Collaborating with a Freelance Illustrator

Start-up life involves always being willing to learn new things and wear many hats. I volunteered to lead the recruitment and hiring process for a long-term freelance illustrator for Pawp. I worked with our in-house recruiter to write a job description, manage applications, choose candidates and begin the interview process. Alongside my direct manager, we were able to narrow down our list out of hundreds of applicants, develop a “design test”, and ultimately choose the perfect person for this role. Our hire was Anja Slibar, who would come to make a huge impact on Pawp’s visual style.

Once Anja came on board, I worked with her directly on concepts. I also worked alongside our new Head of Creative to determine what illustrations we needed most and how we could use this art to elevate Pawp’s brand. For about the first year of Anja’s employment at Pawp, the Head of Creative was managing most of her workload. I was included in weekly meetings and often worked directly with Anja to execute on assets. I learned a lot during this time period about management, collaboration with outside freelancers, and concept creation for illustrative work.

When our Head of Creative moved on to her next opportunity, I took ownership of not only working with and managing Anja, but of our illustration library. I scheduled weekly meetings, checked in with other departments for their illustration needs and put together a weekly schedule for our illustrator. This involved a document with that week’s tasks, the details of each project, references and even mockups to guide the illustration. Anja and I developed a great working relationship and collaborated often. This was an incredible learning experience for me that allowed me to grow as a leader and fine tune skills like concept work, communication and time management.

Below I’m sharing a small collection of the work that was created under my leadership.