Reddit mentions of Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, 15th Edition (15)

The Graphic Artists Guild publishes the Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. You should find a copy.

Hey, u/ycamedia!

While it's very kind of you to do free work for someone, if you would like to work towards doing freelance work professionally, I recommend you purchase a copy of the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, at least until you're able to get a handle on what you should be charging for your time and services. While I understand a hesitation to charge for your work if you currently aren't confident in your professional ability, you should leave it up to your client whether or not the cost is worth it to them. Again, it's very kind of you, but you would be surprised how that kindness might be taken advantage of further on in your career, even unintentionally on occasion.

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That being said, let's talk about your logo! This is my first time commenting on this subreddit, so forgive me if my formatting isn't quite up to sub standards.

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To start, it's good, in practice, to try and design a logo in 1-color, black or white, to get the form down, and then working with colors later. If a logo is memorable and eye-catching while only using one color, it'll be a much stronger piece once you've added the colors in. If we were to reduce your logo down to one color, can you see how you might lose some of what makes it unique?

Next, the usage of Raster artwork in your logo – in modern design, this is generally considered a bad idea. The star imagery and the moon are going to lose a lot of clarity when enlarged, and generally bring down the quality of your concept.

I agree with u/jottto96 that the lozenge shape seems to be holding back your text and is very restrictive. Your "Creative" is very close to clipping those edges, and that's not good. A lot of your alignment is slightly off, and even though it seems like a small thing, it's immediately noticeable to the eye. While asymmetry can be an interesting design element, it must be deliberate in execution, and work well with the design as a whole. Make sure your text, framing elements, and other smaller elements (i.e. the moon in No Sleep) line up in a way that makes it look visually flush, thought out, and intentional.

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While we're on the subject of typography, there are a few things I think are important to remember – while it can be okay to have two typefaces in a logo, you need to be sure that they work well together. I'm still training my eye, but it looks like you're working with Myriad Pro for the "No Sleep," and another stock standard font I can't quite place with "Creative." They don't play well together, and the added red on creative over the busy, starry background is a bit of an eyesore. Try playing around with using the same font, but in different weights to see if that can create the contrast you're looking for. Also, avoid extending text horizontally or vertically in the way that you did. Typefaces are meticulously designed with line contrast in mind, and stretching text solely over the X or Y like you did kind of messes with the balance.

I'm going to assume that you probably don't have a lot of resources at your disposal, especially if this is one of your first works, and that's okay! Everyone starts somewhere, and it can be hard to build up a library of assets for use in design if you don't know where to look.

I recommend getting a Vector editing software and learning the ropes if you want to keep growing with design. If you don't have access to Adobe Illustrator, I've heard great things about Vectr, which is a free alternative. In terms of growing your asset library until you're comfortable enough to make your own, Creative Market has free assets available for download weekly, including some really nice typefaces, and Vecteezy has a pretty good library of free vector assets until you're comfortable creating your own. However, please remember to pay attention to attribution and licensing, as often times these assets are made by fellow designers just trying to make their own way. All in all, it takes a lot of guts to ask for a critique, so thank you for coming here and doing it! We're here to help each other out, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll help as much as I can, or my skill level allows.

A good place to start is the Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook. It's a great resource for pricing and they have a bunch of contract templates in the back.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507206682/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ntoPCbBP7VDP6

This is the million dollar question for creative professionals.

This book is usually recommended as a handbook for freelance pricing.

Everyone struggles with pricing it seems. I personally flex based on the client, but I won't go under my hourly rate for what I value myself on (based on previous experience and general self worth.)


So if I do a flat rate, I'll estimate how long I think it will cost, and pad it a little more. Also full disclosure, I'm shit at pricing :)

You own the copyright, you can licence it out for a specific use like prints etc. You can still use the piece in your portfolio. The exception is if you give up/sell the copyright. Then it is no longer yours and the client can do as they wish with it. 'Work for hire' contracts normally ask for transfer of copyright. You can use it in your portfolio if they give you permission.

Always have a contract. Join the associationofillustrators (uk) or graphic arts guild in the usa for advice on this. The society of authors has info too.

Royalties are common in publishing, but not many other places as far as I know. It will depend on the contract. Book covers or one-off illustrations don't usually give royalties.

Try here for some basic info, it is a huge topic. https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/artists/advice/169/an-artists-toolkit/essential-information/copyright-law-for-artists

There is also these books, which might be helpful

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrators-Guide-Business-Practice-Association/dp/0955807603

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/1507206682/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XR6V8TWF2JWQ74TSDPJD

I don't advise any artist use Fiverr. It's a race to the bottom, price wise. Bad for artists, bad for the industry (imho).

Good luck!

Sup. A previous poster had some useful points (make sure your portfolio is the best it can be), but, I'll offer some knowledge without the need to stress about the competition or talk about 'settling'. Beating yourself up is not conductive to creativity, I'm sure you've found out already.

Having graduated from a major art school (RCAD) - art degrees are certainly more a curiosity than a direct translation to the work force - although congrats! I'm sure a lot is a blur to you right now. The last month of my senior year certainly was, and the month after, after days at a time sleeping in computer labs getting our senior thesis shows done, and then in my case, moving back home across country. Sleep, take a bit of time to recharge your battery, so long as your parents are cool with that.

Your portfolio is okay to get freelance work - you may be a little hard up to find a studio job - unless you can convince the right person you can translate your style to their pipeline. I don't really see stuff that would automatically peg you into a position of need like UI/UX (software development), tech art, or VFX. From personal experience, softer skills like design/concept art/illustration have a long list of candidates, and jobs in those areas aren't always priced well for 1st world candidates. If you haven't been good at pricing your contracts, make sure you get a hold of a pricing guide for industry standards. I see so many freelancers underpricing themselves out of desperation, it's not funny. Don't be one of those folk, it only leads to more of the same clients (cheap ones).

Right now: Get your portfolio into as many hands as possible, most places have art directors/recruiters who are relatively friendly. If you're right out of college (6mo-2 years), you may still be able to get internships at places, at the very least, you'll get some feedback as where to improve. You may have to travel to conventions to meet people who can then introduce you to recruiters/art directors. If people at your alma mater can get you in touch with people, don't be shy on hitting them up for help. Networking is key in this field, since there are a heap ton of candidates.

No matter where you go- establish a social media platform for your work, if you don't have one (if you do, you need a link somewhere on your portfolio, and vice versa). At the very least, Instagram, I tend to get the most views from there, but I also have Twitter and a somewhat neglected Facebook page (lol) . I've also heard decent stuff about ArtStation, although the folk there tend to skew towards concept art more than anything else. Post frequently, people enjoy feeling like being a part of an artist's 'life', and recruiters will check those pages to gage soft skills and process work. YouTube can be good for tutorial/process videos. People will give you feedback through these outlets, and may lead you to further ventures like merchandise, commissions, picking up new skills like webdesign/programming languages, or a personal project like a webcomic, illustrated novel, etc.

(Reddit has some decent subs like /r/SketchDaily that are fun to play around with, too...)

Be flexible. So long as the gig is fairly priced with an equal contract (ie termination clauses, proper copyright negotiation, etc), the small client job is just as good as working at a big studio. If you have skills in graphic design or front-end web design, or are willing to pick it up, it may help.

As for the day job - There is no shame at taking a day job, a lot of us have had to do it. At one time when I lived in Boston (having moved there from my smaller hometown on the west coast to start my career), I was working 60 hr work weeks at a position not requiring my degree, then, after shoving food in my mouth for supper, was either networking at gamedev / artist meetups, or going home to work on my portfolio/freelance. Weekends were more freelance work, with maybe some errands and the occasional event for gamedev or comics, or a local convention. Rinse, repeat for a few years, until I decided to move back home to save money.

There's no shame at staying at home if it keeps your costs low, either. I'm in my late 20s and after moving back, still live with my parental unit. On the other hand, I don't absolutely hate my life, I have a lovely pair of cats who keep me company, I'm finishing up a manuscript to submit to literary agents, applying to grad schools, and I just got back from research work with said parental unit (who works in higher education) in New Zealand. Mostly because my COL and lifestyle is flexible enough to allow things like that. Keep your art number one, and you won't allow yourself to get stuck in a day job, unless you find something else that you truly enjoy (teaching, a related field, etc!) That goes for any sort of career- many of my friends who don't directly do art, have branched out into related stuff like teaching, or found another field they liked more. Some of them started families. None of it is the wrong thing to do, just, do what makes you happy and keep your options open. Be prepared for a lot of people to convince you that you're wrong, just because of their perspective, but, not all of that critique is constructive, is it?

Tl;dr: Get your portfolio into many hands as possible, be aware of your rights as a creative professional. Be flexible with gigs you pick up, establish a social media profile to engage the right audiences, and if you have to pick up a day job or move back home, so long as you keep your eyes on the career you want, eventually things click together. It takes a lot of work, time, and mental strength to not give up in the creative fields. Good luck.

Do you have access to this book (Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines)? If not, I highly recommend getting a copy. It sets the industry standard as far as pricing for illustration work and is how I begin pricing for all of my projects. It'll give ranges as well, but I find it to be greatly useful.

Tips beyond using this book - take into account the amount of time the project will take you, the size of the illustrations (half page, full spread?), whether you want to include an advance against royalties (this is usually done for children's books) and what rights you are granting them.

Also, since it is a fairly large project, I would recommend laying out a partial payment schedule in your contract - something like 50% after sketches, 50% within 30 days of delivery of final art.

Hope this helps!

I recently bought a book called Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, 15th Edition and it has pretty good information about pricing and other stuff. So far it's pretty good but it may be a bit pricy(depends where you're from obviously), but if you're interested in starting out selling your art, I highly recommend it. It's a bit technical so it's no bed-side reading!


Kendyll Hillegas has also great information about selling your art and about some general stuff also, so check her out also!

>Obviously I know that I need a super polished site that I either built myself or on a platform like Wix or Squarespace, but that won’t be done for a few more months. Life has been a little rough on me lately.

As a stopgap, start posting stuff on free platforms like Behance, CargoCollective or dribbble.

Even if it's just a work dump, it's good protocol to have a portfolio online. If you haven't already, also make sure to keep your resume up online as well (you can host it publicly on Dropbox for free) and have your LinkedIn updated.

>Is this contract-level work, or should I not bother having him sign a contract?

EVERYTHING that involves pay should have a contract. Find a template online for freelance, and also in the future buy this book which'll help you get a better sense of things.

>How do I bill him, and through what methods should I have him pay me?

If you have an account, PayPal does a good job of doing invoicing and keeping track of things like hours and accountability for payment. But if you want to do it yourself, there's also some other digital options out there. But as I said before, it's important to have a paper trail, get everything in writing and have things to reference.

>Do I need to worry about taxes or anything like that?

Depends on how big the amount is, but if it's usually under ~$500 I wouldn't worry about this (though other users keep me honest on this)

>How many revisions are typical for a logo design, and do I factor color into my price?

This is on you and based on your client's budget. Obviously more revisions and feedback require additional work, which will cost them more money. Same with color: coming up with options and getting to a final decision requires both work on your end and a meeting to get feedback and work off of.

Check out this book..

https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/1507206682?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1507206682

there are alot if versions. But any copy should give you a good idea where to start. I also agree with starting at a price and going down. Good luck!