The Cast of Bubba Beef Jerky and the rejects.

Let me introduce you to the cast of mascots from the new and up coming Bubba Beef Jerky line. I was commissioned by Bubba Beef Jerky, which is linked to Sunset Gaming, to create mascot s that represent a different flavor and it was my task to come up with different characters based on what my client wanted and my own interpretation of the flavor. While I haven't tried all the flavors yet, the ones I have tried have a good flavor and can pack some heat. Fighting Habanero is very spicy but has a great taste. Honey Hippie is mildly spicy but is coated with a honey glaze and if you don't mind sticky fingers can be quite tasty. Lemon Bomb is it's own unique tangy flavor and it is selling well. Teriyaki Infusion as you can expect tastes a lot like other teriyaki flavored jerky but it is a good one. I have yet to try the other flavors but I am most interested in trying out War-N-Onion and the Java flavor Jerky.

Doing these commissions and commissions with other clients I have really learned some of the challenges one might run into with dealing with clients and what they want. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the client know exactly what they want which can make your job a lot easier; which feels great to get in, get out and get paid. Although other times they might know a general direction they want to go with but they want feedback and or want to be presented with ideas with what they want; this takes a little longer but is workable and just requires a little coxing. Lastly there are the times when they have only a small idea of what they want but they can't think or communicate exactly what they want, this can often.

Often I have been told and I am now learning first hand is that communicating with your client is paramount before a job even begins. Do this even if you have a repeat client with whom you have been successful in the past. You need to know what kind of style they are looking for, what kind of feeling they want the art to project, and to have them describe what they want as detailed as possible. Also having examples of other art from other sources can help communicate the desires of your client.

If you are just starting out like I am, one of the things that you must expect is to get a lot of ideas rejected and so be ready to submit a large amount of ideas to your client. A good idea is to send you client sketches or comps of a variety of ideas that encompass what they want plus it is a good idea to add you own ideas of what you suspect they want but they were unable to communicate that idea or didn't think of it. From there you might even have to do a second round of sketches but of refining from the ideas they did like. Down below you can find a variety of sketches I submitted that got rejected from being Bubba Beef Jerky Mascots and they only represent a fraction of what got turned down.

 

Just remember that you are basically a gun for hire in the art world so if you take a job then you need to do what you client wants and sometimes that require you to wade through a lot of ideas.

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