So far 6 companies have turned me down for my designs. Well more accurately 4 said no and 2 just flat out ignored me. Which don’t get me wrong I came to them unsolicited. It just SUCKS that you have to have a degree to get anywhere in life. A piece of paper shouldn’t prove my worth and talent as an artist to people. It’s so stupid and limiting. So many great artists didn’t have a degree and they became famous. Why do I need a piece of paper to get a job that I might love? It’s honestly absurd! I can’t afford the time or the money right now to go to college and I don’t have the technology to do art school at home if that’s even a possibility. I just feel so defeated and worthless…It’s like they rip out a piece of my soul when they say no to my designs. It’s getting harder and harder to peruse art in any fashion and the constant setbacks don’t help. I’m at such a loss right now. This probably seems stupid but the constant rejection does not feel good
Probably because this is a rather small, niche market and big brand names probably already have enough designs or have people hired already. Only 1 of the 6 rejected your design, the rest probably just weren’t looking for anything new. Being a fetish artist with patreon or by commission is probably more lucrative and easier to get set up, as you are self employed. I don’t have any experience in that field, though.
It’s like getting your novel looked at by a real publishing company. It’s very difficult and you have to try a lot of publishers. In your case, there aren’t that many companies making AB/DL diapers.
I think its mainly because right now they maybe satisfied with their designs, I would like to see your design though
Did they say no because you don’t have a degree or did they just say no?
Getting any type of work starting out is always difficult so some recommendations i have and forgive me if you already have done some or all of these.
Creat a page on some kind of art site make two different accounts one for abdl art and one for vanilla art. Upload and create art for each account.
Go onto a few sites like fiver etc and do commission work again abdl account and vanilla.
Do some kind of volunteer work it does not even need to be art related.
Consider having a professional write your resume or portfolio expect to pay around 300 I know it’s a lot of money but it can and will make or break you.
Try to get work anywhere when you are first starting out abdl or vanilla this will help you to at least show the abdl company’s that you have what it takes to do professional work.
They just said no. If I had a degree however I feel like it would be easier for me to have an art career. I feel like people would take me more seriously for some reason
I can’t afford $300 for someone to do something for me that I could probably do myself. I have to pay rent on my own this month so I can’t spend a dime. I’m definitely trying to get work anywhere I can. It just sucks getting rejected constantly
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I thought that too but before I sent my stuff to LittlesLaboratory they were like “we’re always looking for new designers for our team”. After I sent my stuff in they took days to get back to me and said “we aren’t looking for anyone right now”. They just straight up lied to me and hate my work. Instead of saying they hate it they just sugarcoated it. It sucks
There are a lot of places on a hiring freeze right now because of covid 19. They might not have been lying to you about not hiring atm.
Oh right! I didn’t even think about that
I doubt that they know or care if you have a degree, unless you sent a cover letter that stated that you did not have a degree. I would take what they say at face value and not read more into a not interested response. Keep trying and do some non-abdl designs and send to other companies. You’ll get more no’s than yes’s, don’t let it get you down keep working at it.
Degree is nothing to do with it, in the creative industry especially it’s all on your work / portfolio.
Also, I feel like you’re very naiive about the whole idea that sending 6 unsolicited e-mails to random niche companies should somehow have guaranteed you getting a commission out of it, that’s not how it works on so many levels.
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Companies spend a lot of time & effort on their brands & designs and are unlikely to suddenly adopt a new design from a random stranger.
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They already have someone, possibly more than one person, who does this stuff to their satisfaction and is already working with them, gets their ethos, has been to their design meetings etc… so why on earth would they pick up your stuff and pay extra to an unknown person who may or may not be willing/able to come up with what they need?
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Given that they already have a person on their team doing the arty stuff, why would they sh** on that person by going “hey, I know you work here and all and it’s literally your job to do this, but this random picture in my inbox is the thing we’re going to use on our next product”
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There are literally thousands of starving artists out there putting their work out for free or next to nothing and clamoring for any scraps of commission / paid work - go look at the astounding levels of work (and the sheer volume of it) on DeviantArt etc., it’s a buyers market unfortunately and you’re a very small face in a very large and talented crowd.
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Copyright - they’d have to trust (BIG time) that you did in fact create the work, that you are 100% the copyright owner, that you haven’t infringed anyone else’s copyrights or that your design isn’t too much like another existing one, no parts of it look like anyone else’s work / product / character etc.
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Your approach is unprofessional - sending unsolicited designs to them is at best the sort of thing a young kid does to Disney and at worst it’s a bit weird/creepy depending on what the design was. Sure they’re catering to ABDL but that doesn’t mean they want unsolicited furry art or whatever you might think is cool.
Trust me, even really DULL jobs where people can hire almost entirely on whether or not you have the right 5 keywords on your CV you could still expect more than 6 rejections before landing a job - in the creative industries it’s way more vague and unfortunately it’s a very saturated market.
Edit to add some positivity:
OK, so what CAN you do?
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Build a portfolio - ideally a website / profile whatever, I don’t know if DeviantArt is a good site to publish your work but whatever the industry mostly uses, try and do that.
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Show that you can do stuff to meet a brief - there’s loads of talented artists out there but paying jobs need to meet a client brief, not just “I felt like drawing a unicorn so your logo now has a unicorn in it” - show different styles, colour schemes, - show following, updating or extending an existing style/theme
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Honestly and harshly self-criticize your work. I don’t mean do yourself down / get yourself all depressed… but the people producing truly great work (in any form) are ALWAYS looking at what they could’ve done better, how they can improve next time, new skills/styles/methods/tools they could learn. If you’re not constantly trying to up your game, you’ve given up.
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Keep at it. The way most talent gets discovered is not the X-Factor fairytale or “just wanting it so badly”, it’s by just keeping on doing it until you get really good and enough people take notice. Most famous bands spend years in obscurity playing for free in dive bars and being heckled - but they learn, they improve, they gradually get a following and by the time you’re attracting 1000 fans to every gig, a record company or music journo is going to notice you because you’re already being successful. Fairy tales and TV have sold you a lie that this stuff just happens - but luck tends to happen to hard workers.
well corona has caused an entire employment freeze at this point so I doubt its because of that, its more on the lines of they can’t afford to keep you
Ok yikes…thanks for ripping my dreams to shreds and making me feel like shit first thing in the morning
. It’s not my fault I can’t afford a fancy computer, drawing tablet, and someone to build a beautiful portfolio for me. I have to get a start however I can. I can’t just throw my art up on the internet and expect people to not rip it to bits. I’d very much rather avoid all of that. I shouldn’t have even made this post. It was obviously a mistake expecting sympathy from anyone ![]()
Wow, you are really down on yourself. I saw several posts on here that were offering encouragement and good advice. I didn’t see anyone say you should give up.
Maybe except for the person that ripped me a new one… No one told me to give up but that’s certainly the vibe I’m getting. I can’t afford a fancy portfolio, I can’t afford fancy art equipment, I don’t know how to promote my art, I can barely use deviantart because my computer is a piece of crap and using deviantart on mobile is a nightmare, and so far every time I try to put myself out there I get rejected. They always change their tune after I show them my art/designs. They say “we’re looking for new people” then say “we’re not looking for people” after I send them my work. I think my art just sucks, that’s the bottom line. Nothing can really convince me otherwise. I’m just destined to make shitty fan art and feel bad about myself because I can’t have an art career I guess. I never demanded money when I sent them an inquiry either. I feel like a lot of people assume I did…
I didn’t even ask for payment though, just an opportunity to get my designs out there ![]()
Also idk what made you think this, but I NEVER demanded any payment of any sort. I really don’t appreciate how you ripped into me and made my self esteem even worse. Calling me a child that sends creepy fanart is just plain rude…
I didn’t see his post as ripping into you. Everyone’s perspective is different. In the whole scheme of things @RubberJin was trying to help. Lot’s of great information in the post. Being an artist is tough, with or without a degree. You can’t avoid having your artwork ripped apart. Some will like and it and many won’t. You won’t know who likes it until you get it out there. Start locally, start an Instagram, FB page (insert your favorite social media). Show it to people. Listen to every bit of criticism and weight it’s value. Some will be valid and some won’t. Draw, paint, do whatever you do all the time. Compete with yourself.
If you approach companies do it in the most professional manner. Sending unsolicited artwork to a company is a recipe for failure.
