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Clients being “lazy” and “too safe” is damaging the industry says illustrator Paul Davis

By scott mccubbin, associate director

November 15, 2013 | 3 min read

Creative outbursts may be common place inside agencies, but illustrator Paul Davis says things have got so bad it’s time to speak out.

Speaking to Scott McCubbin from Liverpool design outfit, Uniform, highly respected illustrator and satirist Davis claimed that clients were being lazy, risk averse and producing poorer quality work than ever before.

Davis, who has worked on the high profile award winning IBM campaign, Magic Box, with Tony Arefin and worked on advertising campaigns for Virgin Atlantic said the industry is in dangerous times:

“Clients are thinking too lazy. They’re being too safe – it’s damaging the industry and everything is becoming the same,” claimed Davis.

He blamed the increasing reliance on photo libraries, stock shots and client control.

The illustrator will air his concerns during a presentation at the Designival Mini event in Liverpool on Friday (22 November).

“It’s never been more important to be strong and never give up. We need to push people, push clients to get good work through.”

Davis said he recently lost a five figure job with Barclays bank because “they Googled me and found an illustration that they thought was dangerous. It wasn’t dangerous, it was funny, but they pulled the job.”

Davis said it was incredible the number of clients who were failing to let creatives get on with their job and produce the standard of work that they’re not only capable of, but commissioned to produce.

“I can do 20,000 roughs and then get a call at the last minute to change a colour, for no other reason than someone’s personal preference. It’s almost as if they don’t think these details have been considered.”

Davis said his theme for his talk is ‘coincidence and luck’. “It will be honest and sardonic. I will talk about how shit the whole industry can be, with client interference, but also how brilliant it can be. You can still get a call from an amazing client in Japan and flown over in business class and left to create a beautiful piece of work.”

Paul will join speakers Matt Webb of Berg and Dutch creative Erik Kessels on the bill, completing the line up.

Webb rose to international fame on the back of Berg’s Little Printer, while Kessels was the creative mind behind the internationally acclaimed ‘I Amsterdam’ campaign.

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