If I’m in this position I’d be transparent with my clients. It’s understandable that they’ve become married to this specific artist’s artstyle. It’s not something that’s uncommon, we all have our favorite artists. However the fact still remains that each and every artist has a reputation to uphold. If I as a freelancer create work that’s practically identical to his without his consent it could make things much worse than if I simply asked for his permission. For example, in this scenario I’m simply the person who works on the logo, and let’s say I create the logo without batting an eye or asking for permission. If suddenly something shady goes on with the business or garners a bad rep, people who are familiar with this artist’s work may make a connection and come to negative conclusions about who he associates himself with. Or another example could be that, what if this artist only does work for companies that support environmental safety and that’s is MO. by practically mimicking his style I could potentially confuse his audience and make things a headache for him. So, to conclude, no I won’t dive straight into the project. I’d ask the designer if I have his permission to embody the likeness of his work in that way for these people and then we’ll move forward from there. I’d make sure that despite them more than likely being disappointed with the delay, that at the end of the day we do the right thing for everyone.
