Professionals: How do you show your styles?

[CassMerry]

Hey, hope this is the right place to ask this!

I'm in the process of remaking my demos and I wanted to know what folks have found is good practice when setting out your different styles, so people know what you can do and can articulate what they want more easily. Any advice or opinions would be very much appreciated! This is what I'm using at the moment cropped-Fanciness-levels.jpg

[Tiana]

I just show my previously finished client work and that's pretty much it, people just say "I like that one" or "I want mountains like this one and colors like that one".

I don't see a significant difference between 2 and 3. 1 and the others, sure (not shaded versus shaded with more detailed terrain) but if I were shopping I don't think it would be quite clear to me what defines 'quite fancy' to you. I don't think it's a strong enough distinction even though it may feel like a huge difference to you as an artist.

[CassMerry]

I just show my previously finished client work and that's pretty much it, people just say "I like that one" or "I want mountains like this one and colors like that one".

I don't see a significant difference between 2 and 3. 1 and the others, sure (not shaded versus shaded with more detailed terrain) but if I were shopping I don't think it would be quite clear to me what defines 'quite fancy' to you. I don't think it's a strong enough distinction even though it may feel like a huge difference to you as an artist.

Thanks! I always thought 2 and 3 had the biggest difference so it's good to know that doesn't come across well, I was trying to distinguish mainly between flat-style land and coastlines vs a more landscape-y approach with elevation being detailed beyond mountains.

[Kellerica]

I'm not sure I entirely agree on what Tiana said. While I do think the difference between 2 and 3 is more subtle than the jump from 1 to 3, there is still a big difference in the detail level.

As for my own approach, I personally make the biggest difference between colour levels in my own work. As you can see in my portfolio, I roughly divide my maps between greyscale, partial colour and full colour. I've also made the choice to set up parchment maps as a separate category on my website (even though they are just partial colour maps), just because it's by far the most popular option among my clients.

I also have this image on hand that I can send to clients when negotiating a new project, if they don't have an idea of their desired colour level from the start:
Colour_examples.jpg

I don't know how well this would translate to your work, but having a portfolio separated into different map categories might work for you as well.