In the early days of Little Dove Designs I took on many commission pieces to help establish myself and build my portfolio. Many of you will also know that I submitted design work to magazines too over many years.
Now almost 20 years into running the business I take on very, very few commission requests. This is for a number of reasons……
Time…….my business has grown considerably in the last decade and commission work is time consuming and not particularly rewarding financially (see my next point!) I’m a one woman set up so time is precious
Financial return….contrary to what you might think commission work in the cross stitch world isn’t well paid for the time spent on it. I’ve taken on jobs in the past where I’ve been promised lots of exposure too but the reality in my experience is that exposure is minimal and of course it doesn’t necessarily pay the bills. When my time is so precious I can’t afford to spend it on something that isn’t going to give a realistic return.
Enjoyment……bottom line is that I often find commission work boring, stress inducing when it’s a particularly demanding client, and not necessarily respectful of my design style (see next point)
Respect for design style…….what I’ve learnt is that very few of those who commission work from a designer take time to understand that designer’s style. My style has evolved slightly over the years but still remains unique to me and is recognisable (so I’m told) To have to design to very strict rules can really stifle creativity and I’ve found in these cases that what I end up producing no longer reflects my style at all and I question why I’ve been asked in the first place.
Reducing commission work has been a great move for me. I’m at a point where I don’t need to chase work but I also don’t want to take over the world. I’m not interested in having employees/warehouses/doing trade fairs. I’m very happy being a one woman set up, designing what I want, when I want. For me this means I can produce more meaningful designs reflective of my creative style and hopefully bring cross stitch to you in an authentic, affordable way.
Whilst I will never say never again to commissions/collabs for all the above reasons I have become extremely selective as to who I work with.