advocate-art

about advocate art

I founded Advocate in 1992 with a group of illustrators who liked the idea of having an agent but not the other things that often came with that. It started out similar to an artist's co-operative but grew quickly into a sales, marketing, legal, accounting, promotional, art management, web hosting office. We call our ethos four "f.a.c.t.s"; Fairness, Ability, Creativity and Trust. It's about doing the right thing and being with the right people. We think our principles set us apart from conventional agencies, sticking to them has meant we have attracted the most creative illustrators and artists who in turn attract (with a little help) the best clients.

The people we represent are perfectly able to conduct their own affairs but like working with Advocate because we offer value to them in the services we provide. It's their choice to be with us, we have a high retention rate, most of the most popular artists in our group have been with us from the start. What we don't do is take control away from artists, we operate what we call a "transparent system". Of course we allow direct client contact with our artists and illustrators thus allowing creativity to flow without being diluted in translation. We also go beyond that too, treating artist and clients like the business partners they are. Business is all about relationships and we understand that often it is very important after the initial introduction for us to stand aside, only acting to assist if called upon.

We can also pool together several artists for larger projects, almost as if we are a design agency, supplying formatted work, scanned and ready to go, from up to 30 artists at a time. We understand that it is important not to specialize in one art buying industry. By having a handle on multiple markets our artists and Advocate can carry over fresh perspectives and new ideas from one to another. Besides, doing different projects makes life more interesting.

Artists and clients benefit from being more exclusive with certain companies - enabling artists to find "a home". Being everywhere can dilute an artist's "specialness" in the eyes of retailers, advertising agencies or publishers. So it is important that artists are not oversold in one industry, but diversify into as many art markets as possible!

We supply illustration to book publishers, design and advertising agencies, greeting card and fine art pub-lishers, wrapping paper and bag companies, ceramic manufacturers and potteries, and editorial illustrations for newspaper and magazines- whatever needs imagery, pub signs to mobile phone content.We have an on-line library which contains 50,000 images and helps us facilitate the very active re-licensing side of our business, generating a very important secondary income for our artists and giving clients the opportunity to get art fast. We are also experienced in building artists or their creations into brands and take exhibition space at the major brand shows - NY Licensing Show and Brand Licensing London.

We also exhibit at the international conventions Paperworld, Spring Fair, Surtex, BEA, Bologna Bookfair, as well as attending a multitude of smaller shows. From January through to July we are at a show every 3 weeks. We understand the importance of face to face meetings and spreading the word. Contact the office for a full list of tour dates and booth numbers.

We also run a successful gallery in Wimbledon Village, a showcase for our artists and an opportunity to sell original art - see the gallery links above for more information.

It is for these reasons that Advocate has quickly become the largest illustration agency around, but we understand we didn't get that way by acting like the biggest. We keep it lean, company secretary, office manager, 3 project managers, designer/ library manager and an army of interns.

I hope we can work together soon.

Edward Burns
Managing Director

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internship

We run an active internship program here at Advocate that we hope many students or career seekers will find very beneficial. We attract students in art history, design, illustration and related courses. We also employ bilingual agents so we attract language students as well.

We forge close links with many colleges and often invite students in for Q&A sessions where they can get advice on their portfolios. We were recently sponsors of the illustration exam question for the D&AD board and offered competition prizes including cash of £5000!

If you would like to see the inner workings of the leading artist representation agency, then the best way is to spend some time with us as an intern. You will share in our daily tasks such as folio management, site maintenance, project managing etc etc but no tea making I promise! You will learn how artists are briefed, what's hot and what you have to do as an illustrator to get work in the real world. We will give you a reference that will make a future employer cry, for the right reasons of course. Finally as a souvenir you get a sought after Advocate courier bag and we will pick up lunch and travel expenses if you complete the term. Minimum term is 10 working days - Maximum 30.

There is no mistaking that interns have become essential to the running of this busy agency. We get to spread the Advocate message around tomorrow's art and design professionals - internationally. We offer a recruiting platform (5 of our current staff were recruited from internships) and we get help, not cheap labour.

And finally, for the last three days of your placement you will be invited to create and design the latest LaB page of this website. It can feature your work, or a case study of something you have perhaps been working on during your studies. The sites gets over 1500 visitors a day so great exposure for you and a platform for you to illustrate your point.
We can also offer accommodation for prolonged internships here in Wimbledon.

Contact: mail@advocate-art.com

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internship feedback we didn't make this up - promise!

Hi Advocate Art,

Just writing to thank you for having me along! I found the three weeks with you very beneficial and informative. It was really interesting to see how agencies actually work; I now have a much better view of what to expect when I graduate.

You were all so welcoming and friendly, I feel lucky to have had a placement with people who seemed genuinely appreciative of my help. I found it really exciting feeling part of a team that is so involved with the Illustrative industry, dealing with clients and artists, etc. My time with you flew by, I just wish it had been for longer!

Hope you are all well.
Hazel

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