Consumer

Knowing who the consumer is when you're trying to sell them your work is really important. The consumer is the person who purchases your goods and services (the person who ends up with the end product). Typically people and economists talk of the consumer as a stereotype, with little capability to think individuality - not whether to buy the product or not. There is a trend in marketing to individualize the concept, engaging in mass customisation to appeal more to consumers.

As an illustrator, you want to create something that the consumer wants, with regards to what the illustrator wants themselves. It is possible to trick the consumer into thinking that they want what you want by influencing their decisions. The way the consumer can access products and be influenced, is changing rapidly in the digital age. This is creating more targeted user demographic and it also means more information about different consumer groups can be gathered.

The consumer is ever changing and what they want changes within a digital world much faster, and companies are constantly competing for the next big thing. Marketing companies work hard on influencing the consumer so that they want what the companies have. The consumer is always the central focus when creating work in a commercial world.