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3 Ways To Make Money From Your Art

Freelancing is a brilliant way to be your own boss and set your own schedules, to travel wherever you want to travel and still be able to work, to sit on a beach, under the shade of a palm tree and painting away on some cool new game concept designs. It’s just really cool!

Of course there are downsides to it, but we’re not focusing on those today. Today we are looking at a few ways you can make money from being a digital designer. There are countless of gigs out there that need design work; everything from small company logos to game concept art to posters for local concerts – the list is endless.

I have worked on many different projects as a designer and concept artist, and here are some things I have found to be good sources for income as a travelling freelancer artist:

 

#1. Album artworks

 

Music is everywhere, right? People produce tons of music albums left and right, in every single music genre out there. So that means that – you got it – there’s an almost equal amount of demand for cover artworks! Most of my income from art during last year came from doing trailer music album artworks for trailer music publishers – it allowed me to travel and live in Asia for 8 months. So go out there and find yourself some bands, artists and music publishers who might want your design for their next album release. Contact them and have a little showcase of your designs and art ready for them to look at – maybe they’ll love it and want to pay you for designing their album cover.

 
Album artworks

Sublimation, trailer music album release by End of Silence.
Cover artist: Walid Feghali.

 

#2. Logo Designs

 

Every day there’s a new company starting up. A new store owner needing a nice little logo for his store front. A game developing company who wants a cool logo that shouts their message out loud, and tons more. Starting creating logos for people is a great way to make a living, or at least an extra side-income to fund your lifestyle, whatever it is you do. Logos can be super simple and more complex, and there’s an incredibly wide range of them out there and an infinite amount of inspiration to be found from ancient symbols, already created logos, geometrical design, etc. One logo can cost all the way from $200 to thousands if you’re a professional in the industry. Go out there and find yourself people who need logos, put up your work, make contacts and you’ll start finding people who want your skills for their new logo.

 

#3. Game/Film Concept Art

 

Now this is a part of the industry most people aspire to get into. It’s very competitive and can be challenging to reach the very top companies. But don’t fret – there’s thousands of game and film developers out there who are starting up and who need great concept art for their storyboarding, character and environment concept design, poster work, and tons more. All you have to do is start connecting with them on their forums, by talking to people and finding where you can strike great friendships and collaborations. Before you know it, you have a few paid gigs for making concept art for indie games and movies, and maybe even the occasional gig for a big company. Give it time, it will come.

 
Game/Film Concept Art

Unreleased game, environment art: Walid Feghali.

 

There are many, many, ways of making money from your design and art, and it would just be too much to write here. I simply wanted to give you a nudge in the right direction in what you might expect to make money off as a freelancing concept artist. All of the 3 above I have made my lifestyle possible with – sitting on a train in Japan making album cover artworks, finishing up brand logos in a hammock in south Thailand, and even doing game concept art by the small mountain lake at home in Sweden a warm summer day.

Now get out there and start finding ways to make money so you can be a professional freelancing artist, doing some great designs for people all over the world!

Until next time, guys – stay creative!

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Walid Feghali

Walid Feghali

Co-founder of Evenant, Walid is a Swedish award-winning digital artist, composer, mechanical engineer, and entrepreneur. Travelling as a digital nomad and exploring new opportunities, Walid has always been dedicated to trying new fields of study, exploring, creating, travelling and collaborating. This has lead him to create artworks for countless clients and compose orchestral film scores for feature films and games, trailer music placements in many Hollywood campaigns such as Independence Day 2, Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty, a mechanical engineering degree, and more. The journey does not end here for him!