Directory of illustration worth it?

hakepe

Hi,

does anyone have any info on the directory of illustration? Have you tried it? Does it work? Is it legit?

tbk361

I've used the DoI twice. For 2 years around 2005 and for the past 3 years. I decided to stop advertising there because I have not gotten much work at all from them. They recommend advertising for 3 years in a row to establish a presence and get steady work. That hasn't worked for me. It's expensive and I don't think it really pays for itself.

They actively encourage you to promote your work via their site and social media (updating your images, writing blog posts, etc..) as well as through your own site and promotions (upon signing up you get a discount to the Association of Illustrators site and a mailing list service). I figure why not save $2500 and utilize those other methods?

Another thing that I don't think gets mentioned enough in discussions I've seen about the DoI is the timing of their reservation, art submission, and book release. Granted, you do get access to their site to promote images as soon as you sign up and I am aware of the long lead time that producing and distributing a printed book requires. Still, once you sign up, they will try to get you to reserve a spot in the next year's DoI before the first one is even out.

Now the DoI does work for some people, but I think your advertising budget is better spent elsewhere.

jsnzart

@hakepe I got invited to do the cheaper version, online portfolio. Not for long. It felt good. But, no work,...and while I am creating a new portfolio, I cannot afford it. My link is on my Insta, until the end of this month.

What ever you decide, I wish you all the best.

I would like to add, there's lots of awesome artists/illustrators there(online), and their agents.
I will do it again, sometime this year.

eriberart

I get constant emails from them, it's quite annoying! It's so expensive that it's not a consideration for me at the moment. With the internet and social media, it's probably not as valuable as it once was for getting your work out there. I do have a friend who shared a page in the directory with others in her agency so she only spent £200-£300 on it, and she said she did get work from it so it was worth it for her.

hakepe

Thank you for all the info. After thinking about it, I decided to go with the digital only plan (since the printed one would have blow my budget). I figured I would give it a go, lets see if I get any work through it. I did get some pointers on trimming my portfolio, which I did. Let's hope that it pays of and if it does not, well, then I am a little bit poorer than I was before