Interview: Ari Liloan
After quitting her job and going freelance at the start of a global pandemic, Ari Liloan has since made a name for herself as a successful freelance illustrator.
We spoke to her about journeying into illustration, nocturnal working habits and advice for dealing with life as a freelancer.
Can you explain your job in two sentences?
I create images for brands and publications. Usually exploring timeless topics such as death, love, money, power and fried chicken, through a surreal and optimistic lense. (Sometimes funny, but that’s more of a bonus point.)
What’s a typical workday for you?
I’m based in Berlin but as my clients are mostly American I sort of adjust to their timezone which means that I usually get up rather late and work unholy hours. It works well with my circadian rhythm though, I have always been a nocturnal animal. Administration tasks and sketching come first and I reserve the dark hours for drawing vector curves and listening to audiobooks. I especially recommend listening to horror or crime when you have to do an all nighter. It’s really hard to feel sorry for yourself while hearing someone being eaten alive by zombies. Believe me, I’ve tried.
What are the perks?
Dealing only with people you want to deal with and being so immersed in your work you forget to eat and shower.
What are the challenges?
Harassing the accounting department to pay on time. Staying “on brand” without becoming a one trick pony.
"
It’s easy to create intriguing images, but can you do that in a way that solves a client's problem and appeals to a target audience without betraying your own style and approach?
What are you most proud of?
Creating a body of work that I enjoy myself and is useful to my clients as well and signing with my dream agency Roar.
Can you take us through your career path (from start to now) in 3 paragraphs?
My “path” is more like a Jackson Pollock painting as I started out just in March 2020, 2 weeks before Covid hit Germany. I quit my job at an ad agency to go full time freelance. Starting out I already had a couple of house clients and enough savings in case I'd have a slow start in the industry, so I didn’t panic the way I usually do.
After a few months I had clients such as The Guardian, New York Magazine and LA Times under my belt, so a couple of design blogs and platforms started sharing my work and everything started snowballing from there. Some awards and signing with an agent followed. I swear nobody is more surprised about this than me. Sometimes I still suspect I’m just having corona fever dreams. Magnificent fever dreams.
In 2021 I branched out outside of editorial into branding and advertising work for clients such as Facebook, Instagram and Audible. I also joined the Vegan Media Hub “ANTAGONIST” centering radical kindness, as we share the goal of marrying ethics with aesthetics.
Were there hurdles along the way?
I vowed to be as uncomplaining as possible because I do get to draw for a living. Of course there are downsides like the constant income insecurity but overall my life has never been more interesting (In every definition of the word). It’s neither heavenly or hellish but vaguely purgatorial.
Is this the career you thought you’d have?
No. Growing up I always hated drawing with a fiery passion as art seemed just so beyond me as a more mathematically minded person. Back then I had this misconception that creativity is just like the disdain for incest. You simply have it. Or you don’t. In fact you can aspire to something that isn’t your natural ability and I do enjoy rattling at the bars of my own identity.
Who do you look to for inspiration?
I cyberstalk Yuko Shimizu (in the least creepy way possible) for some words of wisdom.
What advice would you offer someone wanting to break into the industry?
“The Arena UK” has a mentoring program and I had the honour of mentoring 8 kickass emerging artists. The common denominator that might be lacking in the work of people just starting out is the ability to work under a brief or at least giving context to one's work.
It’s easy to create intriguing images, but can you do that in a way that solves a client's problem and appeals to a target audience without betraying your own style and approach? If you are a creative person chances are you don’t always have the commercial aspect in mind but you are a business. One's artistic pride might rebel against the thought of working with unfamiliar subject matter or existing colour palettes. But your creative instinct isn’t always your friend so try to think of project restrictions and briefs as interesting instead of burdening.
Anything else you’d like to tell us, go for it.
On average Illustrators are such nice people. I’ve never met a colleague who wasn’t a truly kind person, so please don’t hesitate to reach out. Whether it is asking for advice if you calculated your fee correctly, looking at your portfolio or just someone to whine to because procreate keeps crashing. Always happy to help.
Contact Us
Sign up to our newsletter:
© Diversifying Illustration CIC - Registered Company Number: 13651546