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Understood, I'll glance at the contract but will just reply something along those lines. It's funny how as my first real project for a client is nearing its end, I meet a person who's essentially a greedy rear end in a top hat.
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Apr 14, 2015 20:35
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The hilarious part is that's how he'll think of you! Edit: because shitheels lack self awareness, if that wasn't clear. You're being perfectly reasonable.
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Apr 15, 2015 01:10
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Oh I know. Honestly I'm surprised the hypocrisy didn't hit me sooner. Asks me whether this is my job or a hobby, asks me how many hours I could dedicate to the work. All for him to not offer any kind of real payment. I mean hell I'm an artist it isn't like I need much food anyway, cause I sit at the computer all day right?(So much sarcasm) And here's the thing, the product is actually kind of neat in that tacky put-poo poo-on-your-car way and seems to be better quality than his competition. He's just delusional if he thinks he'll build an extensive selection of products by offering a buck a pop. It's also taken him a hilarious amount of time to respond with his simple contract. I've got a feeling I won't hear back from him. I guess the best way for me to gauge this whole situation is like this... Through a contest, which is also horrible spec work, I'm soon going to manage to make $200. The client turned out to be wonderful, and in the end this will be an opportunity to put something real in my portfolio. Of course the only issue with that is, 99designs recently changed their terms where they're essentially shackling you to use their platform with any clients you met through it for a year. Arthil fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 01:16
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Arthil posted:Oh I know. Honestly I'm surprised the hypocrisy didn't hit me sooner. Asks me whether this is my job or a hobby, asks me how many hours I could dedicate to the work. All for him to not offer any kind of real payment. I mean hell I'm an artist it isn't like I need much food anyway, cause I sit at the computer all day right?(So much sarcasm) If I were you, I'd come up with some more concrete career goals (want to freelance full-time for a living? Find a job at a design firm? Stay where you are or move to a new city?), stop doing spec work and design contests cold turkey, and start building a portfolio essentially like a design student would. Spec work is draining and you're often stuck working with bottom of the barrel clients like Mr. Wiper Cling. This generally results in watered down work that isn't necessarily getting you to where you want to be. A mere shot at $200 every go around isn't ever going to make you a living. Make up projects if you need to, and drill into them. Right now your portfolio is a handful of logos. Dig up some portfolio sites of designers you admire and thumb through their work. Rebrand a local pizza shop and slap your new logo on a pizza box and take photos. Mock up the interior, stick the logo on some t-shirts. Go all out. I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for in terms of design work or career, but I think you'll find this more fulfilling. By all means keep pursuing freelance work, but if you've got a day job or other means of supporting yourself, you can afford to be a lot more picky than spec work. I started out doing really similar stuff on SA-Mart, no less, so I understand it, but I think the risks far outweigh the benefits every time.
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Apr 15, 2015 20:22
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redcheval posted:If I were you, I'd come up with some more concrete career goals (want to freelance full-time for a living? Find a job at a design firm? Stay where you are or move to a new city?), stop doing spec work and design contests cold turkey, and start building a portfolio essentially like a design student would. Spec work is draining and you're often stuck working with bottom of the barrel clients like Mr. Wiper Cling. This generally results in watered down work that isn't necessarily getting you to where you want to be. A mere shot at $200 every go around isn't ever going to make you a living. I've been chit-chatting with kedo over emails and I definitely agree. Need to build my portfolio through either creating design briefs for imaginary businesses(or asking friends to do so) or simply picking local places. Funny you say pizza place cause we got...  This place, locally. Now the little old lady has been their logo for as long as I can remember, I've been getting pizzas from this place since I was 4 years old. The only thing I can maybe think of is that they added color to the old girl, though it may have just been the same colors but only outlined previously.I'm not sure I have the means to actually get my stuff on real world things, and access to cameras are certainly limited. Even my cell phone camera barely has the muscle to snap checks for my bank. But of course mock-ups are widely available online, and in a lot of my previous work I've used them to get a feel for how the design looks when not simply a flat logo. Most of the time though the clients only intended to use it on a website. Moving to a new place is a scary prospect, not one I'm against mind you but I need to build something to lean on if I decide to go that route. Can't skip off to another city or state with little to my name.
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Apr 16, 2015 02:39
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Arthil posted:
That'd be a super fun project. I can see some nifty modern version of that lady's face on a pizza box. The typography is already playful enough that you could push it in a really fun hand-lettered direction. Oh god now I want to design this thing, drat you. But seriously this is a good assignment to give yourself. If I were you, I'd craft up a new brand and apply it to a whole shitload of collateral (pizza box, napkins, delivery car, menu, website, sauce packets, etc). What's more, since it's a fantasy project you can go way over the top with crazy ideas that clients would never pay for in the real world. Arthil posted:I'm not sure I have the means to actually get my stuff on real world things, and access to cameras are certainly limited. Even my cell phone camera barely has the muscle to snap checks for my bank. But of course mock-ups are widely available online, and in a lot of my previous work I've used them to get a feel for how the design looks when not simply a flat logo. Most of the time though the clients only intended to use it on a website. If it's only for your portfolio just fake it in Photoshop. No one is going to expect you to bring a real pizza box into an interview. Unless you're making a really cool printed piece where the actual construction of the thing is integral to the way a user interacts with it, getting your designs on actual, physical objects is unnecessary. e: By the way, since you say "logo design" on your site I'm assuming that's your main interest? If so I'd recommend you start exploring branding as a concept rather than just "logos." Logos are only part of a brand and the term cheap people Google when they're trying to hire a designer. A brand is a big huge thing people pay lots of money for. Check out these style guides, for example: https://about.twitter.com/press/brand-assets http://brand.wvu.edu/ If you were to go into a job interview with a well designed style guide in your portfolio, you would have a huge leg up. kedo fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 02:48
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Branding is definitely something I want to work on as well, I've just been focusing so much on logo creation. My basic understanding of a style guide though is it basically instructs the client on how to use the designs correctly, right? I'll study up on it and with this made-up pizza place I could also work out a style guide to go along with it. But yeah I'll also try something for Annie's too, maybe before I try one of my own making to get a feel for it. The only things I've worked on which would have been printed on a product would have been the MONSTER Mouthguards tiger, and the FRESHZA! logo. The fun design tends to be stuff you can get to hold in your hand so I'm looking forward to giving the pizza place stuff a try. Obviously I'd work in CMYK rather than RGB with those projects, right? Edit: This where I realize I can't find a free pizza box mockup to save my life. Well once my latest project pays out I'll likely buy one from Graphicriver. Arthil fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Apr 17, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 03:04
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So I come with a new problem, although it's not as severe as last time. The majority of paid font licenses are done with language suggesting that the font cannot be modified unless given written consent by the creator/owner of the font. However I'm wondering to what extent this actually applies. My client favors a particular paid font, and their main request was for the straight edges to be rounded to better suit the desired appearance. As you can guess that is why I'm asking for help here. I've got the full license, which I'll paste into a spoiler below. Hopefully someone will be able to tell me whether I need to go digging for a font which will suit the needs of my client without any modifications. Edit: Got the answer straight from the horses mouth, so to speak. God I feel dumb... Arthil fucked around with this message at 18:35 on May 6, 2015 |
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May 6, 2015 17:57
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUAgfy-fILk here's an interesting vid on the value of creativity
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May 20, 2015 18:14
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Logo=clip art click, bang
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May 31, 2015 16:10
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I'm finishing up some contract work here in Spain and I'm looking to branch out overseas because Spanish publishers are generally incompetent and some haven't paid me yet for work I completed months ago. Most of my recent work has been children's illustration, so I'm looking for some American kid's book publishers that I can harass with my portfolio via email in the hope that I can finally work for a company that pays on time. Any pointers? I live in Spain and I'm not familiar with the American market or if this is really the proper way to solicit illustration work in America. Any advice would be appreciated really. Thanks!
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Jun 2, 2015 16:02
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I have unfortunately developed a reputation for giving a thorough and insightful critique. As such, I've had a rash of people lately asking me to "just take a quick look at the opening of their novel/screenplay/short story/comic book script" - which of course ends up becoming a good bit of time spent commenting and critiquing. I actually quite like doing it, so don't want to indiscriminately start saying no, but I hope that charging will either cut down the requests or at least make me feel excitment for delicious money instead of vague annoyance when I get a request. Is there an industry standard rate for that kind of work? I've done a bit of research on my own but the prices seem to vary wildly, as does the sketchiness of the websites encountered. I would prefer some kind of industry standard price that I can point to so as not to offend people that I should not offend eg professional contacts, family members, relatives' niece's best friend's brother etc. While I have gotten a few requests for full novel critiques, it's more commonly the first chapter or first ten pages before that section is sent to an agent/editor/contest. Thanks!
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Jun 11, 2015 05:17
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SuBeCo posted:I have unfortunately developed a reputation for giving a thorough and insightful critique. As such, I've had a rash of people lately asking me to "just take a quick look at the opening of their novel/screenplay/short story/comic book script" - which of course ends up becoming a good bit of time spent commenting and critiquing. As the sparklee in the OP says, always have a contract. Even if it's just a single pager being like "here's what I'll do, here is my rate, here is the estimate."
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Jun 11, 2015 21:47
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Defenestration posted:As the sparklee in the OP says, always have a contract. Even if it's just a single pager being like "here's what I'll do, here is my rate, here is the estimate." This, a hundred times this. It can be difficult to enforce a contract, but if you don't have one you are completely screwed if things go south for whatever reason.
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Jun 11, 2015 22:06
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So I am about to enter into a contract with a up-and-coming gaming company as a character designer and I'm having trouble figuring out what a month of freelance work is worth. More detail: I'm going to be drawing, inking, and coloring in Illustrator and Photoshop 6 characters in 3 different poses (each) with multiple color variations. I will also be doing 90x90 avatar pictures for those characters (also in color), as well as multiple exploratory design iterations. Basically, it's going to be a full-time month of work and research, as I intend on including 2 minor revisions for each character (color changing, minor detail alteration) in my contract, as well as multiple expression sketches and ideas for design variations (which would be developed further only through another contract). I was thinking of charging the following for an exclusive month of work: $12,000, broken up into 3 phases (up-front payment, middle of the contract payment, post-contract payment). This contract would also grant an exclusive two-year license to my characters, but would allow me a limited license to show the work on my own portfolio site during that time. I fully expect that the company will try to negotiate me down to $10,000 (or lower) and will try to get the rights to the characters. These characters will be the face of their children's offering. According to its site the gaming company is looking to raise $500,000 in venture capital and has already raised $10,000. Basically, I feel that my original estimate is taking into account the importance of the designs and the amount of time and "thought work" that the project will require. However, the fellow that contacted me has already jokingly asked for a "fun discount". I gently let him know that that is not how it works. The only problem: I already created two sketches of the characters on spec and sent over JPEGs to show them "samples" of my work. I feel like this puts me in a weaker position. Also, is the estimate I shared too much or too little? I do UX design mostly, so I have no idea about character design estimates.
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Jun 18, 2015 15:00
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Gray Ghost posted:The only problem: I already created two sketches of the characters on spec and sent over JPEGs to show them "samples" of my work. I feel like this puts me in a weaker position. Also, is the estimate I shared too much or too little? I do UX design mostly, so I have no idea about character design estimates. I know nothing about character design, but spec is bad. Especially if you don't know the company and they're trying to lowball you. Legally they probably couldn't go and use your designs without opening themselves up to potential litigation, but then again, you'd actually have to sue them if they used the characters which takes time and money and isn't a sure thing. So it's probably okay. No clue about how much to charge, however.
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Jun 18, 2015 17:39
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kedo posted:I know nothing about character design, but spec is bad. Especially if you don't know the company and they're trying to lowball you. Legally they probably couldn't go and use your designs without opening themselves up to potential litigation, but then again, you'd actually have to sue them if they used the characters which takes time and money and isn't a sure thing. So it's probably okay. Thankfully, I have a direct email trail, so I'm not too worried about winning in a courtroom fight.
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Jun 18, 2015 17:48
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Samples (aka pitches for contract work) are very different from spec work. What's the 2 year exclusivity deal about? I can't imagine that will stick. If I'm paying you to design characters for my IP I want to own those characters straight up. 12k might be a little steep simply because of how notoriously cheap the industry is, but it's not entirely unreasonable if you're a professional (hit deadlines, communicate well, etc) and you're good at what you do.
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Jun 18, 2015 19:23
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Realistically, I'm thinking it will be closer to $10K. I just want to start high and go low. The licensing deal doesn't seem realistic in retrospect, yeah.
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Jun 18, 2015 23:48
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You could instead of a rights retention add a first dibs clause where they get rights but they agree to come to you for future work or alterations with the characters. Definitely include the self marketing use clause though. You will not get the job if you insist on retaining the rights to the characters though. I sure wouldn't sign a contract like that of I was in their shoes. I could only see that if you had already created a character of your own and they wanted to use it.
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Jun 21, 2015 08:48
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Unfortunately, this one is moot; the client said they couldn't afford one quarter of my asking price. I have to eat and I'm not going to waste time on this extensive a project.
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Jun 21, 2015 13:14
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Haha, welp! They'll get what they pay for, but budgets are budgets. $3000 is way low for all that work.
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Jun 21, 2015 17:12
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So i'm currently in discussion with a festival that want's an after movie shot but I have no clue what to charge them. It's a 2 day techno/music festival (about 12 hour's a day) and the after movie will be around 2-4 minutes, they provide unlimited free drinks, beer and food. It's a pretty popular festival with about 10,000 visitors and every year it sells-out within 15 minutes. What is a really rough estimated price for a video (excluding equipment rental) would 200-500$ range or could I easily ask in the 2000-5000$ range?
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Jun 22, 2015 18:44
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BreakingDolphins posted:So i'm currently in discussion with a festival that want's an after movie shot but I have no clue what to charge them. It's a 2 day techno/music festival (about 12 hour's a day) and the after movie will be around 2-4 minutes, they provide unlimited free drinks, beer and food. It's a pretty popular festival with about 10,000 visitors and every year it sells-out within 15 minutes. I have never commissioned video personally but I'd expect more like the 2-5k range. Think about the hours you'd spend shooting and editing, then multiply by your hourly rate. You likely won't have time to take advantage of those free drinks fwiw
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Jun 22, 2015 20:00
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Two twelve hour days? Plus editing? By yourself? Yeah, you're looking at closer to five grand than five hundred I'd think.
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Jun 23, 2015 18:56
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How do those of you who sell prints do it? Do you order a bunch of what you think will sell best to hit the minimum? Do you get at least a couple copies of each piece?
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Nov 18, 2015 18:17
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I've been writing for a web series for basically free. It's an anthology series, and I write every host segment (intro & Outro) for the movies we show. We've just been approved to film a pilot to shop to some big name companies, and they've asked me to be key writer and what to pay me so they can figure out the budget. This would be my first paid writing gig, and we have to keep the budget modest. My segments are about 5 minutes a piece, but I write about 10-15 minutes of material so they can pick and choose what to use. To write them I watch the movies twice (usually 20-30 minutes a movie), and write three drafts, (about 3 hours total to see a script to completion and approval). I write at least three scripts a month. So, how can I figure out what I'm worth that's fair to them and me?
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Nov 21, 2015 14:21
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Congratulations! Figure out how many hours you will be spending on this work, and multiply by what you think your hourly wage should be. Remember to get a contract!
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Nov 21, 2015 16:58
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Defenestration posted:Congratulations! What would people around here consider a reasonable hourly rate for freelance work? I realize that this will vary by demand and skill level but what's the general range for newish people who don't completely suck?
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Nov 22, 2015 23:14
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I'd say the absolute minimum would be $25/hr. Anything below that and you're pricing yourself alongside high school students and dabblers, and the clients that insist on working with someone cheaper will probably be bad clients. If you're a beginner and have absolutely no clue what you're worth, I'd say throw out $30 or $35 an hour and see what happens. There's a good chance they'll just say OK. If they balk, say you understand, and can do an introductory rate on this first project of $25/hr. If you do a great job any further work will be at your usual rate of $30 or $35. This is from experience as a math tutor, but I'd stand by those numbers as a baseline for almost anything creative too. Of course you can go much higher after just a little experience and narrowing down your niche.
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Nov 23, 2015 00:31
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Prolonged Priapism posted:I'd say the absolute minimum would be $25/hr. Anything below that and you're pricing yourself alongside high school students and dabblers, and the clients that insist on working with someone cheaper will probably be bad clients. If you're a beginner and have absolutely no clue what you're worth, I'd say throw out $30 or $35 an hour and see what happens. There's a good chance they'll just say OK. If they balk, say you understand, and can do an introductory rate on this first project of $25/hr. If you do a great job any further work will be at your usual rate of $30 or $35.
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Nov 23, 2015 00:33
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One thing to keep in mind with hourly projects is the work outside of your main service you are offering. Dealing with scheduling, emailing, and reporting hours all take time and energy. If you are doing 1099 or subcontractor work in the US you are paying/losing roughly 1/3 of the rate in taxes.
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Nov 23, 2015 13:57
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I read through the OP and didn't see this answered, so hopefully it hasn't been asked a ton of times. With the help of this thread and persistence over the years, I've been able to live solely off freelance work. I initially used freelance work as a side gig while working at studios, but these days it's consistent enough that I need to be a little more efficient/optimize my methods. I've used PayPal for a long time to receive payments, and it's worked pretty well, but getting so many transactions through there is getting messy. They take a pretty What're you guys using to get paid by clients for your freelance work? Thanks!
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Nov 24, 2015 08:37
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SVU Fan posted:What're you guys using to get paid by clients for your freelance work? I still use checks. Most clients with accounting departments prefer them, and with checks you don't have to pay any fees. I get paid more slowly because of this (average is 30-40 days), but unless you're living paycheck to paycheck this isn't a huge deal.
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Nov 24, 2015 18:46
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SVU Fan posted:What're you guys using to get paid by clients for your freelance work?
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Nov 24, 2015 21:13
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Chase Quickpay is convenient too. They have a business checking option that's pretty good for small businesses--I think it was no fees as long as you make a few transactions each month, and even then it was $10 a month when we lapsed for a few months.
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Nov 25, 2015 01:41
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I'm a Screenwriter, just starting out. I was hired to write a feature-length film and paid a decent enough wage before, but that job recently ended. Before that I worked as a Content Editor for an online magazine and as a Script Editor. I applied for a number of things online and someone has gotten back to me asking what my pay-per-page is for a screenplay of 110 pages. What is a reasonable amount to ask for? The person who posted the job is an Attorney who has also written before in the past. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Nov 30, 2015 11:35
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Calico Heart posted:I'm a Screenwriter, just starting out. I was hired to write a feature-length film and paid a decent enough wage before, but that job recently ended. Before that I worked as a Content Editor for an online magazine and as a Script Editor. 1) Figure out how much you want to earn per hour 2) Add a % for taxes, overhead, editing, ancillary tasks etc 3) Estimate how many pages you can write in an hour 4) Calculate cost per page as a function of above And you thought algebra was just for grade school! I don't know much about writing but your overhead for step 2 could end up being pretty high depending on how much back and forth with the client or revisions you expect and what I imagine to be the mercurial nature of writing. In fact you should probably build in clauses for number and scope of revisions, edits, and specific milestones into the contract. Because you WILL get a contract and at least 25-50% of your fee up front, right?
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Dec 2, 2015 04:10
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Calico Heart posted:an Attorney who has also written before in the past. Definitely build revisions into your contract, and say that if it goes over then he owes you more. If they're an attorney the good news is they'll understand your desire for a contract.
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Dec 2, 2015 05:42
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Anony Mouse posted:The almost universal answer to this kind of question seems to be: This is on point. I posted this several pages ago, but it might also be helpful. I've basically took points 1 and 2 above and expanded them into a few additional chunks that were easier for me to wrap my brain around when I was coming up with my own rate. kedo posted:Here's Kedo's Ghettorigged Freelance Formula: There are also freelance calculators that will help you figure out what you need to charge.
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Dec 2, 2015 20:25
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