A comparative study between being a publisher-house employed illustrator and a free Lance illustrator in Kampala, Uganda.

Abstract

This study was conducted primarily to compare working as a freelance illustrator to working as an employed illustrator in Uganda.The thesis was guided by the following objectives: To find out the historical background of freelance and house based illustration in Kampala and Uganda at large; To investigate how freelance illustrators, make a living from illustration (how they market and manage their work) without any formal employment in comparison to house based illustrators in Kampala; To practically explore and evaluate the form of illustration that best suits contemporary illustrators in Kampala today; and To analyze the pros and cons of one form of illustration over the other.The study of great significance since it highlights the need to compare our traditional methods of training and apprenticeship and modern day formal education. The key literature is that illustration has a long history and the inroads of the formal training of illustrators seems to have largely been influenced by demand and supply and the breakdown between the traditional training methodologies of apprenticeship. The study methodology hinged on the multiple research design, defined area of the study, that target print houses and illustrators, who were visited, interviewed and observed.From the study findings, it is true to say that inasmuch as freelance illustration is a somewhat new concept in our Ugandan context, with the aid of digital technologies, social media and internet, the future of illustration might continue to witness fewer illustrators being employed by publishers as house-hold workers as the numbers crossing over after attaining experience are relatively huge.From the preliminary discussions, it can be concluded and recommended that one might need to first get employed with a publisher to learn more skill, techniques and how to work under pressure before venturing into freelance illustration. The research also concludes that the more experienced illustrators in the field were once employed but having perfected their skill and having created a distinctive style, these experts leave and work on their own as freelance illustrators.