Call for applications for illustrators – Graphic Novel on Community Investigation
The Seek Initiative in collaboration with CORRECTIV is looking for an illustrator for a graphic novel on the topic of community investigation. The illustrator will work closely with the team composed of the author, an illustrations coordinator at CORRECTIV and a point person at the Seek Initiative.
Overview of Seek and CORRECTIV
The Seek Initiative is working to support the growing global movement of individuals and communities who use reputable investigative methods and tools to expose what is really happening in their societies. The Seek Initiative believes individuals and communities experiencing injustice know better than anyone else about their own needs, challenges, and possibilities for change. We are accountable to those we aim to support. Seek empowers inquisitive people to create high-quality, verifiable, evidence-based stories that inform public decision-making and strengthen democracy in this era of information crises.
CORRECTIV is a non-profit independent newsroom. Through investigative journalism, we expose systematic abuses, hold those in power accountable and strengthen an open and democratic civil society. The project will be hosted in CORRECTIV’s International Comic Journalism Fellowship (CJF) Atelier. The CJF Atelier is part of a fellowship programme, through which professional comic artists and journalists are invited to produce graphic novels on specific topics related to comic reportage.
About this opportunity
The graphic novel will use examples of community investigation and tell an engaging story on how Seek’s ten pathways of investigation can be used in the “real world”. The text to the illustration will be drafted by the lead author and will be ready for when the illustrator starts their work.
The work will mostly be conducted remotely, with an initial three-day workshop session planned for July 2023 in Berlin. Working closely with the team, we will decide jointly if more in-person meetings will be necessary.
The duration of the contract will require the commitment of the illustrator for approximately 6-8 months to produce the final product. The illustrator will work most closely with the author on the different milestones of the project, including:
- developing the visual concept of the graphic novel
- delivering storyboards
- delivering the final pages to the jointly agreed time plan
Excellent and fluid communication with the team throughout the project is vital to its success.
The novel is planned for publishing in the spring of 2024.
Please send your application if you:
- have proven experience working on long-term projects or producing long-format comics
- have a track record in delivering projects within their deadline
- have an engaging style, popular with a young adult audience
- preferably have experience with editorial illustrations and comics and are familiar with working on joint projects with authors or journalists
Please send your CV and cover letter explaining why you believe to be the best fit for this assignment. Please also submit an electronic portfolio of examples of your work.
We particularly encourage illustrators from Africa, Latin America and Asia to apply. If you are an illustrator or a comic artist and you are interested in the opportunity, please send your application to Janine Schall-Emden. Please use this email address: janine@seekinitiative.org. The application deadline is extended to the 10th of May 2023.