How Katmar Secured Her First Client After Reworking Her Colour palette, Style and Themes

Katmar originally came to the mentorship creating work rooted in her own culture and it didn’t translate strongly to the UK or US commercial markets. She needed support in understanding what publishers and editorial clients in these regions were looking for, and how to adapt her visual language.

During the mentorship, I shared ideas and direction on subjects and styles that would be more aligned with the UK market. Together, we began building a new portfolio that focused on editorial.

We removed outlines from her work to create a more sophisticated, contemporary feel. 

We refined her colour palette, introducing new colour combinations that felt matched with the editorial clients she wanted to attract, while also bringing greater consistency across the portfolio.

At the same time, we built consistency across the portfolio in terms of style, technique, brushwork ensuring the work felt cohesive.

Katmar had expressed a strong interest in working with brands focused on health, wellbeing, and lifestyle. It was important that her portfolio reflected themes such as self-esteem, self-love, relaxation, healthy living, and looking after yourself, so that she could connect with editorial writing these stories.

A key part of the development was improving composition and impact. We worked on creating more interesting image crops to make each piece feel more dynamic and engaging.

Once the portfolio was ready, I reached out to clients I regularly work with, and Slimming World commissioned her work.

The project came in over Christmas, on a short notice and tight turnaround, making it a challenging first commercial assignment. However, she gave it everything she had and delivered successfully and the client was very pleased with the outcome.

As Slimming World shared: “Thank you again for working with us on this, and send our thanks to Katmar too — such a lovely piece.”

This project marked an important step in Katmar’s development, showing how a carefully repositioned portfolio and clear creative direction can open doors to commercial opportunities.

Here's what Katmar says: 

"When I received a message from Helen to check my email, I was running out of the house with the children. At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was standing at the door, blinking, unable to believe that this was happening to me.

Helen and I  had spent so much time and effort on my portfolio that I almost gave up. But the commission came! When I didn’t expect it

Working on a real project is different from a practice brief. I was afraid of making a mistake. I didn't even tell my family right away. I couldn’t believe my happiness.

Thanks to Helen, the work went smoothly. I am very grateful to her for that, especially since my first order coincided with her vacation. 

Helen still kept in touch with me throughout. If it weren’t for Helen, I would have never received my first order or believed in myself.

Now I feel more confident creating illustrations because I’ve got a commission, there will be more. I know it…" 

KATMAR https://www.instagram.com/katmar_illustrator