I am a CS student currently working full time and I develop some side projects for my entertainment. One area that could really use attention is graphics design / art. For example, I am looking to slap together a wireframe of a project to make a proposal, but it looks quite bare, so I'd really like to get some mock-up art or basic logo design done.
As I'm not a digital artist, nor do I have the time to try some basic art myself, how would you recommend finding someone to offer concept art, keeping in mind these constraints:
- This is not a full-time paid position, just a side-project
- I am a college student with not much money to spare
My first thought was to use sites where one posts a request for art and provides a budget, and artists across the internet can "bid" on the project by submitting samples. However, these can get quite pricey (see constraint above). What would be a great scenario is having fellow students contribute art for the sake of putting it on a portfolio, and, in the case of larger side-projects, I could offer % stake in the project, granted that the payout would likely be minimal to none. Any recommendations?
Ask yourself whether you'd want to/be able to work on these conditions. A portfolio does not pay for your food today, neither does a stake in a project.
What worked for me: Get some money to pay immediately (say $500) for a very limited graphics job. YOU put in the time to define precisely what you need; you PAY the artist for that. Figure out whether there is something you could do for the artist instead of a proper payment (e.g.: hosting his/her website for 5 years, including domain costs; scripting his contact form etc). And it really helps to have the artist nearby - if you meet in person you will save both of you a lot of time when it comes to fleshing out the details.