Who we are
Think of us as translators, diplomats, even midwives. We are the defenders of both a client’s dreams and an artists’s rights. We have been both clients and artists ourselves, and there is nothing more rewarding to us than fostering collaboration that is truly positive and rewarding to all parties involved.
Why we are
By day we have secret identities and work within some of the leading publishing houses, game companies, tech startups, and film production houses across many industries. We love the work we do in our day jobs, and we are also deeply connected to the creative work going on beyond our company walls. From our vantage-point we see a lot of projects go south that have no reason to, and we know we can make the process better for everyone. We created Drawn + Drafted as a way to do that, while respecting the legal limits of the companies that pay our bills. We want to build and make our own things using processes that are proven. We want to create a better way for clients and artists to work together.
What is an Art Director?
Art Directors exist at the juncture between thinkers and authors and entrepreneurs who have amazing ideas on the one side, and artists and illustrators and designers who can shape those ideas and bring them into concrete reality on the other. Collaborating is always a translation game, and the goal is to get everyone speaking the same language at every step of the process so everyone hits the common goal, the success of the project. As art directors, what we are really good at is speaking multiple languages and helping both ends of a project team understand the risks, challenges, and priorities of the other.
Education and Workflow
To this end, we are focusing on two fronts. First, we are educating both artists and clients about the Business of Art. We are doing this through in-person workshops and through our forthcoming book, Make Art Work. At the same time we are trying to establish and refine the perfect workflow for freelance art projects. We are bringing this workflow to the projects we Art Direct at Drawn + Drafted. If you need art we can help you find it and get it made. If you make art we want to help you with your passion project.
More information
If you are an artist looking for freelance work, please sign up on our roster. If you are a client with a project you need help with, email us. To be kept up to date on the many projects we have in the works, sign up for our newsletter below. We plan on fixing how the art freelance world works, and we’d love to have all of you along with us on that quest.