I recently ran across a link to the London-based Association Of Illustrators AOI Report: Illustration Fees and Standards of Pricing (2007). To sum up what this AOI Report is all about, I’ll quote from them directly:

The information presented in the various tables in this document indicate examples of fees charged in relation to particular jobs or services, based on the AOI’s research and recent survey of the industry. The tables provide information about the variables in costs and gives examples of what factors should be considered as illustrators and clients negotiate fees. It should also be borne in mind that illustrators and clients have agreed fees outside the ranges surveyed here.

There’s a lot of great info here (and be sure to adjust the numbers in your head to your local currency — the pricing on the AOI Report is in UK pounds). It’s always helpful to get an idea of what others in your field are charging for their services to determine of you are charginot too little or too much.

I also reference the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines which has some general pricing guidelines, but I always feel like I can’t find the exact area for the work I am doing. Still, it’s a handy resource. The AOI Report isn’t that much more detailed than the GAG book, but the AOI Report is free!

I found this over at illustrator Heather Castle’s blog, and she has a lot of other great biz tips and links over there, I recommend browsing her site for more great illustration freelancing & business information.

via Illustration Castle

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

AOI Report: Illustration Fees and Standards of Pricing is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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I know I have been in this situation many times — and email comes in and someone has a project with a small or non-existent budget. Usually it’s a personal project. Usually it’s for an existing piece of artwork.

Since most of the work on my website and blog are commisioned projects for clients, it’s easy enough to say no — the artwork they’re asking about was created for a client’s logo or mascot character and is not available to use by someone else.

But I do have some non-client work on my site, and this is where the free use issue comes in.

Tom Richmond, quoted over at The Daily Cartoonist, says

It would be so easy to just say, “Yeah, go ahead and use it”. After all, it’s already done and will take you no more time, right? So therefore it has no value?? That is the perception of many would-be users and sadly of some creators.

I run into this quite a bit. It’s not that I don’t believe my artwork has any value because it’s already created, but for a personal blog I have been guilty in the past of allowing people to use the artwork as long as there is no profit being made. Nowadays I will only do this under very specific situations.

Richmond goes on to explain

…illustrators are not really selling their time in creating a piece of art, they are selling the rights to use that art. That value is still there for the copyright holder. It is unfair to the illustrator, and damaging to his/her profession, to just give that value away…

This is key for both clients as well as creators to understand. Many people have an “hourly rate” mentality when they thing about this stuff, so if the illustration is already done, then it doesn’t need to be paid for —right? Wrong. Usgae rights are what you are paid for, in addition to your time to create the work.

This is basically licensing, and it’s one of the reasons Disney makes so much money – those characters were created many, many years ago, but they still generate cash each time they are used on every last product.

Disney on the other hand has been using their financial muscle to get the copyright laws extended over and over again to protect their characters — that’s how much value there is in artowrk that’s already been created.

I personally think Disney is wrong here — in my opinion the copyright lengths were fine, and coercing the govemment to change the laws because you stand to lose money just isn’t fair. Copyright laws were designed to promote creativity, not protect businesses forever.

Anyways, Richmond brings up a good point that is always worth repeating: don’t give away your work for free, and don’t work for free or on spec, or for small-time “contests” that are just sneaky ways to get free work out of creatives.

Do you think 100 chefs would prepare meals, let you eat them all and then agree that you only had to pay for the one you liked best?

Tom Richmond: Don’t give it away » The Daily Cartoonist

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Cartoonist/Illustrator Tom Richmond On Why You Should Never Give Away Your Artwork For Free is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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Vandelay Design has a great article discussing pricing issues for freelance creatives. The article talks about design services, but it can apply to illustrators, cartoonists – probably any freelancer out there.

More than just a nuts & bolts calculator, the post gets into the nebulous about preceived value, psychology of clients and more. Nothing needing a PhD, but some nice brief insight into the process.

A good read and some good links at the end as well.

12 Realities of Pricing Design Services | Vandelay Website Design.

via The Graphic Mac

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

12 Realities of Pricing Design Services is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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I stumbled across this very informative tips for freelance illustrators blog post by illustrator Nate Williams. He gives a nice overview of the process he uses not only on the business side of things, but also on the creative side.

The advice is a bit heavy on the website aspect (with which I totally agree), and quite detailed, but some of the other advice such as creating a postcard and sending it out to your mailing list is a bit vague in regards to best practices in creating a mailing list, and the best way to design that postcard – in the sense of how to present your work to art directors in a direct mailing piece.

Good website construction and knowledge of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) behind the code is excellent advice, but I think the next step is to send out mailers to the potential clients that might not search for illustrators online. Art directors are inundated with promotional mailers on a daily basis, and may not even need to go out and do a Google search to find new talent.

Williams also has some great explanations of how to keep projects on track (again web-heavy solutions), as well as general tips on attitude and expectations. Worth a look.

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Tips For Freelance Illustrators: Nate Williams is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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Cartoonist Mark Anderson will be interviewed by Small Business Trends Radio about how to turn cartooning into a business. Show will be at 1:30 PM EST 5/20/2008.

Anderson will talk about how he took his love of drawing cartoons and turned it into a business, including: harnessing creativity; working on a schedule; growing a business online on a shoestring; business models for cartoonists and other creative people.

I am looking forward to this as I am always interested in how other artists do their thing, from the art side to the biz side. You really can’t do one without the other.

Show looks to be 30 minutes, and looks like shows are available for download once the initial airing.

via The Daily Cartoonist & SmallBizTrends
 

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Cartoonist Mark Anderson Interview on Small Business Trends Radio is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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