How do you guys price out your work? I'm being inquired about a few original sketches. What questions should I ask myself to come up with a formula on how to charge for my original sketches?
Pic NOT related at all.
>>2415472
Check out other artists pages, see what they charge for different things, compare yourself to them and think for yourself about how much time you are willing to spend vs the product you create
>>2415472
first couple hundred should be free for exposure, that's how I got started on erotic short stories on kindle store
You can only sell of u have spark
Do u have spark???
>>2415582
spark? what is spark?
>>2415576
This.
Make your prices based on an hourly wage.
If it takes you an hour to make a fully rendered pic for instance, work from there to give yourself a fair pay. If it takes you days to finish something, calculate the time spent on it with a price and figure out your rate.
It depends a lot on how long it takes you to make something, your skill level, etc.
I haven't done commission work since high school (fell out of art for awhile due to deep depression, finally got that sorted and medicated so I'm gucci now) but I used to charge $5 for a simple character drawing, no background, because they literally took me like twenty minutes to do The more complex the work got, the more I'd charge. Find your base but don't charge a fully flat rate or you'll hate yourself when you're spending hours on a pic that would've normally taken an hour because the commissioner wanted more than your flat rate covered.
>>2415742
doesn't that only come out to be around $15/hour? aren't you underpricing your work?
>>2415742
>Make your prices based on an hourly wage.
Also an insanely dumb idea, and further evidence that /ic/ has no idea when it comes to making a living through illustration. Pricing your work by the time put in is plain stupid. With this method, you would charge Fortune Magazine (for example) the same amount as some shitty, local magazine for an illustration that takes 5 hours, because it takes the same amount of time to make. It makes no sense and totally fucks you over.
The real money in illustration comes from the value it creates. For commercial illustration, this basically means you sell the license to use your work. The more usage your illustration will get or the wider reach it gets, the more money you can charge.
As a base for everything, I highly recommend picking up the 2013 Graphic Artists Guild Guide to Ethical Pricing (or something like that). It outlines all of this is much more detail, and will arm you with the knowledge to not be a complete dipshit.
If your only concern is wasting your time doing $5 character drawings for personal commission, then go ahead and undersell yourself. Alternatively, you can set your standards higher and NOT undersell yourself like some Indonesian sweatshop kid working for peanuts.
found some good stuff
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
>>2415872
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+
>>2415872
Design major in a small college town, no one in the region appreciates art and will always lowball you or try to get out of paying even if you've agreed in a price. Always ALWAYS get a contract for freelance work whether design or illustration.
And though I am just a student in a somewhat hostile environment for my skills I charge North of $75 hourly for my work, and never less than $500 for a logo even if I can shit it out in 3 hours (unless it's nonprofit or family/friend, then I'll discount a bit). You can make real money if you learn to sell yourself well enough.
>>2415719
he doesnt have the spark
>>2415558
yea, you should also build the first 10 houses for free, you know, for exposure if your a builder.
>you dumb as fuck
Is it always fair to charge by the hour though? What if a dude is just really shitty and takes a long-ass time to draw?
>>2419242
no experience but prett sure you should get an estimate on time and price before agreeing
