Hello All,
My first time posting here. I'm a freelance illustrator and I've recently been contacted by an animation company to do freelance character designs for an upcoming series. I was asked to give them my design rate.
As an illustrator this is a different area for me. I'm not sure where to start. I don't know anything about design rates and what you would charge for this service. I was hoping some of you could give me some good advice on this matter.
What is a design rate?
What is the standard rate to charge?
Is there any books I can look up?
For illustration there is the GAG handbook This book has a little on animation but doesn't seem to cover this specific topic.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thank you
RS
Depends on the comission type.
If they've approached you because of characters you've developed, and already exist, ie. have been published, that's like managing the rights to your intellectual property.
It they are commissioning you to do designs for properties they are developing that's similar but more like you working to someone else's concept lead.
Its an important difference.
I have done some designs that were sold 100% up front - i.e. I have no rights whatsoever - but these were all done while I was employed at an agency or house.
I've done others as freelance where I received a base pay for development, and a deferred rights package that gave me a percentage per year (anything over 4% is very good) for as long as the property was broadcast. That job was a fairly small percentage due to the size of the concept and number of involved artists. I also had a clause that reverted the character rights to me as soon as the characters were not used for more than one year.
There's so much leeway, it really depends on everything from usage (media), distribution, complexity and client relations.
Sorry for not being more specific, but I don't want to say something that will send you up the wrong tree.
Thanks for the info. Basically for me, I was told they wanted black and white character designs for a specific number of characters. The work is work for hire. They want all rights and unlimited usage. I could attempt to convince them to let me retain certain rights and usage. But it's to their benefit to buy all rights and usage so I think I have to deal within that, as I'm sure they would not be willing to work out a deal.
And that's not a big deal to me. Retaining certain rights and usage would be great, and beneficial in the future. But all in all that may be a difficult road to get them to go. But something worth trying.
So basically I could use some info on the standard rates artists will generally charge for this sort of work (buying all rights and usage). This company does plenty of animation for television and film so the characters I design may well be used in many different mediums and for a long time or may not. But it's something I have to consider if I am going to sell all rights and usage.
say,
you may want to check out the "Selling Games to Schools" thread by Boutros...
Good book reference there!
Splatman :D
SPLAT digital
The character design rates are absolutely reasonable for the level of creativity and detail that artists pour into their work. It's impressive to see how these rates reflect not just the time invested, but the sheer artistic talent that goes into every design. When considering what to do, I believe investing in such rates not only supports artists but also adds unique depth to projects, making them truly stand out. It's a win-win for both creators and clients, fostering a collaborative environment where artistic visions come to life.