You can’t make a change if don’t know where you are starting from. That’s why we survey our collective rosters once every two years to understand how diverse they are and hold ourselves accountable moving forward.
All of the illustration agencies which form Agents for Change sent out a survey to the artists they represent, asking them a series of questions about their background and experiences as professional illustrators.
Let’s take a look at the results…
How diverse are our rosters?
The primary aim of our annual survey is to gauge how diverse our collective roster of artists is. We started with a series of questions about each illustrator’s identity and background. The answers show us that, of the artists surveyed…
23.7% come from a BAME background
20.1% identify as LGBTQ+
13.2% are living with a learning difficulty
11.9% are living with a disability
When compared to the results from the previous year, these show a steady increase across the board. For example, the number of illustrators from the BAME community has risen from 19.9% to 23.7%; while the amount of artists identifying as LGBTQ+ has almost doubled, going from 10.4% to 20.1%.
These results are encouraging but there is still a substantial amount of work to be done. The number of illustrators on our rosters who are living with a disability increased from 2.6% to 11.9% year-on-year. However, this statistic should be closer to 22% to reflect the true proportion of people living with a disability in the UK today.
Is higher education a help or a hindrance?
While all answers were kept anonymous to allow illustrators to speak freely, there was lots of opportunity for respondents to offer their opinion about different topics.
When we asked about higher education, and whether it was a help or a hindrance to an illustrator’s career, we received a wide array of contrasting commentary…
“Higher education definitely helped but I also think it wasn't a necessary stepping stone. Having a good portfolio, however you develop it, is key.”
“Whilst no one enquires about my education it definitely gave me connections in the industry and taught me how to articulate myself in a professional way.”
"Higher education allowed me to make the right kind of connections and learn about the industry.”
“Higher education gave me more confidence in my ability to articulate myself.”
“The topic of my education has never come up with any clients or even with my agents - that's why I don't feel it's as relevant.”
“The fact to didn’t have a higher education was not a hindrance in my career because not having it gave me a lot of freedom in my creative process and taught me to search and understand things by myself.”
Only 7.7% of the illustrators on our rosters didn’t receive higher education. Studying a creative subject - even if it isn’t specifically illustration - at college or university is still the most common first step into the industry. However, whether your time spent in education is necessary or even worthwhile is still very much open to debate.
Is it good to have another job?
A quarter - 25.9% to be exact - of the illustrators we surveyed have another job to support their income. This result could be seen as a negative, reinforcing the stereotype that it isn’t possible to earn a decent income as an illustrator. However, while there are cons to having a side hustle to help pay the bills, there can be pros too…
“I have an easy graphic design job on top of my illustration freelance job. This negatively impacts the amount of time I have to work on projects but positively impacts the creative process, in that I'm always gaining new skills. Balancing my time between the two jobs has made my workflow very fast and efficient. Having a reliable salary reduces stress.”
“Having another job allows me to switch off from my creative process from time to time and inspires me in new ways.”
“I think the right part-time job can really enliven your creative practice. They're definitely not all made equal and some don't leave you with the energy.”
“Today, I'd say illustration represents 75% of my income and I could probably live solely from it, but I don't want to, as I tend to get bored and feel stuck when only doing one creative practice.”
“My 'other job' is still art - but a different style and under a different name. I wear different hats for different projects.”
From lowering stress levels to enhancing skills, having another job can have massive benefits. At the same time, the physical and mental fatigue that comes with working can be draining when all you want to do is illustrate full-time. Whether is it something they love or hate, having another job is a reality for a lot of illustrators.
Have you experienced or witnessed discrimination?
We were keen to gather as many real-life experiences with our survey and not to shy away from the more challenging topics in the industry. With this in mind, we asked all of the illustrators, if they were comfortable doing so, to share any examples of discrimination they had witnessed or experienced over the past two years.
More than one in ten of our respondents shared a story about discrimination with us. Here is a small selection of their experiences…
“I am discriminated against for my age, gender, and because I don't speak perfect English (I'm French, living and working in the UK). I don't have concrete proof of it but I can remember a few relationships with male clients that have changed after meeting in person. They took me less seriously, paid late, or I lost the contract altogether.”
“I am constantly discriminated against based on the fact that I am an ‘Eastern-European girl’. I face a lot of bias, stereotypes, and misogyny from others.”
“While painting a mural, A white man kept asking me where the boss is. He wouldn’t accept that I was the illustrator and mural artist on site. He really wanted to see a white face. This happens frequently.”
“I had a very negative experience with a male creative director who was incredibly patronising and condescending once he found out I was a female.”
“I received a brief specifically requesting someone from a cultural group that I am not a part of. It was clear that the client hadn't bothered to find the right person before trying to commission me.”
“Representation of race in actual artwork seems to be perceived differently by white people. Non-white individuals aren't black or white - it's a whole range of skin colours - and on more than one occasion I was pushed to fill that binary. It's frustrating as a Chinese American to see my own skin getting erased from my own work."
“I'd say the difference in budgets and timelines when it comes to projects covering ethnic diversity. Those projects don't feel as well catered as other projects commissioned through-out the year.”
“Trans-exclusionary language in certain jobs. A friend was also not given certain publishing opportunities because the publishers ‘already have a queer/non-binary author’."
“I didn’t get hired for a job because I am a woman. I was told as a joke ‘if you strap your boobs down’ and that I would distract the men in the team.”
There is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to safeguarding artists. Whether an illustrator is at home emailing a client or out on the street painting a mural, it is important that they feel comfortable and able to express their views. Making sure everyone feels not only fairly represented but also safe working in our industry is at the forefront of our mission.
What are the biggest barriers in an illustrator’s path?
Finally, we had one big question we wanted to gain some insight on: what do you think are the main barriers for illustrators entering the industry and sustaining a career? We received a huge amount of varied and in-depth answers to this question. Reading through them all, we have been able to decipher the main challenges facing illustrators today:
A lack of financial support and security
Finding and maintaining relationships with clients and art directors
Establish an online presence and marketing your business
Having the confidence in your work and articulating what you do
Social media giving an unrealistic view of the industry
Resources and information being gatekept and not shared equally
It’s worth noting that a huge proportion of respondents mentioned financial difficulties in their answers. From a lack of funding in education and early careers to clients offering unacceptably-low fees, money is one of the larget barriers to our industry. And with the cost of living crisis hitting illustrators at all stages in their careers, these issues have only intensified.
Thank you so much to all of the illustrators who took part in our annual survey for being so open and honest about your experiences. The insight we have gathered from your responses has been invaluable when planning our next steps.
There is still so much work to be done to make the illustration industry truly inclusive and equally accessible to all. From statistics about representation to stories about discrimination, all of the evidence we have gathered through the survey exemplifies exactly why projects such as Agents for Change are needed.
We are currently putting plans in place for initiatives which will specifically tackle the issues outlined above. Watch this space…
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