How to Hire an Artist

Why hire an artist?

Hiring an artist with the style and skill that suits your company’s needs has the power to win new customers, increase brand loyalty and positively affect your bottom line. The right hire can leverage their creative talents and understanding of design elements and artistic mediums to create sculptures, hand lettering, paintings, logos and any other design projects your company needs.

Contributions of a great artist:

• Work with a variety of mediums, including paint, chalk, fabric, clay and digital, to translate creative ideas into deliverables
• Create innovative, forward-thinking artwork to attract customers and drive brand recognition
• Successfully articulate artistic concepts to other non-design team members in a collaborative environment
• Apply mastery of design principles to develop unique product offerings for advertising, product packaging, exhibitions or entertainment
• Infuse the latest design strategies and processes to create modern, polished work

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance artist

Employers who need constant artwork done for their companies may benefit from a full-time artist on their staff. Hiring a full-time artist can be cheaper for the company in the long run due to lower hourly costs when compared to a freelancer.

For companies that need artwork created infrequently or even only once, a freelancer may be a better option. Freelance artists are typically paid hourly for their work or per project. Overall, the cost to the company is lower with a freelance artist when the workload is minimal. The company also doesn’t have to pay for benefits, including health insurance and vacation time, for freelance workers. 

What are the types of artists?

There are numerous types of artists who specialize in different fields of art. Some types of artists may include:

• Illustrators: Illustrators specialize in physical artwork that they draw on paper, usually with pencils and markers. 
• Graphic Designers: Graphic designers do their artwork on computers. Using various design programs, graphic designers specialize in creating artwork that’s used online or printed in large quantities. This may include graphics on the company’s website, online advertisements and flyers. 
• Painters: Painters fill a role similar to illustrators. Their artwork is physical, though it’s done with paint. 
• Sculptor: Sculptors create art in a three-dimensional space. They use various materials, such as clay, stone and wood. 
• Animator: Animators create multiple sequential images that are played together to simulate movement. They can create animations in two-dimensional, three-dimensional and stop-frame styles. 
• Calligrapher: Calligraphers specialize in creating attractive types of font for their company’s brand.

Where to find artists

To find the right artist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies: 

• Search for available artists online: Both freelance and full-time artists may advertise themselves and their services online. They typically also show examples of their work online, allowing potential employers to see if their style fits the desired brand. 
• Post help wanted flyers: Posting notices about an open position within your company may attract quality candidates who have prior experience and current portfolios.
• Promote or hire from within: There may already be potential candidates with the desired skill set within your company. Conduct interviews with interested applicants to see if they’re a fit. 
• Post your job online: Try posting your artist job on Indeed to find and attract quality artist candidates.

What are the types of artists?

There are numerous types of artists who specialize in different fields of art. Some types of artists may include:

• Illustrators: Illustrators specialize in physical artwork that they draw on paper, usually with pencils and markers. 
• Graphic Designers: Graphic designers do their artwork on computers. Using various design programs, graphic designers specialize in creating artwork that’s used online or printed in large quantities. This may include graphics on the company’s website, online advertisements and flyers. 
• Painters: Painters fill a role similar to illustrators. Their artwork is physical, though it’s done with paint. 
• Sculptor: Sculptors create art in a three-dimensional space. They use various materials, such as clay, stone and wood. 
• Animator: Animators create multiple sequential images that are played together to simulate movement. They can create animations in two-dimensional, three-dimensional and stop-frame styles. 
• Calligrapher: Calligraphers specialize in creating attractive types of font for their company’s brand.

Writing an artist job description

A thoughtful job description is important to finding qualified artist candidates. An artist job description should include a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your artist job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on artist jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Artist
• 3d artist
• Art
• Illustrator
• Storyboard artist
• Animation
• Poly sex video games
• Graphic design
• Concept artist
• Game artist

Interviewing artist candidates

Find the right artist for your company by asking targeted interview questions that will reveal a job candidate’s past industry experience, career aspirations and creative spark.

Topics for artist interview questions:

• Art portfolio
• Specialization in the art field
• Creative process
• Art background
• Design influences
• Current trends in the art industry

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of artist interview questions for examples (with sample answers).