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Pricing Guide

15 min read
Ok so this here is a news article that I found via :iconcupcake-wish:'s journal. It's extremely helpful and I recommend not only reading it, but spreading the word as well. Original article: whatafool.deviantart.com/art/P…

"Hello, all. My name is Kellan Stover, a budding professional illustrator close to finishing up his time at the Savannah College of Art and Design, achieving my BFA in illustration. I felt the need to create this news article for the benefit of every artist on deviantArt who intends to make money from their talent.

When one visits the deviantArt 'Employment Opportunities' forum, they should be shocked at what they find. Startling low prices abound. These are both offered by the clients, as well as quoted by the artists. The sad truth is most people aren't shocked at all. The perceived consensus is that it's business as usual. A lower price means an increased likelihood that a client will do business with you, right? In some ways yes, but not at this extreme. You must remember that 'you get what you pay for'. It's widely accepted that the more demanded your talents are, the higher skilled you are, the more you can charge. If a client wants, no needs, your work over someone else, they will pay for it. A client who choses purely on the basis of a lower pay rate will be sorely disappointed with the result.

I haven't been around these parts forever, but I'm assuming it didn't always used to be this way. Perhaps proper compensation existed in the jobs forum at some point. But along came someone willing to do a job for less. Then another. And then another, and so on, until we reached the present. Commissions for $3, $5, $10. Logo designs for a paltry $50 and other double-digit variations, and, very recently, for an exchange of two paid domain names (a whopping value of around $16). Character illustrations are hemorrhaging from the artists pen to the mysterious client without a single question of eventual usage, purpose, or anything near an agreed usage rights fee. It is my assumption that very little contract writing is even occurring during all of this. All of these occurrences, compounded on each other are effectively nuking any sort of professional image one might expect when in the presence of the deviantArt community, or at least those providing services. This malpractice is detrimental to you and every other artist in the community. It's not a rarity to find clients who don't understand or appreciate the value of an original piece of artwork. It IS a huge rarity to find artists who do not understand or appreciate the value of their own original art.

It is for this reason that I have put together this article. I have diagnosed the problem, and the antidote is education and information. It is something I understand is not right at the fingertips of many of the artists here. Knowing exactly what to pay is not a simple google search away, as there is no definitive right answer. There is, luckily, something pretty close to it. It comes in the form of the Graphic Artists Guild's Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook. The G.A.G. [link] is an organization that exists to protect, inform, and enforce the rights of its members. Membership requires a yearly subscription, but anyone can buy the Handbook [link] . If you'd rather kill two birds with one stone, though, every paid member receives a copy of the handbook (a new version is released every 2-3 years). This is the resource in which I have scrounged this pricing guide. It would be immoral, let alone impossible, for me to reiterate every shred of information found in its pages. So let's just say it holds, essentially, an answer to every question you might have regarding the graphic design, illustration, and web design industry. I will pepper in some insight of my own from time to time as well, so I'm not just a scribe/paraphrasing stooge. Without further adieu, let it begin.

*feel absolutely free to copy/paste any information listed here in any appropriate job offer/services threads to combat lowball client offers, and underselling or harmful quotes from artists*(if you don't, I will)
**All numerical figures and paraphrased content are culled from the GRAPHIC ARTISTS GUILD'S PRICING & ETHICAL GUIDELINES HANDBOOK 12th ed. 2007**




GRAPHIC DESIGN

*Salary Averages*
entry-level (1 to 2 years out of school)..........$29,000-36,000
designer....................................................$32,000-45,000
senior designer...........................................$42,000-61,000

Median Freelance Rates (per hour)
designer.......................................................$40
senior designer..............................................$60
creative director/designer...............................$75


Project prices -
I have decided to only post the most pertinent projects for the dA community, as I'm sure not many full-blown jobs are going to come through here. If I have left one out, or you have a requested price I might have knowledge of, please request it.

Corporate Logos
Major Corp........................................................$4,000-25,000
Minor Corp........................................................$1,500-12,000

Logotype
National/large company...............................$7,500-15,000
Regional/small company..............................$2,000-6,500
Individual..................................................$1,000-3,000




ILLUSTRATION

*Salary Averages*
1 to 3 years experience..................................$32,750-44,500
3+ years experience......................................$42,750-60,000
specialized illustrator......................................$53,500-76,750
^(technical, medical, scientific, cartoon)

The Handbook is vague about illustration hourly rates, as most freelance projects are those with an agreed upon fee specific to the job. But hourly pricing should be comparable to that of graphic design. These prices are from my experiences and what I have seen:

Illustration Freelance Rates (per hour)
amateur to entry-level.......................................$15-30
illustrator.........................................................$25-70
senior illustrator................................................$70+


Project Prices -
I have decided to only post the most pertinent projects for the dA community, as I'm sure not many full-blown advertising jobs are going to come through here. The large markets of Advertising and Editorial have been left out, but may be implemented if necessary. If I have left one out, or you have a requested price I might have knowledge of, please request it.

Book Covers - hardcover
major title..................................$3,000-3,500
small print run............................$2,000-3,000
small press................................$1,200-2,500
textbook....................................$1,200-2,000
young adult/chapter....................$2,000-3,000

Book Covers - paperback
major distribution.........................$2,500-5,000
trade paperback...........................$2,500-4,000
textbook......................................$1,500-2,000
young adult/chapter......................$2,500-4,000

^additional fees (% of original fee)
rush fee.................................................25-100%
sale of original artwork............................100%
unlimited use for any media for 1 year.......50-100%
foreign publication rights.........................50-100%
total copyright transfer............................150-200%


Children's Books (32 page, hardcover, illustration ONLY)
advance.................................................$7,000-40,000
royalty (percent of list price).....................3-5%
royalty escalation....................................4.5-6%
paperback edition....................................3%

^subsidiary rights
foreign publisher......................................25%
motion picture, TV....................................25%
publisher direct sales................................25%
Merchandising.........................................25%


Music Packaging (popular & rock)
major studio/distribution..........................$1,500-6,500
small studio/distribution...........................$1,200-3,000

DVD&Video
major studio/distribution..........................$1,200-3,500
small studio/distribution...........................$750-1,500

Retail products - (T-shirt designs are requested a lot on dA. PAY ATTENTION!)
apparel..............................................$1,800-4,200
electronics..........................................$1,200-3,500
gifts/novelties.....................................$1,200-3,000
sporting goods (ex. skate decks)...........$750-2,000
toys/games........................................$2,500-6,000

^additional fees (% of original fee)
sale of original art.....................................100-250%
rush fee....................................................20-150%
total copyright transfer...............................100-200%
transfer of legal authorship and all rights......125-300%




COMICS

Comics Rates (per page)
writing...............................................$75-120
painted art.........................................$300-400
pencil art...........................................$100-250
ink art...............................................$75-200
lettering............................................$40-50
coloring.............................................$100-150




ANIMATION

Fees (per second) 2D 3D
Advertising.................................$300-2,000.......................-
Broadcast...................................$175-500..........................-
Corporate...................................$150-2,500..............$275-3,000
Web, large client.........................$200-1,000..............$300-2,000
Web, small client.........................$120-800.................$325-1,500

Median weekly salaries of animation artists
2D animator......................................................$1,425
3D animator......................................................$1,809

Animatics (per frame)
5x7"....................................................................$150-450
8x10"..................................................................$175-500

Storyboards (per frame)
thumbs............................................................$40-150
8x10" keyframe................................................$200-500
9x12" keyframe................................................$250-500




WEB DESIGN

*Salary Averages*
web animator (1 to 5 years experience)..........$38,250-53,500
web animator (5+ years experience)..............$51,000-73,250
web site designer (1 to 5 years).....................$40,750-59,000
web site designer (5+ years).........................$59,250-85,000
digital artist for web content (1 to 3 years)......$31,250-40,750
digital artist for web content (3+ years)..........$40,750-54,000

Median Freelance Rates (per hour)
web designer................................................$50
web programmer/developer............................$75
content developer......................................... $60


Project Prices -
I have decided to only post the most pertinent projects for the dA community, as I'm sure not many full-blown corporate jobs are going to come through here. If I have left one out, or you have a requested price I might have knowledge of, please request it.

Web Site Design (Client revenue of $1mil to $10mil)
static Site...................................................$7,750-15,000
e-commerce................................................$7,500-18,000
price of 6-10 Elements (animation/audio)........$400-1200
monthly maintenance fee..............................$150-750
Banners, Buttons, Flash Animation.................$575-5,000

additional fees
rush fee.........................................................50-200% of original fee
monthly maintenance fee.................................$150-750




"Kill Fees" - Cancellation & Rejection Fees

How many times have you heard "I decided I don't need you" or "I found another designer" from a client whilst working rigorously for them? Well, contrary to the claims from clients who believe they don't need to pay you if they aren't going to use your work or don't need you to finish, they most certainly do. And there are specifics on the matter to boot.

Cancellation-
A cancellation fee occurs when a client halts progress on a project due to unforeseen circumstances or any other reasons beyond the artists control. All rights transfered to the client, agreed upon in the contract, are still valid for what work is completed by the artist.

Averages (% of original fee) Illustrators Graphic Designers
prior to completion of sketching stage................25%.........................40%
after sketching stage, prior to finished work........50%.........................80%
after completion of finished work.......................100%......................100%

Rejection-
a rejection fee occurs when a client halts progress on a project due to dissatisfaction/no desire to finish project. All rights transfers written in the contract are not to be obtained by the client, and any completed work may not be reproduced by the client.

Averages (% of original fee) Illustrators/Graphic Designers
prior to completion of sketching stage..............................................21%
after sketching stage, prior to finished work......................................42%
after completion of finished work....................................................100%




A Brief Overview of Contracts

As freelance artists, you want to have a working, or boilerplate contract for use with every client. A boilerplate contract is a basic ready-made contract that can be augmented and fine-tuned on a client to client basis. Clients do not need to follow and absolutely specific formula. As long as everything is explained, either simply or in a complex manner, and signed by both parties, it is a working, legal contract. Contracts themselves incorporate all the little nuances listed and discussed so far in this news article. Here's a bullet point list of what's needed for a good contract:

- Date
- Both parties named
- Explanation of the project (name of project, type, media, where will it be used? Be as specific as possible.)
- Use (advertising, editorial, corporate, book, personal)
- Geographic area of use (N. America, Europe, Planet Earth, etc.)
- Length of use (one time, one year, etc.)
- Ownership of original art (who keeps the original work?) <--****This is the important part for all you commissioners out there. You need to know if your sale is of the actual work or of certain rights****
- Exclusivity (are the rights secured by the client in the contract exclusive to the client?)
- Fee/estimate (original fee for project, as well as additional kinds discussed above)
- Other expenses/'Overhead' (cost of supplies, travel expenses, etc. Are they to be paid for by the client or must the artists cover these expenses themselves?)
- Kill fees (cancellation or rejection fees)
- Mapped out payment/project schedule (avoid client suggestions of payment AFTER completion of work. Any respectable client will know that segmented payment for assurance is the correct method)
- Late payment fees (agree upon a date when payment from client is considered late. What are the penalties? Usually, clients are charged 1.5% of the total price per month late.)
- Client alterations (any changes to the artwork requested by the client not discussed or agreed upon prior are considered billable. Fees for such occurrences are up to the artist. Most tally any additional time toward alteration an bill by their hourly rate. For example, an artist whose hourly rate is $40/hr must be paid $80 for 2 hours of alterations to a project.)
- Final artwork (How will it be delivered? Physically by mail, digitally by email? Does the artist receive finished samples if the artwork is for reproduction? Insurance/compensation if original artwork is damaged and cannot be returned to artist?

Negotiation
A contract rarely is accepted by a client or artist on the first writing. But do not be afraid to make alterations to parts of a contract you are not in agreement with. These are some guidelines for both clients AND artists for reviewing contracts:

- Read and reread very carefully.
- Make separate note of problem areas.
- Strike-through any sentences or clauses you do not agree with and plan a rewrite of them on a separate document (notepad, what-have-you).
- Alter the original contract neatly with your rewritten clauses. Initial next to every change.
- Send to other party. A cover letter along with an alert to changes you have made is encouraged. It is important to come across as positive, since you are effectively denying something you were wanted to agree with.
- The other party will do as you have done with the contract and send it back to you. The process goes on until both parties are satisfied and are ready to finalize their agreement.

Finally, both parties sign and date the contract!

**DISCLAIMER**
I am very aware that many of the active artists pursuing paying jobs in the employment section of the forum are indeed non-professional minors. These guidelines are meant for professional purposes. That does not mean that amateur artists cannot charge the suggested prices listed here. The only person that says what you can and can't charge for you work is you, the artist. It is however, widely accepted that an artist is usually paid or allowed to charge a certain price based on their ability, demand from clients, and years experience. As a general rule of thumb, for a starting artist or non-established one, charging somewhat below these standard prices is a good idea. Not too low, though. I will die (err that's a bit extreme. How about "leave these forums") a happy man when I see the last single digit priced commission/freelance exchange on deviantArt (Hell even double digits bug me).

And once again, to repeat. 90% of the content of this post is verbatim or paraphrased material from the Graphic Artists Guild's Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook 12th Ed. 2007. I wholeheartedly suggest you purchase the book. You will have all this information and so much more at your disposal.



Thank you very much for investing the great amount of time it must have taken to read this entire article. I tried to cram all applicable information (attuned to the needs and habits of dA members) as I could into this post. As said earlier, feel free to request more information in any section. You may either post these requests on this news article, on my profile page, or in a note to me. I'll be glad to assist if I can. Pass this along to as many people are you can. Forward it to clients for a mutual understanding. Post it in job offer/services threads where applicable. I see myself as a public servant and really want this article's influence to be widespread in the deviantArt community. Now, EVERYONE GET TO WORK!

-Kellan Stover
illustrator"

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Quotes

3 min read
I trace my fingers in patterns on your skin and if ever there was a moment to be able to freeze time, God, this would be it. This would be it. - Unknown

A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality. - Winston Churchill

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. - William Shakespeare

Romeo: ... In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman.
Benvolio: I aim'd so near when I supposed you loved.
-Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene I

All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height. - Casey Stengel

Save water. Shower with me - Icon

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As I've gotten more and more into the art community, as a member and as a student, I've found myself starting to take apart movie posters and dissect them. Especially as I work at a movie theater until such time that I can find a better job. This one was not well put together, that one's color schemes don't work, THAT was done by someone who knows what they're doing, etc. So on and so forth.

It wasn't really so much of a surprise, then, that I pay special attention to movies I'm utterly stoked about, such as Part I of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'I loved it, the intriguing, off-center ... well, center, the placement. Except for one thing. The reflection of the burning castle in the water is only half rippled. Half rippled.

Let me get this straight. The person working on one of the largest franchises of today, let alone of all time, was working on the poster and had STARTED working on making the reflection of the castle in the water more realistic. There's rippling, there's shadows. However, somewhere along the way, someone got lazy, or decided to take a lunch break and forgot about the most important part of the reflection: the castle burning, the symbol of Albus Dumbledore, or safety, of good, of everything that is right in the world of Harry Potter, burning.

What angers me most about this, is not that I know people who would've done a better job, or that someone got paid to for an unfinished piece of work that is seen by millions the world over. No, what angers me most is that no one has said anything about it. People get crap all the time for not finishing a piece of art or making a mistake. and of all the thousands of millions of Harry Potter fans out there, not to mention all the people involved in such a production such as 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' you would think that maybe someone would've caught this mistake and rectified it.

Now don't get me wrong here. I'm not one of those people that has to have everything right and perfect, nor am I the type of person to freak out over the fact that the part where Harry picked his nose with his left hand not his right was cut out of the movie. My issue with this poster is that it is a piece of professional work. If you're not going to follow the laws of nature with one thing, it better be with the whole piece. This mistake is all I see when I look at the poster now, and that is some highly unprofessional work there. Anyone in the art community should know something like disregarding whether the reflection in the water conveyed the right amount of realism is quite a big deal. Art is all about trying to convey your idea through visual means. Whether the person takes away what you want them to take away from your piece is up to the artist.

However, despite this gross error in the advertising of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' it will not put me off of going to see the movie at midnight. Probably with a costume ... and a sign ... at the premiere ...


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I HAVE AN ETSY ACCOUNT!! by BumbleBeeLoved, journal

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