Become A Member – Join Illustratörcentrum

Illustratörcentrum widens the job market for illustrators, graphic designers, animators, comic artist and works to mediate commissions for our members. Read more about the association of Illustratörcentrum here.

About the membership

You may apply for membership if you are a professional in visual communication taking on (or starting to take on) commissions on a freelance basis, and aren’t currently occupied by a full time job or full time studies. You must also live in Sweden or have a Swedish citizenship to be eligible for a membership. A membership costs SEK 500 per calendar year (SEK 600, starting 2024). If you are a member of Svenska Tecknare, your annual fee is SEK 300 (SEK 400, starting 2024). The membership gives you access to:

• A portfolio page via illustratorcentrum.se (around 70 000 unique visitors every year)
• The opportunity to contribute to the catalogue Swedish Illustrators & Graphic Designers (distibuted to thousands of clients every year)
• Courses, seminars and workshops
• Industry events and fairs

How to apply with a work sample

Your work sample should consist of a PDF compiling five jobs you’ve been commissioned to do. For each commission you must present one or more pictures showing the result of your work, as well as an invoice or a contract. The invoice or contract must specify the client, the fee and the date of the invoice (or the date of the work). Criteria for the work sample are::

• Five commissioned jobs from at least three different clients (no private commissions or sale of your own products)
• The commissions are no older than three years.
• The commissions have been paid fairly (the compensation for your work must be acceptable by market standards, and not too low).

After your application is submitted

Your application will be checked to see that it meets our criteria. If it doesn’t, we’ll contact you by email to give you a chance to complete your application. We only review applications that are complete and after reviewing your application we’ll contact you by email to let you know if it’s approved or denied. If your application is approved we’ll send you an invoice for your membership fee and access to your portfolio.

Applications can be submitted at any time. We administer and assess applications during our admission months (February, May, and September). To administer your application during an admission month, it has to be submitted no later than the last day of the same month. If the application is submitted later it will be processed during the next admission month.

You are welcome to submit your application.

Assessment of applications

To apply you must prove you are a professional in the field of visual communication (illustration, graphic design, animation and/or comics). Do this by uploading either a work sample or a degree certificate to your application form.

Applications are reviewed during our admission months (February, May, and September) and are assessed individually by our committee of admissions. The committee consists of board members of Illustratörcentrum who are experienced freelancers in the field.

How to apply with a degree

You can use a degree certificate (or similar document) to apply. Examples of degrees that qualify for membership are Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Konstfack, Digital image production from BTH, 3D Artist from Future Games. Some degrees from 2-year programmes at polytechnic schools may also qualify if the applicant can provide proof of work experience. Contact us for more information if wish to apply with a degree like this.

• The degree must be approved by Arbetsförmedlingen Kultur Media. See their list here. If you have a degree from a school abroad, it must be comparable to the degrees on the list.
• The degree must not be older than three years.