Check out this article on "The Art Order"

[Line]

I am sure that there must be other posts concerning more 'on-the-job' issues in the illustration, comics or design fields, but I haven't come across one, and
although looking at new art, getting critiques on our own art and learning to hone our skills are a must, there are a multitude of things, not immediately art
related, that have very much to do with the business of commercial art. It would be nice to have a forum dedicated to that part of the job, but until then, it's
useful to read this, I find it very informative.

http://theartorder.com/2012/02/10/view-from-both-sides-of-the-table/

[BirdBirdBirdX3]

"3. It’s ok to turn in work early."

Turning in your work early can earn you extra brownie points at first. But more often that not, it just earns you a shorter deadline next time around. What's worse is a client might think you rushed on their commission. Take your time to get the project right and just turn it in on time. That's more than enough. If you are juggling projects. You are going to need that time buffer if something unexpected does comes up.

[bcarman]

Gonna go with Palumbo and Schindehette on this.

[J Wilson]

"3. It’s ok to turn in work early."

Turning in your work early can earn you extra brownie points at first. But more often that not, it just earns you a shorter deadline next time around. What's worse is a client might think you rushed on their commission. Take your time to get the project right and just turn it in on time. That's more than enough. If you are juggling projects. You are going to need that time buffer if something unexpected does comes up.

From my experience, the deadline is the deadline, and a good art director gives you as much as they can (usually with just a little wiggle room to expect the unexpected). No one, that I know of, purposefully reduces the lead time that an artist has, just because they know they can.

However, if you get a reputation of being able to work quickly, you MAY find that you sometimes get the "hey, another artist flaked out, and now we only have X days left. Think you can do it?" It's not bad to be known as the artist that can save your bacon on a tight deadline.

[bcarman]

I've been early more times than I can remember and never had a problem because of it. If the client gets excellent work they won't think you shorted them especially if they are professional at all. Do you speak from experience when you say "more often than not, it just earns you a shorter deadline the next time around"? I have never had that happen and have never heard of it happening. In fact I can only remember grateful art directors and clients.

[Line]

Tho not on the same level as Joe or Bill, from the few petty commissions I have done over these first years of freelancing, I have found being "faster" to be useful. Most of the times, my time is well organized, things go smoothly and I finish up. The client is pleased, they won't expect me to work faster next time (let alone that sometimes a discussion of a deadline date that may work for both occurs) and if there is more work that can be squeezed in the remaining time, it's a bonus. Tho, I can see how it can turn into a double edged sword as BirdBirdBird said.

On the other hand there have been some commissions I have taken all the given time to do, because I wanted to try something new and wanted to experiment, or maybe just needed a couple of days off.

[Rhubix]

I've been working in TV animation for a few years- faster is definitely better in our industry.
Especially for character animators who often get paid for the amount they do- not how much time they put in.

Having said that, you never want to work too far ahead. If your a week ahead of schedule you get laid off a week ahead of schedule.
Less of an issue for quantity paid workers.

[J Wilson]

Another benefit of working ahead of your deadline if you can, is if a lot of art assets were assigned (say, for the a card game expansion), and there ends up being a few more descriptions that need to be assigned (maybe another artist flaked, maybe the design team added some stuff) you might get more work immediately.

These days I don't often submit a lot of work too far in advance of my deadlines. I juggle multiple projects and clients at once, and whatever is due next gets priority. There is a definite art to learning to juggle one projects sketch phase, with another project's finals stage, and everything in between.

[Farvus]

Luckily on my first serious freelance job I've done it the way it's mentioned in first four points. I think the habit of communicating a lot came from my job as architect's assistant. I was encouraged to ask lots of questions beacause it's sometimes easy to make mistake when doing project.

With point 5 it's much harder though. After learning foundations it can take few next years to really find yourself.

[bcarman]

Yeah, the deadline thing is going to be completely different in a corporate atmosphere. There are usually very few grateful bosses. But I'm curious now. Have people really had the experience of having deadline times chopped because they were fast? Do I just work for smart clients? I can't imagine it happening outside of corporate.

[Qitsune]

I've been early more times than I can remember and never had a problem because of it. If the client gets excellent work they won't think you shorted them especially if they are professional at all. Do you speak from experience when you say "more often than not, it just earns you a shorter deadline the next time around"? I have never had that happen and have never heard of it happening. In fact I can only remember grateful art directors and clients.

I have only seen that in staff positions when the next project is planned not considering that there was a lucky break that allowed something impossible to be done in time or some massive overtime. Sometimes in the video game industry, they tell you that you should plan for overtime even before the project has started, that speaks of unprofessional management to me and I'm getting very cynical vs some large game companies...

[BirdBirdBirdX3]

Do you speak from experience when you say "more often than not, it just earns you a shorter deadline the next time around"? I have never had that happen and have never heard of it happening.

Yes, along with my colleagues.

If there was a company or an art director who intentionally did not compensate their workers for over time, or shorten deadlines due to early submissions being the norm. They wouldn't advertise it and artist wouldn't be able speak too openly about it.

There are casual game companies and graphic firms at California...where's it's crunch time ALL the time. Everybody on the team worked fast and furious...where extra effort is no longer appreciated because it was the norm. Sometimes the air was so thick with collective pressure to up things another notch people would skip their lunch or breaks. There...was even five star catering...but no time.

I'm not sure if you experience work in casual game company. I know you are very skilled illustrator from spectum and forums.

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I agree with you guys to treat good clients like Kings. Putting extra effort or presenting work a little earlier work can go a long ways. Like giving your girl friend flowers because you care. But if you do it everyday, it won't be special or no longer appreciated.

[bcarman]

Again, you're talking about in a company or corporate atmosphere. I think freelancing illustration is a totally different beast. I believe that David's original article was about freelancing and dealing with art directors not the politics of a company.

[BirdBirdBirdX3]

Just food for thought that would apply to both freelancing and corporate atmosphere. Rush deliveries or pulling all nighters is a valuable commodity in itself. A premium service that can double the rates of a project. If you give that commodity for free all the time. It is going to be hard to justify a rate increase to a rush project, from a client who's already use to fast work done for no additional charge. It can train people not to value your time or think that quality can be rush along with last minute projects.

Bill you probably manage your brand well and you have your act together. Me, I had to learn the hard way and got thump around when I was too eager to please. It's the wild west out there. It took me a while to learn certain boundaries that worked. I'm a bit skeptical nobody else had an art agent bum rush their deadlines? Or a client who vanished off the face of the earth, only to magically reappear two days before the deadline and say. "Where's my project?"...lol

[Qitsune]

The important difference between a staff job and a freelance job is if someone calls a freelancer with a job and the deadline is not reasonable, the freelancer can just say no. Ok, they can't say no all the time, but they can try to negotiate the deadline or a rush fee. In a staff position, you can argue with your producer all you want, chances are the deadlines won't change. Then you switch company...

I agree with Bill that Dave's advice is for freelancers and often don't apply to a corporate setting. For example, you don't get to specialize and do art that is really "you" in a game company, they want you to do everything art related and if they could teach the programmers to draw they would just get rid of you...

[bcarman]

Oh, I've had people bum rush my deadline and I've also had, strangely enough, the disappearing client thing happen. They were never products of my early finishes though. Just bad clients trying to take advantage. Questionable clients lurk everywhere.