How to survive as a 3D artist
As creatives, we are passionate about our craft and feel a deep personal attachment to what we do. This is great on the one hand, as it motivates us to continuously improve our work and learn new things. However, this also means that we are emotionally connected to what we do and find it very difficult to look at it objectively or to compromise.
I think its really important not to become too entrenched in our traditional ideas of how the creative industry used to work. Agencies are adapting their business models in order to survive, the creative industry as a whole has been suffering a decline, due mainly to economic factors and the general devaluing of digital art and to some extent AI.
It can’t only be external factors like the economy and the evolution of AI that are the problem, as I know many creatives who are doing really well -
I sometimes get asked for advice from people starting in the industry or freelancers looking to switch from agency work to working directly with clients, I always explain that continuous success has very little to do to with their talent or technical knowledge.
Ive noticed that with a lot of creatives, they find it very easy to talk in detail about the technical aspects of their work, but lack the confidence when it comes to ‘selling themselves’ and communicating to potential clients the many other valuable skills they can offer clients that can set them apart. i.e.
Creative Thinking - being able to brainstorm effectively and come up with creative ideas is very valuable to clients.
Personality - People will always be drawn to working with people they like and feel good working with. You don’t need to be an extrovert either, just play on your strengths.
Uniqueness - Offering ‘your’ own specific niche and/or recognisable ‘style’ -
Flexibility - you can adapt or change the direction of a project on a whim
Connection - You understand how visual art effects peoples emotion instinctively and directly.
Sadly, many technical tasks will become less and less valuable in the future, this is inevitable. So, I think its really important to separate what we ‘do’ from who we ‘are’, as a lot of task based jobs risk being replaced by automation. We need to shout about the value we have as creative ‘people’ and what we offer is more than just knowing how to use software or producing a nice image or animation. We offer our life experience, unique ideas and the ability to connect emotionally with an audience.
The truth is, things are never going back to how they were, and none of us really know what the future holds. We as creatives are able to think ‘outside the box’ so we should exploit this ability and search for those potential opportunities.
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