So I'm in a tight spot.
I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to keep all of my commissioned art and design work pretty inexpensive and laid-back in nature. Prices are low and pretty random, if I charge at all. This is for band shirts, MySpace pages, shoes, tattoo designs, illustrations, whatever.
I cut deals for people with low finances, allow multiple uses for single-use commissions, am quite patient and lax about payment and payment punctuality, and am all-around pretty chill about shit.
But here's the thing: I'm kind of getting shafted. I'll (hopefully) never be the kind of person to overvalue my work or be any kind of uptight about transactions, but I can't help but feel like I need to change something in the way I approach this stuff. Because, frankly, I'm fucking poor. I make about a thousand bucks a month and my rent alone costs eight hundred. That's about as straight-up as I can be about it.
So I've been considering writing up some contracts and maybe some set/standard fees. Contracts would dictate terms of use and basic copyright conditions and stuff (ie: A design done for a shirt could be used for a shirt only, or code for a MySpace could be used on the intended MySpace page only). I really have no idea what the fees would be yet, but they'd be well-below the seventy-five dollars an hour industry standard for design work.
I don't want to do this stuff, but I'm just not in a position to be doing much in the way of favors. This isn't to say I won't ever do free stuff for anyone or cut any deals or just stop being an all-around amicable dude to work with (because I think I have been), but I will have to start doing simple things like requiring (at least partial) payment up front to keep myself afloat.
A key factor in all of this is, of course, finding clients. No offense to anyone that might fall into this bracket, because I know where you're coming from, but, frankly, I'm fucking sick of highschoolers or equally immature and unseasoned folk asking me to do some kind of work for them, often expecting it to either be free, dirt-cheap, or something I'm going to forget about as quickly as their flakey selves. If you want shoes, awesome. Hit me up, pay me down, and I'll make it happen. But don't send me some message saying you want a pair and then ignore my follow-ups when you realize that no, just because I'm fucking broke and not a Nike or otherwise-endorsed "artist," my services are free or that they are not how I am trying to make a living.
Like I keep saying, I hate to have to do any sort of cracking down, but times are tough, you know? What do you guys think? I'm really looking for feedback on this, as I'm torn between compromising on my ethics and, well, not being able to afford life.
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Baby.
ReplyDeleteI don't charge anything less than a thousand bucks a painting. You gotta set standards. Now I am not saying Charge a thousand bucks a pop but set a minimum fee on any time of work you do.
Know what I am saying?
And as far as Clients go, You gotta hit the streets and get people in real life who don't have to send you money in the mail. Then, the more people you get in the area you live in will recognize your shit and by word of mouth and what not. Get your shit in Public place.
I know you live in Seattle but you just have to have the drive to get in there and Be in it to Win it.
And yeah, you should most def have a down payment on anything you do. Now that means you have more of a deadline on it but it'll make you work harder and feel better about yourself.
Now with the more poor folk, still, set a minimum and get some sort of down payment. They'll be more obliged to pay you in the end and not flake out. Never ever give the person the piece until you're fucking paid. That's a big one.
And when it comes to commissions you're gonna have to be very open to what the customer wants. It's not what you want to do, it's what pays you to do so that means it's right, when they'll most likely be wrong.
But yeah, you can still always do free shit. You still gotta have fun and do it for yourself. Then you know you lose when you're only in it for the money. But make sure you make money before you give it.
I love you. I hope this helps.
Jeremy