Freelance concept art price ?

[Yung]

Heh there fellows, not sure if this is at the right spot (mods please do correct me) but for now this will do.

My friends and I are currently looking into developing a second project, with a mini test first to see if the idea works out. Having no pre production from work as well as personal projects, we really wished we were wise enough back then to get some one.

Anyway right now we are looking for freelance concept artist, but honestly, we have no clue at all how they charged. I researched and it seems that some guys goes by hours, some by project, and friend even suggested that we go by subject. Furthermore, we being Malaysian, we don't know how to judge and estimate the price that is comfortable for US or the rest of the world.

I sincerely ask for some tips and advice in terms of this, and perhaps some contacts as well, if you know any friends who are good concept artist. (No promise if we could pay what they want but if they are good and we liked them I will definitely fork out more)

Thanks a lot fellows, and happy new year !

[cookepuss]

I wish I could tell you that there's a standard going rate. There really isn't. It depends on a great number of factors, as one would expect.

- Anticipated man hours (different than clock hours)
- Project complexity
- Project delivery medium
- Revisions above and beyond contracted spec

ETC...

On larger projects, it would be really unwise to contract any artist or group of artists by the hour. If you've got 3 artists on a week long project, you're not paying for just one week. You're paying for 3x that.

On the other hand, a flat rate seems sensible - especially if you've got wiggle room to haggle out a decent price. The downside is that a dishonest artist can inflate the cost. You may end up paying loads of money for something that only took a couple of hours.

True story: I have one piece of contacted concept art sitting on my hard drive. It cost $1,500. It looks like I could have speed painted it myself in 45 minutes. It looks competent. It technically fulfilled contractual obligations, but it was the worse piece of art I've ever seen.

My suggestions are as follows:

1) Don't rush into any decisions. Take your time, as well as you can given deadlines.
2) Put out an open call for freelancers with a general project prospectus. Be prepared to have a NDA ready if your project is particularly sensitive though.
3) Take bids. The lowest bid isn't always the winner, but it'll help you weed out the crooks, hacks, and newbies.
4) Demands to see portfolios and client references. By all means. Check them thoroughly too. I'd suggest at least 2 references, but no more than 4.

There are books out there that'll tell you this stuff. There are also some that have certain guidelines and going rates. However, those books tend to become obsolete months after publication. Your best bet is to just comparison shop it around, as if you were buying a new PC or car.

[Yung]

Thanks cookepuss, your advice and insight on this really help us out. So far the best deal we got is from a friend who is willing to charge very low for us but she's still studying so I would rather not disrupt her studies (her family paid lots for her to get to US)

The thing that puzzles us is that the project is non-commercial non profit project, just to test out if the idea works and wether the new team is able to work together and testing a new pipeline. (Any gameartisans willing to help out? :D )

Just to rant a little, I understand if a good US artist charge me 300-500 for one piece, since I am paying for a good work. But one guy (local) actually offered me in dollars currency, but his portfolio show that he is more of a painter then a concept artist. I still thanked him nevertheless for even thinking of offering his service (most emails I send wasn't reply but heh its holiday).

Once again thanks for the tips cookepuss. Hopefully the project can get a good visualizer to do it justice, as I strongly feel for this piece. Please do post advice people, noobs like me could use some scolding and advice .

[Dargon]

The book he might be referring to:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0932102131/ref=pd_cp_b_0?pf_rd_p=317711001&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1581150989&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1HW422TEDKSZVMGQYASA

"Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines" is a pretty good guide, but as he says, it goes out of date pretty quick, which is why they print a new one, I believe every year. If you note the year though, and account for it, it can still be a useful guide, as it has charts to calculate cost based on man-hours and so on, and it also contains fairly industry-typical templates for contracts for dealing with illustrators, or for illustrators dealing with you...

I recommend at least taking one out of the library, even if it's a bit old, if you're not comfortable shelling out the cash for one. I can attest that it's a good book, well worth it for dealing with essentially illustrators.

[cookepuss]

The book he might be referring to:
There ya go...

I couldn't, for the life of me, remember the title while I was at my desk. I remember having an older edition somewhere, but I hadn't looked it up in... ... I don't even know WHEN even saw it last. :p

Still, if for nothing else, its a decent enough guideline.

[Yung]

Thanks alot for the help, cookepuss and Dragon. That book looks interesting, gotta try hunting it the local bookstores. Perhaps the book can tell me a thing or two on how to deal with the few local artists I found :D

Once again, thanks!