I'd hold recommendations over and above their own websites and portfolio. They could be the most amazing artist of their generation, but if they are unreliable it kindof makes it not worth it.
this is actually pretty perceptive. i have an online portfolio. but i have never gotten a job from it. not one. there are too many out there. but it is a place to send soemone when they get referred to me. they'll say "so-and-so referred me to you and i took a look at your websote..." or after they tell me they were referred, i will say, "take a look at my website and see if there is anything there which is similar to what you are looking for, but i will also put together some more targeted examples and some recent work that i think will fit what yoru project's need seems to be. then we should talk, and i can go through the options for you re range of fees and your schedule blah blah blah"
i always tell new guys starting out in my field that, "if you have them on the phone, you already have the job". i said in a nother reply that with illustration it is NOT that a client "needs a rendering". because they can get a rendering done in china for $200. it's really more a case of "they want YOU to do the rendering". and so, the fee is minimal against the cost of the actual project. they are building a $20,000,000 building, and so a few thousand dollars for an illustration isn't going to hurt anyone.
the other thing too is that they are not "buying an illustration". let's say they have a meeting in two weeks that can't be moved, at which they need to convince a banker, or a buyer, or a donor, or a public review board... what they are paying for is your professionalism that in two weeks, starting from a bunch of disparate material, many separate voices, and with high stakes (often they have NOTHING else to show), that you will deliver their illustrations in time and to the level required for them to secure the vfincancing, or approvals, or donations, etc.
THAT is what they are paying for.
lost of people can draw a pretty picture. but very few can do it with minimal information, ten people directing the work and offering an opinion, with changes rolled in without affecting schedule, and in a way that doesn't merely depict the design clinically (like a ID photo), but rather is expressive and depicts the intent, atmosphere, the way it will be used, etc.
it is a risk (Similarly as soon as an artist/programmer/creative type put their time in, it's a risk on their part) - The things you list are ways to reduce that risk, for sure. If someone reneges on the deal its not just the disappointment in that person, its also the pain of having to re-tender the work, potentially pushing the entire project back
yep. reducing risk. the contract or agreement is a necessary evil, and i have only ever had to fall back on it once in ten years. but it sets the tone. i frankly think the single greatest value of a contract is to weed out the beginners or the cheats, because they will flinch when you present them with a four page contract. professionals won't. it's part of business. a contract is a litmus test. if the client is beating you up on the contract, which is basically industry standard boilerplate and nothing onerous, then they are going to be ten times worse throughout the production process. and i don't need that foolishness. bub-bye