Novant Health almost made me quit illustration
- robwbates
- Dec 10, 2019
- 3 min read
The Graphic Arts Manager from Novant Health (who will remain unnamed) emailed me in the summer of 2016 requesting that I work on a large private commission for their corporate office in uptown Charlotte. He and I met at a local coffee shop a few days later to discuss project ideas, logistics, and timelines. The concept sounded neat; he wanted me to create two large illustrations (70"x30" and 50"x30") that resembled a corporate graphic facilitation comprising of several small illustrations tied together with text. Each vignette would reflect one or more of the company's recent successes or milestones that would include cameos of some of their department heads.
He originally wanted me to paint these by hand on large canvases, but I convinced him to just let me paint these digitally in Photo Shop to avoid unnecessary hassle and expenses. Upon completion, I would give him the high resolution files to be printed on large canvases. He agreed and handed me a laundry list of written milestones to be converted into pictures. The cost of the commission was $4,500 and I was excited to get started.
I wish I kept all of the hand drawn revisions that I cranked out. Each one took quite a while, which lead to my decision to do them digitally in Photo Shop. There were at least 30 of those for the first piece which, looking back, was insane. He would ask me to do one thing, and then change his mind and want something else. I had an entire month to work on this and we were already on week 2 with nothing to show for it.
The change up to digital was the most common sense thing to happen in this entire experience. I was able to modify errors with remarkable speed and ease without killing our rainforests. Despite the refreshing level of comfort, I still produced one revision after the next. First, he wanted one image to be in aubergine and the other in a specific type of gray (company colors). However, after I submitted the color sketch of the 70"x30" grey version for final approval, he changed his mind and wanted aubergine for both.
A handful of revised color sketches later, he found one that he liked and gave me the green light to create the final draft. The final draft was a success, and it was the start of week 3, where I directed my attention to the second piece.
Out of habit, I started the second piece with a rough pencil sketch just to establish a general layout. Revisions were needed as expected, so I reverted back to digital to make the requested mods. As you can imagine, there were many of them.
After nailing down the concept sketch to the second illustration, I worked on its loose color sketch counterpart. It had been nearly 4 weeks since the beginning and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. To leave no stone unturned, I sent him a composite of the finished first piece and the color sketch of the second piece, including notes of the revisions that were made per request. I knew that it would be a downhill glide to payday-ville once I got my hands on the final draft. Things were looking up!
The Graphic Arts Manager called me a few days later to say that his boss wanted a redo of the first piece because it looked too realistic. This was not the news that I expected to hear. Through my teeth, I kindly asked him why in the world would he give his stamp of approval to something if he didn't have the final say so. He did not have a clear explanation, as he fully understood that it was he to blame for needlessly dragging this assignment through the mud.
Annoyed, I ordered a kill fee that prompted the project's demise for a sum of $2,500 with the stipulation that prohibited Novant Health from ever using my illustrations. He agreed and had payroll send me a check a few weeks later.
To describe it best, the project was a revision vacuum followed by a figurative backhand slap of disappointment. I wanted nothing to do with the illustration field for years because of this experience, alone. Looking back, that journey gave me quite the education that no university or art school could ever give you. I learned that contracts are important and revisions should be kept to a minimum with a charge for all additional mods.
This was one commission that I would rather forget but can't.
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