process document

Commission Intake → Delivery SOP

A gate that protects time and margin on both sides of a commission.

format

Governed phase-gate table

scope

30+ Enterprise Commissions

ownership

Built & owned end-to-end

01 what i built

Commissions are thin-margin by nature and uneven in difficulty — some straightforward, some very hard to get right — and my arts background told me going in how demanding they can be. The harder problem sat above any single commission: the company had to work out, together, where commissions fit at all — for the business, for the team, and for the artists. Where we landed was a small, heavily gated model. Commissions were never where the best return was, and a developed roster had better places to invest; the discipline was knowing which ones cleared the bar anyway.

Two details gate whether there's even a discussion — the budget and the scope — which is why the gate asks for both, in writing, before anything else. Past that, the question is why a slim-margin job we can't afford to lose on is still worth doing: the prestige of the client, the relationship it builds, or the experience it gives the artist. A commission we won't lose money on can be a clear yes when it's a real opportunity for an artist and in line with the mission. Then the artist has to fit — their process and style have to translate to the commission, and they have to want it. Some of our strongest artists simply weren't interested, which was always a fair answer. Fit also meant the work suited a collaboration: a commission is executing on a creative idea more than making a piece from scratch, and the execution — translating into new materials, working through a design together — is where our support came in. Each side brought its strengths, and that's where the time and the relationships went.

That model took shape across the life of the program — 30+ commission engagements, from rapid-turn projects to multi-year programs for named enterprise clients like Amazon, Bank of America, and Johnson & Johnson. In its settled form, the gate did one job on both sides: no internal time spent before an opportunity cleared it, and no artist brought in without the content, the ask, the shape of the thing, and an honest read in hand.

02 the artifact

SOP-04 · COMMISSION INTAKE → DELIVERY · V3.2

Commission SOP

OWNER · CREATIVE DIRECTOR

PHASE

OWNER

WHAT HAS TO BE TRUE TO ADVANCE

Qualify

THE GATE

Art Advisor

MUST ALL BE TRUE

The opportunity aligned with our model

Client disclosed budget, timeline, and expectations, in writing.

There’s a real reason to take it — client prestige, the relationship, or the opportunity for the artist — worth a thin-margin job we won’t lose money on.

Miss any one → it stops here. No proposal work. Full stop.

Scope

Project team

Cross-functional review — art advisor, ops lead, curator, creative director. Materials circulated minimum 48 hours ahead. Output: communication plan, mockup/design requirements, dependency map, vendor quotes documented before anything starts.

Assess risk

Creative Director

Score the work on two axes before any proposal or pricing — is the production process proven, and does the design already exist. The read below governs whether it advances.

03 · ASSESS RISK — THE TWO-VARIABLE READ

Two axes: is the production process proven, and does the design already exist.

Read before any proposal or pricing work.

EXISTING DESIGN

NEW DESIGN

KNOWN PROCESS

Green

Both the production path and the artwork are proven. Execution is predictable — the shortest path to production.

One variable

The production path is understood; the artwork still has to be made. Manageable with the right artist match.

NEW PROCESS

One variable

The artwork exists; the production and installation method is unfamiliar. Requires vendor and process development.

Decline or restructure

Two unknowns at once. Restructure until one of them is known, or don’t take it.

Risk rises along both axes — the safest commissions reused a proven process and existing work.

Artist commitment

Creative Director

Opportunity presented neutrally using a standard talk track — the artist decides. Living project tracker opens: timeline, budget, client notes, every communication logged in both directions.

Contract + payment

Creative Director

Annotated contract template — every clause explains what’s needed and why. Execution releases the initial payment covering materials and startup costs.

Produce + deliver

Operations Lead

Structured client reviews, documented decisions, payment triggers tied to milestones, closeout report to stakeholders.

ROLES

Creative Director owns the process · art advisor owns client communication · ops owns vendors and logistics.

ESCALATION

Any change to budget, timeline, or scope goes back to the project team, never handled 1:1. Any phase blocked goes to the team that scoped it, not up a chain.

SOP-04 · Commission Intake → Delivery · v3.2

Commission SOP

Owner · Creative Director

Qualify

THE GATE

Art advisor

MUST ALL BE TRUE

the opportunity fits our model

client has disclosed budget, timeline, and outcome expectations — in writing

there’s a real reason to take it — client prestige, the relationship, or the opportunity for the artist — worth a thin-margin job we won’t lose money on

Miss any one → it stops here. No proposal work. Full stop.

Project team

Scope

Cross-functional review — art advisor, ops lead, curator, creative director. Materials circulated minimum 48 hours ahead.

Creative Director

Assess risk

Two questions: is it a known process, and is the design in scope? Both yes → proceed as standard. One no → proceed with added structure and a longer timeline. Both no → decline or restructure.

Creative Director

Artist commitment

Opportunity presented neutrally on a standard talk track — the artist decides. Project tracker opens: timeline, budget, client notes, every communication logged both ways.

Creative Director

Contract + payment

Annotated contract template — every clause explains what’s needed and why. Execution releases the initial payment for materials and startup. Production does not start before this line.

Ops lead

Produce + deliver

Structured client reviews, documented decisions, payment triggers tied to milestones, closeout report to stakeholders.

ROLES

CD owns the process · art advisor owns client communication · ops owns vendors and logistics.

ESCALATION

Any change to budget, timeline, or scope goes back to the project team, never handled 1:1. Any phase blocked goes to the team that scoped it, not up a chain.

↳ the decision gate at the top is the only line anyone memorizes

03 What it proved

30+

enterprise engagements · intake to delivery

3 filters

cleared before a single proposal hour is spent

48 hrs

minimum lead time before any project-team review

Run honestly across enough cycles, a qualification gate does more than screen projects — it tells you where a line of business actually belongs. Holding one discipline across every commission — the wins and the losses both — is what let the pattern surface into a strategic read. For us, that read came down to knowing when to say no. Commissions quietly cost real time and margin, so the gate's value was letting us turn down the wrong ones early — before either side had spent anything — and save the yes for the few that were worth it.

← Previous artifact

"Market-Ready" Curatorial Rubric

← Read artifact

Next artifact →

Scanner Network

Read artifact →