Illustration is the art of illustrating things that can clearly convey the ideas, opinion, a person, a story, etc in a unique or attractive way. There are several ways to classify illustration into small categories, and each types has many different types as well: The popular types of illustration are:

1. Based on the tools/techniques used: pencil illustration, watercolor illustration, charcoal illustration, color pencil illustration, ink illustration, woodcut illustration, acrylic illustration, digital illustration, etc.
2. Based on the object used to take model: Book illustration, Children’s book illustration, people illustration, Caricatures,
3. Based on the drawing styles: Realistic, Line Art, Comics and Cartoons, Sketch, Chibi, Pixel Art, Vector Art, Doodle, Graffiti, Pop Art, Technical, Calligraphy, Retro, Vintage, etc.
4. Based on the concept of storytelling: Narrative illustration, Decorative illustration, Informative illustration, and Conceptual illustration, abstract illustration.

According to research data from the report of the U.S. bureau of labor statistics, an experienced illustrator in the US alone has an average wage of over $95,000 per year. And the average annual wage of professional illustrators worldwide is estimated to be more than $60,000. The demand in professional graphic designers positions in general as well as the illustration position in particular is in high demand, plus illustrator position is that kind of career that not only requires passion and knowledge but also your own born-talent, that’s why the cost for hiring an experienced position in this field is kind of high but actually quite reasonable.

Illustration design is the art of using drawing to make a portrait a person, to demonstrate a subject, an idea, a story, an opinion in a clear and attractive way. Illustration designs are used and applied in so many aspects of this world that this job title creates a huge opportunity for those who can make an effort and master their skill and experience in this career.

Since illustration design has limitless possibilities to appear in various tasks and projects in every industry, an experienced illustrator also has countless choices to work in many billion-worthy industries like filming, gaming, publishing, advertising, and the list goes on.

Adobe Illustrator is a design software created by Adobe together with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effect, and more. Adobe Illustrator is used to create vector art, illustration, logos, icons, and other vector graphics. What makes it different from the famous Adobe Photoshop is it is specifically designed to create vector graphics that are made of lines, dots, curves, shapes and can be scaled from small to large which affect the quality and definition of the artwork.

If you are an office illustrator who has your full-time position in a company, then all you need when stepping into a new path of this career are a stable financial condition, and a strong mind to face and overcome any of the upcoming challenges in this career. You are lucky enough to have projects for your own portfolio and your existing clients, which is your former network member for the freelance career.

But if you are a newbie, who wants to turn into this career from another job title, then the first thing you need to figure out is to determine if this is actually what you want to keep up with from now on not. Like any other career, nothing is impossible, and nothing is easy as well. If the answer is “Yes”. Then here is things you need to do from now:

• Learn and develop illustration skill and knowledge.
• Whether you already have your artistic ability or not, try hard to improve yourself everyday with practice and freelance projects.
• Keep up with the knowledge that you are having your chance to approach in this digital era, keep up with the newest trend and the tools and skill set people use to do their work.
• Continuously find new ways of improving your understanding of things.
• And better, try to learn new things from related industries such as marketing, digital marketing, and other design fields as well.

An illustrator can work as a graphic designer, an illustrator, a visual artist, and so on. They also have positions in various industries like advertising, publishing, filming, gaming, and many more opportunities in this job title. If you are determined to become an illustrator, you are definitely welcome into a bright career ahead.

The answer is Yes, and No.

The freelance illustrator position is not hard for someone who already has experience in illustrator position. It is not hard for someone who already has their existing clients to keep them away from a potential bad financial condition.

It is hard for those who are new to this job and begin from zero. It is hard for someone who prefers fixed hours of work. And also someone who cannot handle their job from A to Z by themselves.

However, If you have made up your mind and are determined to turn your work life into a new path, then all you need is the passion, the heart that has no fear, and a consistent mind to overcome any worst moment of this career.