Dear Jacky:
Is social media vetting something I need to think about as an artist?

This was a competitive inquiry where the client was considering multiple creative partners in the initial stage and one of our artists was ultimately awarded the project. We had already negotiated the budget and terms and were wrapping up the contract when, hours before the creative kick-off call to begin the work, the client let us know that they’d have to partner with someone else. Their reason for changing direction was that our artist was ultimately flagged as too risky as a result of the client’s vetting process.

We had never considered this artist’s work or social media presence to be particularly risky, so it was certainly an upset and a pretty big surprise for us to learn that this project wasn’t going ahead due to the client’s vetting process. However, the loss of one job opened the door to massive learnings for our team and this particular artist.

Naturally we were immediately curious as to what work by the artist was flagged as being too risky for this client. Was it a personal piece? Editorial work? A commercial commission? Was it one artwork or multiple? How recent was it? Was it a personal opinion shared on social media? If we weren’t so far into the process on this particular job, would the client have been so transparent with us about the reason they weren’t interested in working with this artist anymore?

We got the sense that this wasn’t the first or last time a client would use a third-party service to vet one of our artists before hiring them, so we decided to do some screening of our own to understand the process and to gain access to our own results and insights into what the artist may have been flagged for during that initial client vetting.

There are quite a few companies that offer vetting services to brands that want to hire creatives for their projects and campaigns. The purpose of a service like this is to allow brands to formally screen potential creative partners before working with them. Vetting an artist or influencer ahead of time can help the brand commissioning the creative work mitigate risks and ensure a more successful partnership. Each brand’s vetting process will be unique and tailored to their values, targeted audience, and goals for the campaign that they are looking to hire an artist or creator for.

With the rise of social media partnerships and collaborations that center creatives behind the work as a highly visible component of a campaign, a formal vetting process is a crucial step for many clients to ensure that who they are hiring is safe for their brand and a good fit for the partnership.

There’s no way for us to know which vetting company our client used for the screening of the Jacky Winter artist earlier this year, what specific values were top of mind for them, or what the exact results were from their report, but it was important for us to learn as much as possible about what kind of content could have been flagged by this client as inappropriate and why, so that we could do our best to prevent it from happening again in the future.

After a bit of research into companies that conduct the kind of service we were looking for, we reached out to a company named Kroll, who regularly carry out artist and influencer vetting services for brands. After discussing our goals for the artist vetting with their team, we landed on a service package that met our needs and let them get to work.

Within a few weeks, we had a full report outlining specific pieces of artwork that were flagged as a potential risk. This flagged content was placed in either a Low Risk, Moderate Risk, or High Risk category. The report went into detail about where the artwork lived online (for example in a news article or on a social media account) and provided context surrounding the content such as who the author was and the time period in which the content was posted.

The content being flagged in the report had the potential to fall within various categories designed to highlight unprofessional, harmful and/or intolerant behavior. Because we wanted to conduct a more general screening of this artist for the most universal results, the categories that were reflected in the report were those that are the most common for brands to look out for.

The report also included personal background information, a comprehensive list of any and all social media accounts and platforms used, and adverse media or disreputable activities that the artist could be in connection with. Even if many categories and sections for potential risky content came back empty, it was helpful to see what risk factors prospective clients could have their eye out for. As a result of our own vetting, we now have a pretty good idea of what kind of social media content and artworks that live online at large may look risky to certain clients and better yet, why.

It's important to note that not every client who reaches out with interest in working with you as a creative partner will conduct a formal screening. There are some brands and types of projects, however, where it is more likely for the client to spend resources on vetting a creative in this way. Others may take a more casual approach, but it’s likely that your online folios and social media accounts are relevant to most clients looking to partner with you for creative projects.

As an example, any children’s brand or client with a young audience on social media might find it important to ensure the creatives they align with have an online presence that is appropriate for their demographic. More broadly, the types of partnerships across any kind of brand that may warrant a more thorough vetting may be those where your name is publicly credited or even more so, when there is a social media component to the project.

If a brand is looking for an artist or creative partner to: create social media content or artwork that will primarily live on socials; post content to the artist’s own social media accounts on behalf of the brand; or “collaborate” on a social media post, the chances for vetting could be higher. In a lot of cases, depending on the risk aversion of the brand or client, they may even want to vet an artist to simply credit or tag that artist for the work at all.

The moral of the story is that if your name, likeness, personal brand, or social media accounts are associated with the client that is hiring you for the creative collaboration in any major way, they are likely looking into any potential risks of partnering with you before even reaching out.

Aligning Your Folio with Your Goals

If brand partnerships and social media-driven campaigns are part of your goals as a creator or commercial artist, it's likely a good idea to make some time for a thoughtful cull and curation of your social media accounts on all platforms and to see what kind of work appears when you search for your name. Something that you posted online a decade ago and that you might not even realize still has a presence online could potentially cost you opportunities in the future.

It’s impossible to know what specific risks prospective clients might be averse to, but if there are certain industry clients that you’re hoping to attract with your work, it’s a helpful practice to view the content of your online folios and social media accounts through the lens of a commissioner within those industries. We know that it’s usually the case that a prospective client will want to see relevant existing work in your folio that pertains to what they are hoping to commission, whether it be style or subject matter, but we rarely think about curating a folio from the vantage point of potential risks.

For example, if one of your interests is to work with more clients within the children’s entertainment industry, you could want to think again about posting artwork from your recent nude figure drawing class on the same socials that you use to attract commercial clients.

Consider Curating Your Commissions

It’s important to remain thoughtful about the personal work that you share online, but previously commissioned client work is just as significant.

A lot of freelance illustrators get their start in editorial and many maintain a healthy balance of this kind of work throughout their careers. For some, it’s their bread and butter. In a lot of cases, commissioned editorial work requires the artist to illustrate subject matter, people, or concepts that connect them with sensitive issues.

It’s likely that if a prospective client is vetting you as an artist for future creative work or partnerships, they understand that illustrating a specific subject matter in an editorial publication doesn’t mean that your personal views and beliefs align with that issue or even the positioning of the article. Any brand conducting vetting on artists, however, will have their own perspective and a stake in particular topics that you might not have insight into, so what may seem low stakes to one brand could be very sensitive to another.

It’s worth thinking about which topics you mind and don’t mind aligning yourself with as a commercial artist, because ultimately you will be associated with the content of the editorial article or campaign that you work on. Using discretion with the kind of work you decide to take on is a valid approach to ensuring your folio and online presence is not prohibiting future opportunities that align with your goals, but if being too selective about the work you say yes to isn’t always possible, perhaps you could consider simply being more selective about what you share in your folio or ask to be credited for. Some artists even use a pseudonym or studio name for certain commissions, which could be another way to approach how you curate your online presence.

Balancing Authenticity and Professionalism

Beyond the visual content that you include in your folio or post online, it’s also important to pay attention to profanity used in text or captions and the personal opinions and stances that you share about certain issues. My advice here isn’t about filtering yourself in a way that silences what is important to you or to create a persona that is inauthentic. The crucial thing to keep in mind when sharing an idea or stance on a poignant issue online, is that the gravity will not always be placed on the issue itself that’s being addressed, but the attitude and disposition that you modeled and promoted when addressing the issue. If you are ever the subject of a vetting service, it’s likely that your tone on an issue will hold more weight than the issue itself. If you like to have an outlet for sharing more intimate and private content, it’s not a bad idea to have separate social accounts for your professional and personal content.

In the end, if you’re a freelance artist or creator trying to weigh the risks and benefits of which work to align with and how to curate your online folios and presence, fall back on what feels authentic to you and the brand you’re building. Always consider your goals and values as an artist and intentionally promote content on your online platforms that align with those ambitions. Your online audience is made up of fans of your art, people who might look up to you and your practice, commercial art commissioners, and representation agencies who use social media to find new talent, so a thoughtfully considered folio or account can not only mitigate potential missed opportunities, but will also help create the ones that you could find meaningful and fulfilling.