This Mess is a Place!

Well, my office is no more organized than it was a month ago. Every day I put it in order enough to work on my project, illustrations for Too Many Visitors for One Little House.

Even though my office is a mess, I think I’ve kept my project organized well enough to maintain sanity. One of the biggest challenges has been keeping the changes and updates of the illustrations in order. Working as a designer, I’ve learned to keep everything; probably too much. But it never fails; the thing that’s thrown away is requested later on down the line.

I like to keep as much of the project I can fastened in file folders and in chronological order. I have five file folders thick with thumbnails, roughs, final drawings, updated drawings, development notes and revisions. Not to mention the many files and folders of artwork on my computer. A chart with every page and description helps me to remember which drawings were sent, which required changes and which were approved.

My client and I spent a lot of time discussing the project over the telephone. We’d talk about character development and many other details for the illustrations. I’d then recap any discussions with an e-mail. I like following up with an e-mail because it’s just one more way to make sure we’re on the same page. Because I save them all until the project is complete, they’re also helpful if I need a reminder of what was discussed.

The project went very well. I enjoyed working with my client, the author and publisher of Too Many Visitors for One Little House, and hope to work together again in the future.

I’m almost done with the illustrations for my first picture book. I look forward to sharing it with you soon.

Until then, this mess is a place!

contributed by Veronica Walsh, children’s book illustrator and member of Wordsmiths