How to find freelance clients as an art director

Where the work is

Agencies book freelance art directors for pitches, for peaks around a big campaign, and to cover leave. Design studios and branding agencies book for identity and campaign work when the in-house team is full. In-house teams at brands and tech companies increasingly keep a bench of freelancers for launches and seasonal pushes. Production companies and post houses need art direction for shoots and stills.

Each of these has a different rhythm. Agency pitches come with days of notice and long hours; in-house work tends to be planned a month out. Knowing which you want shapes who you write to.

Who makes the call

In an agency it is usually the creative director or head of art on the account, sometimes a creative resourcing or talent manager who keeps the freelance list. In studios it is the creative director or a founder. In-house it is the head of design or brand, and the booking often goes through a producer or project manager who already has the budget line.

Writing to the person who feels the gap gets a reply more often than writing to a general address. A talent manager is worth knowing too: they are the ones asked “who do we have” when a project lands.

What to send

One short email. Who you are in a sentence, one thing about their work that shows you looked, the project of yours that is closest to what they do, and a link. No attachments, no deck. Ask something small: whether they keep a freelance list, or whether a quick call makes sense sometime.

The project you lead with matters more than the rest of the email. If they make retail campaigns, show the retail campaign, not the fashion film you are proudest of. Art directors are judged on taste and range; the first image they see decides whether they click.

Keep it warm

A first email rarely lands on the week they need someone. The work comes from the second and third touch: a note when they win an account, a new piece of yours that is relevant to them, a hello after six quiet months. Keep a list of who you have written to and when, and write again only when you have a reason.

People move. The creative director who liked your work last year is at another agency now, and that is two doors, not one. Following the people, not just the companies, is where a lot of freelance work comes from.

Where Soloish fits

Soloish does the research half of this. It reads your portfolio, works out what kind of art direction you do, and finds the agencies and studios in the markets you choose that hire that kind of work, ranked by fit with the reason beside each one.

Connect the email you already use for work and it shows who you know at each company and who is due a hello. It only sees who you emailed and when, never what was said. When you don’t know anyone there, it finds a person with the right title in the right office and checks the address is real; if it finds no one, it costs nothing.

Every email is written for that one company and opens with the project of yours that fits them best. You edit it and send it from your own Gmail or Outlook, so nothing goes out that you didn’t read. Soloish watches the companies you follow for news worth writing about, notices replies, and brings a follow-up back on the day you choose.