Unsure about Pricing Logos and Children's Book Illustrations

[miryhis.livejournal.com]

Hello!

Recently, I have been asked for two commissions, and I'm not sure how to handle pricing them. I purchased the Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook, but I can't seem to find a case that relates to the first one. I could be overlooking something, though!

1) Someone has asked for me to draw a logo, a mascot, and 4 pieces of art relating to their business. The 4 pieces are just going to be various electronics on transparent backgrounds. I'm not sure what to quote for a price, so I looked it up online, but I could only find prices just for logos and not for the mascot or the 4 extra pieces. I thought that mascots would fall under logos, but I'm not completely sure about that. All of the art will be used in signs and on their website. What do you think I should charge for this amount of work (logo, mascot, and 4 pictures of art)?

2) I have been asked by an author to draw illustrations for their children's book. I saw something pertaining to this in the handbook, but I'm at a loss because they want 40-50 pictures. I have no idea what to charge for that amount. I received advice that said I should charge a different amount per a page in case the author wants more detailed pictures for some of the pages. I'm going to meet with the client Sunday, so I will update the post with any new information. What would be a good price for a commission this size or what should I charge per a page?

Thank you for your help!

EDIT: Case #1 went through. Case #2 is in limbo. The client decided on 5-6 illustrations and wanted to pay $250 + royalties for the book. I was not sure if that would be a good price for that ammount of art.

Comments

[kashidom.livejournal.com]

The use of safety deposits like that is a standard in large sales that exceed standard consumer contracts, usually anything over €500 with major finicky/abuse risks. In dealing with software sale, for example, you have to consider all the time from first concept, data acquisition, design, interfacing, and pretty much everything up to sale, post-sale, client services (such as the dreaded customer support), warranty, and so on ..these kinds of contracts often exceed those €1000 but the "deposit" as you call it (we call it "pre-payment") is a safety for the developer/manufacturer and any court cases are also on the client's bill unless the company is in the wrong.

I should say I don't work for software companies anymore, and the startups I owned don't exist anymore either, but it's an entirely different world from this whole fandom consumer client stuff. I often get confused with how shifty/fishy people keep doing their business — I mean; the deposits can be put in at your bank for a minor percentage, it's not like you'll lose more than a typical hamburger meal's worth on it for yourself and some friends. They don't take big shares! ..and yet everyone still goes through insecure(ish) channels like just PayPal alone. One cashback claim and you're broke!

Then again, nobody selling their stuff has an official registration, so that also makes things a little more complicated too — and also very dangerous; your business is your home = your business goes broke, you lose your belongings! But yeah, I'm not here to lecture on business skills.