[Jami Noguchi]

For the freelancers out there:

Do you bill hourly or per project?

Curious because I'm fairly new to the illustration field. As a comic colorist, I get page rates. But how should I charge for my other freelance work?

[Effigy]

Hourly is sometimes a good idea, because you can never tell how long a project will take. You can take a rough guess, but sometimes you'll realise that a certain piece is going to need much more work than you first thought, which is when the hourly method works well.

[ShadowBlade2525]

I do a combination. If it is a project that I know my timing on VERY WELL I just give them a flat rate, if it goes a little over, no big loss to me, but if it is a complex project I would give an estimate. IE I think it will take 3 days, so at $50/hour@24 that will work out to whatever. Wow would that be a big job... Anyway, I would then lay the project out to get a better estimate, comback with a final number, probably higher than I actually need, cause garrauntee they will want to negotiate.

That is all in my limited experience though.

[Anthony]

I usually try to get some impression of the type of person I'm dealing with. Using my intuition and knowledge I'll make a judgement call on hourly or flat estimate. The advantage to hourly is that its fair for everyone. The disadvantage is you're basically telling people that you might go over the estimate, without saying so. To ease this, you tell them that you want to do it in the interest of fairness, because it could go a little over or a little under.
The advantage of a flat rate estimate is that people feel more like they know what they're gonna be paying. You come across more confident and as more of an expert, because you apparently know how long it'll take, presumably from years of experience making bids. The disadvantage is that its harder to be right on the dot with regards to your target hourly rate. You're likely to go a little over, especially if you're something of a perfectionist. If doing a flat estimate, be sure to tell the client that they'll get a maximum of one medium/major change OR two minor changes with that rate. If its a really big change they'll have to pay.

[crazybread]

ShadowBlade2525 has made some excellent points.

I'm not speaking for anyone else but I usually do it by the hour in which case the client asks me how long it would take etc. You see the client usually likes to know where their money is actually going so my advice is to avoid a flat rate unless you'v delt with the client before which at that point they know you're gonna do a swell job.
More experienced clients will just tell you how much you charge by the hour because they know that they will need you lets say for about two weeks based on a 40h week.

when invoicing:

= 40h x $ for finished painting


= 4h research
3h photo and ref.
6h sketching
27h painting

...you get the idea

Remember! Unless its in the deal charge them for revisions. Allways work with as much guidence from the client as you can. That is to say: Color schemes, mood and definetly an approved sketch. Sometimes the client will provide you with a sample of some photographs of his/her own. Just make sure you're both on the same page so the client doesn't feel like they have to pay extra cause you couldn't read their mind.

hopes this helps any! Good luck!

[Socar J. MYLES]

Per project...within reason. I like to give people an even flat rate, no surprises, so they know exactly what they're getting, when to expect it, and how much it is going to cost them. I'll even do minor touchups and revisions without extra charge--and, if I were to make a mistake, of COURSE I'd fix that free of charge. (Fortunately, I have never made a major one yet.)

However, when the revisions begin to get excessive (more than two sets of minor touchups, a big mistake on the client's part, an after-the-fact change of heart, et cetera), I do charge an hourly rate. I'm nice, but I'm not a saint.

For a very lengthy project (12 weeks or more, painting every weekday for 8 hours or so), I would consider a daily or weekly rate, for simplicity's sake.

[ October 28, 2002: Message edited by: Socar J. MYLES ]

[B0b]

i just made a deal with a writer on sat 2 make his script in2 an 80 page comic book, and gave him a flat rate, he was very happy with the price as was i, i looked @ the length of time it would take me to create it and how much it would cost for me to live + extra for savings etc and rounded up to the nearest �1000

on other work i generally have a set rate for jobs, unless they're a new client in which case i take a gestimate @ how long it will take me to create it add an hr and then X it by my hrly price (+ a little bit more if they need it urgently)

[Frog]

Hi there

What you charge for your services very much depends on a number of factors: your level of ability and experience, what sector of the industry you work in, your business acumen etc...

However, one crucial thing that you should be aware of is that in illustration (as in pure illustration, not games, comics or film work) fees are not calculated on time-based principle but on a usage/licensing method.

In principle this means that you are not offering your time to the client on a hourly rate but rather you are licensing them to reproduce your work in a limited capacity. Although this may sound complicated, it is a much more professional approach and ultimately will yield you much greater fees. It works on the same principle of any other rights managed business: you own the copyright to the work that you create and the client must pay you a fee for the use of your work, and whenever they want to re-use it or use it in a different way they must renegotiate a new fee with you. This is exactly the same principle musicians use, so everytime a Rolling Stones song gets airplay on the radio Mick Jagger earns some money.

In the US, the Graphic Artists Guild has a site that explains all of this, or in the UK where I work the Association of Illustrators is the equivalent.

Pricing yourself in this way means that your fees will reflect the use that your work is put to, rather than just a flat rate for time. For instance, if you are doing a simple illustration for a small circulation mag you charge relatively little, say $300-$500, but if you are doing a major advertising campaign with multiple images, or packaging or anything high profile you charge very very high, say $10 000 - $20 000. You can't expect to charge any other way once you are working with major clients, and if you do you will look inexperienced and unprofessional. You will also be harming other illustrators by using bad business practices and driving prices down.

The crucial thing in any job you do for any client whatsoever is to retain your copyright. If a client asks you to sign a purchase order or a contract of any sort, read it very carefully and ensure that you are not signing away your rights. Whether you are aware of the value of your copyrigh or not, clients however big or small invariably are and often try and take advantage of inexperienced artists by grabbing their copyright as part of a normal job. Do not give in as it can be very bad for you in the long term. If a client wants to own the rights to your images you must negotiate a suitable fee, usually in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. If this sounds high just be aware that it is the standard going rate for professional work, illustration is a highly skilled profession and you must reflect this in your pricing.

Good luck!!

[liv the fish]

Some excellent, detailed advice from Frog, as usual

I'd say Jami is asking about hourly rates because in the comics field, the norm is to buy all the reproduction rights and pay only an hourly or page rate fee plus possible royalities. In just about any other field (of course with a few exceptions), the illustrator, photographer, designer (the rights to logos and so on are usually all sold to the client), you charge or are paid a fee for your services and for certain rights to reproduce the work. You can sell it for limited reproduction after which you can sell (maybe lease is a better word ) the rights again, or you can sell the full rights, in which you have some experience already. When bidding on a job, you can use an hourly + fees method to determine what the charge. Just make sure you're not underbidding based on the norm for that particular type of job. Read what Frog said a few times and check the link. And remember that not every part of the graphics industry operates the same way. Its rough waters branching out

Here's a book about this very subject: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook. You can look it up on Amazon.com or your favorite book store.

Good luck,
Brian H.

[ October 28, 2002: Message edited by: liv the fish ]

[ October 28, 2002: Message edited by: liv the fish ]

[Jami Noguchi]

Boy, this is great! just what I wanted to know. As well as some extra goodies. I love this place! You people are so nice and helpful. Thanks a whole bunch. Halloween candy for all!