains of Artists and Designers
– By George Macou
Much of the man-made beauty that we see in our day-to-day lives is the result of the passion, vision and creativity of extremely talented artists and designers.
We thrill at the creative use of materials, technical skill and imagination that combine to produce works of breathtaking visual and sensory impact.
We gain so much from their efforts, yet very few artists find the rewards and recognition that they need to make it possible to produce the volume of work that they are truly capable of.
In a world that demands that an artist has to make money in order to survive and continue to produce art, it is a lucky few that find commercial success and wealth without compromising their artistic integrity.
The challenges are many for artists and designers in markets that often seem better suited to mass-produced and cheaper competitors.
The high quality and premium nature of the pieces can often make it difficult to find a sufficient number of the right kind of customers for a designer’s work.
Making a profit while so much of money is tied up in the materials and pieces on show is often also a big challenge. Cashflow is a challenge that most businesses face, but it can slow you down and even stop you from being able to create, when you can’t buy more materials.
Many designers who use expensive materials have to find other work and save enough money before they are able to produce their first collection.
This can sometimes become a repeating pattern where the designer cannot produce a collection till they have amassed enough money and then can’t produce any other work till they start to sell their current collection.
These are often the main complaints that we encounter and ones that can appear to be impossible to solve without compromising the creative process or integrity of your work.
The irony is that it is not the type of art or design that holds that artist back from creating a profitable business, but the absence of a set of very similar creative qualities and technical skills that are focused on designing a complete business.
Every business is judged to be successful when it makes money and generates profits, but which artist or designer wants to be an accountant?
No business makes money unless it sells its products, but artists are not generally salesmen and salesmen can rarely be described as artists.
Business skills are undoubtedly part of the solution to making art and design profitable.
Rather than take on roles and personas that are not natural to you, the answer seems to be to take on support from professionals who are proficient in these skills and truly understand how to help you.
The right partnership can free you to be the artist that you know you are capable of being when everything that holds you back stops working against you and starts to work for you.
You must look for professionals who will work with your businesses to create cash-rich results that are in tune with artists and designers and their business and support them to achieve their goals.