Artist rates...

[Traveler]

Guys,

My company is starting a project for which we'll need some illustrations - images and animations. Since no one at the company has any experience in this field, I'd like to ask you here, what would be a normal salary for an artist? Are they paid hourly or by finished animation/still picture? How is a normal salary? (We don't want to be cheap but also don't want to be ripped off.) The company is in Dallas, Texas.

Thanks for any help!

[gypsysnail]

I'd like to help if you don't mind? I would be happy to do some art for you, just expression of interest, and what styles are you after, etc. U can PM me. About the rates... I am not sure but I recall when I did an art project for a company a few years back, I was paid when I finished the work, and I believe thats the usual way of paying an artist. But the work would have to be of very good quality, and we would have to confer with you throughout the progress/development of the art work to make sure you are happy with it so you get what you want for the value of your money. PM me anyway too

[ildu]

I might be able to help out. What kind of project are we looking at? Is it hi-res? Is it commercial? Is the art the main focus or is it meant to be a support tool? What's your product? Who's your clientele? What kind/style of illustrations? What applications are you looking to use?

If you had an in-house artist with regular hours and such, then you could have an hourly rate. Since you're looking for a freelancer, the salary should be paid in steps. So basically whenever a large independent chunk of the project is done, you pay the artist for that part. Alternatively, you can have full payment, either before or after the job is done. This would be logical when the artist is creating a whole packet of stuff for you, like an identity brief. If you go for full payment, you better have a contract written up.

[Traveler]

Guys,

Thank you very much for the replies; I won't be contacting you, as I'm not the one who actually makes the decision. I showed your messages here and my boss will make up his mind if he wants to contact you or not. (I don't know it for a fact, but chances are, we're going to end up with an agency/company in one country, since we really have to have a proper legal handling of matters and it's kind of hard to do with individuals all around the globe.)

[m0ds]

Depending on the size and the effort involved, if I was an artist I'd be happy with $20 per piece of artwork. But then I can't speak for the artists "here", everyone is different, some might see it as a favour, some might want to take it extremely seriously.

Perhaps some artists here could just name some prices. It'd probably help Traveler and his boss especially, to make a quicker decision. At the end of the day, freelancers can charge what they like. It's not illustrations, but one wedding video company round here charges £1000. My company charges £400, and we throw in everything the higher rate company does too. So you never know, you might get a better deal out of someone who's willing to do it cheaper.

[Da_Elf]

i used to get 50$ USD per hour as a graphic artist at one point

[Ghost]

That's nothing. I sometimes get that money just to stop walking after people 

Rates here in germany are a bit lower; has to do with the euro I think. A freelancer will usually be content with 10 to 15 â,¬ for a normal piece of artwork, pencil, charcoal or acryl. Posh stuff like oil and mixed media tend to be more expensive.

[Da_Elf]

you mean per hour or per piece? Usually my friend gets about 1k USD per piece for product labels