Dawn Heinen, Digital Communications Manager
Artist and business owner Julia Emiliani on shaping meaningful local collaborations
Creative entrepreneurs – artists, designers, performers, makers, cultural innovators – are business owners who generate revenue, employ workers, pay taxes, and strengthen local and state economies. As part of our series on Creative Entrepreneurialism, we spoke with Julia Emiliani a Boston-based illustrator & designer creating vibrant artwork for murals, packaging, advertising, brand design, and more.
Tell me a bit about your work.
My work focuses mainly on capturing lively, familiar moments from daily life. I love blending bold color and shape with these moments, playing up features found in architecture, nature, and everyday routines, to capture a place in a warm and accessible way.
How did you come to work with businesses?
Prior to creating artwork for businesses, I spent the first few years of my freelance career selling my own prints and handmade objects at local art markets and craft fairs in the Boston area. In that time, I was also networking with other local creatives, who ended up referring me for projects with businesses, and it grew from there!
Working with businesses is a joy for me because I love finding creative ways to help businesses reach their goals, and in turn our collaboration allows me to create impactful artwork at a larger scale than I can do alone.
How have you been working with businesses?
I’ve worked with a range of clients, from independent small businesses to mass-market brands on a wide variety of projects: interior and exterior murals for dining and retail spaces, trade show booth backdrops, brand identity and packaging design, custom merchandise design, live sketching for promotional events, and more.
How have businesses found you?
In addition to referrals and word-of-mouth, most clients seem to discover my work through searching Instagram and Google.
What was easier than expected in the process of working with them? Harder?
The process is easier when a client allows an artist to take their initial creative direction and transform it into marketable, creative output that aligns to their business goals, while using their feedback to guide the process.
The biggest challenges usually come from miscommunication, essentially. Being in alignment throughout the process helps ensure the strongest work possible comes out of the project.
What do you wish businesses knew about working with visual artists?
The best working relationships between artists and businesses have trust, respect, and clarity. A clear brief, realistic timeline, and understanding of boundaries around revision rounds and usage rights all help a project run smoothly.
Keeping communication lines open, and closing the loop if a project changes direction, also helps keep the partnership healthy.
What advice do you have for visual artists thinking about working with businesses?
Soft skills are just as important as having a strong portfolio! Being professional, direct, and communicative helps build a good rapport with clients. In practice, this means things like timely email communication as much as possible, and approaching negotiations with a collaborative spirit.
If commissions are involved: How do you balance your process/vision with the client’s needs?
Commercial commissions are ultimately about bringing the client’s vision to life while injecting my own artistic style. The balance comes in knowing how to meet your clients’ needs in a way that you find visually effective.
Mass Cultural Council is working with Mass Restaurant Association and Mass Lodging Association on bringing the local artist community to the hospitality community.
As part of this effort we’ve created a Partner with Local Artists Toolkit, with practical advice for businesses interested in forging connections with visual artists in their community.
The toolkit also offers an introduction to businesses to take advantage of CreativeGround.org, a dynamic regional directory that celebrates the vital work of New England’s creative people and places. A project of New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), CreativeGround is a free, community-generated tool.
We encourage artists who aren’t already listed to create a profile on CreativeGround.org.