Thread by @TimeTravelKey

✨ART TIPS? About PRICING: A LONG Thread✨

Many artists / illustrators / designers / creatives often don't know how to price their c0mmissions, so I thought I'll share my thoughts on pricing factors for artists or clients

#ArtistOnTwitter #vtuber #vartist #live2d

OVERVIEW:
First, there is a legendary service trifecta clients/consultants need to know. You can only have 2 of these:

Speed, Quality, Price

I.e. if you want it fast, either it'll be poor quality or expensive. If you want cheap, it won't be quality or it'll take a long time.

But there's more to it than that in our globalized world ofc.

FACTOR 1: QUALITY
Sometimes subjective but largely there is an "industry standard", looking at successful work out there to measure up to. In art, let's consider this the SUBSTANCE of art and can include:

- Art style: subjective. in demand or unique style, confident, consistent, often reflected in brush strokes / overall look

- Precision: This is simple, a rough sketch/paint vs clean line art priced differently in execution

- Skill: Range from things like character design, concept idea, composition, poses, dynamic lighting, proportions and anatomy, facial expressions, accuracy in capturing a character, intricacy of details, etc from the artist's ability

FACTOR 2: SCOPE

Volume: amount of work basically, size of art, full body, half body, bust? backgrounds, additional characters and features, whole package of content for series and multiple applications, etc.

FACTOR 3: EXPERIENCE

How much exp does the artist have? For example there are "entry level" pricing for those starting out compared to high end pricing. Just remember experience doesn't = skill/talent

- Education: all the years needed to practice/train skills/learn software

- Portfolio: Size of portfolio counts as well, proof of ability/consistency and reliability

- Reputation: A more established/influential artist has increased reputation, demand and reach (even for the client). This includes reputation of past clients

FACTOR 4: TIME

How much time do you as the artist spend on the art? I mention this after experience because amount of time can decrease with exp/skill/knowledge, that does not mean you should charge cheaper if you're faster - because you had to invest a lot to learn those skills

However, you can consider the balance if you feel it is low effort with your skill level. Newer artists might need to spend more time

Calculate the approx number of hours needed by a hourly rate. Hourly rate can be adjusted according to all the other factors.

As said before, rush timelines cost more. Also considering how many clients do you take per month, per year, how many clients/how much time will you need to make a livable wage?

If more clients, you likely need to be fast. If you do less clients, you likely need higher prices.

FACTOR 5: CLIENTS

DON'T forget to value your time spent on consulting, communication and administration (and marketing). Managing clients will take A LOT of time. These are hours spent too, consider it in your pricing.

Also consider waitlist/security deposit, downpayments

Don't forget to add in a factor of risk with clients.

Some clients might back out changing your income expectations, or you may run into problems even a charge back etc. Try to average out your pricing so you will be okay even if something happens.

FACTOR 6: EXPENSES

A quick note, factor in also costs like software, hosting, hardware like your tablet/PC etc, if you have or need to earn that amount back as a business.

FACTOR 7: MARKET

- Content: Is there a significant demand for your style/content produced? Example: anime illustration market is huge if you create art that matches with market needs, but that may not necessarily be for you, so don't be discouraged, understand the market size

- Niche: Are you in the right place at the right time for your services? Anime market may be huge, but there may be a big need and value for a smaller niche set of content/style, if you know who/where to be

- Trends: for example, the vtuber market is booming, this is new, artists are succeeding because of it if they can tap into the need/trend. This may require learning new skills like knowing how to do L2D models to stay on/ahead of the curve. Demand also increases pricing.

- Consumer: In your market segment, who are your demographics, are they people who can spend money? If a lot of your target market are students, they may not be able to afford higher prices, so understand if there is less demand, or if you need to adjust pricing as necessary.

- Industry Standard: Existing standard pricing in the market also influences yours. You can reference others for low end / high end range costs and position yourself appropriately (considering all factors). But don't force yourself to charge cheaper. Their pricing COULD be wrong

- Capitalism: Remember other professions are earning more by standard, and art is considered a "luxury" and not valued as highly. Some also think they can just do the art themselves without the skills. But it is a profession, our profession. We SHOULD be charging a livable wage.

FACTOR 8: COST OF LIVING

Where do you live? What is the value of your currency? What are realistic prices that you need to survive? Do you have a family to support? Do you have other income?

Artists in different countries often charge differently.

Prioritize your living

FACTOR 9: CONFIDENCE
A lot of artists struggle with confidence and self worth and charge lower than they should. Take this into account and exaggerate your prices a bit with a buffer to go against your confidence/self worth debuff.

At the end of the day, take all these factors into consideration. If you feel like you don't have all of these things, you still have the minimum of: Your cost of living. Your time. Confidence Buff. That's your base cost. Then add on quality/skill and all the other things!

While I can't provide a solid absolute formula:

1) Find your yearly salary goal
2) Divide it down to hourly rate
3) Adjust hourly rate according to all factors

What other considerations do you have that influences your pricing?

NO ONE SAID ANYTHING YET IDK IF THIS WAS HELPFUL OR A MISS AHAJSNWOQLQL

Omg there's a lot of you! Glad it helps! Here is my tips and sample template of TOS agreement while we are talking business!

https://twitter.com/TimeTravelKey/status/1520494261329874951?t=k7Ate0dl072a-Fz0KuzZxw&s=19

Challenge: tag an artist who needs to raise their prices 😂