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Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

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superboyac:
Hi everyone, I have a question about a topic I am unfamiliar with.  I am writing a book (medieval fantasy/warrior type).  I want to have lots of illustrations in the novel, but the cost for good ones will be way too much.  That is, hiring an artist to do it is not within my budget.  So, the easiest and cheapest solution I can think of is to do the art on the computer, and that way it can look, clean, attractive and eye-catching, without all the manual labor.  I don't like computer art, I prefer hand drawn stuff, but doing it on the computer will get more bang for the buck.

So, I wanted to know how much services would cost to hire this kind of thing.  If any of you are familiar, please chime in and give advice.  I'm initially thinking of hiring a kid, like a high school student or college student who needs a little money.  I used to draw when i was in HS and a few bucks for it was a big deal.  I won't be able to afford a real pro.  I'm probably going to need around 100 rendered scenes.  Some with mostly scenery, and others with warriors (knights) fighting.

Some of the options I thought of are listed below, but I don't know if some of these things exist:

--Could I buy some kind of ready made package of pre-created 3D templates (humans, trees, landscapes, etc.) and use them to put together my own scene in a software package?  Then I can render and color and slightly tweak the things myself.  I can pose the figures and so on.  I am imagining this to be my cheapest option, but I am not sure anything like this exists.

--The other option based on the above, is to just hire a computer artist to create all the things himself, and then I tell him how I want the scenes to be and he does it himself.  But he wouldn't have to keep drawing the same characters over and over because it would be on the computer.  He'd just need to use different poses and different scenes.  This should be a lot cheaper than an artist creating each scene by hand.

So those are my ideas so far.  Anyone have any insight into this?  Thanks.

The "look" I am going for is shown in the examples below.  Obviously, I can't expect that kind of quality, but that is the goal.

40hz:
Hoo Boy! You do know how to ask a question... ;D

Gonna need a little time to work something up for you on that one.

But one big question for you before we start: Are you open to a collaborative partner (i.e. Story by: X Illustrated by: Y) or are you looking to do a "work for hire" agreement whereby you pay the artist for full ownership rights?

 8)

----

re: Prices

You can get a ballpark idea of prices (and the mindset behind commercial art) by looking at a copy of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. This is the book most of the Pros look at even if they don't follow it.

IMHO, the Artist's Guild pricing guidelines fall somewhat into the category of 'wishful thinking' since most graphic professionals I know tell me they'd like to charge what they see suggested in this book.

Prices will also vary widely by geographic region, so take the Guild's numbers with a grain of salt. Something to look at. But not gospel by any stretch. Some interesting comments on this title are posted over at Amazon. ( www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/0932102123 ). Might be worth a look.

Be back in a bit with some more. :Thmbsup:

superboyac:
But one big question for you before we start: Are you open to a collaborative partner (i.e. Story by: X Illustrated by: Y) or are you looking to do a "work for hire" agreement whereby you pay the artist for full ownership rights?
-40hz (September 08, 2009, 03:51 PM)
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the response, 40hz.  That's true, I forgot that you are an artist!  You did my computer building illustration!

Yes, good question.  We need to have full ownership rights so we can reproduce it freely.  I don't know what all this entails.  For the moment, I don't have much money to spend on it.  And I doubt it will be a financial success, so I can't count on that.  So I don't really know how to approach this.  I've seen prices that were surprisingly low, and some very high, so I have no idea what to expect.  I am rather certain that I cannot expect the quality I have shown above for anything I can afford.

tomos:
I was going to suggest looking for someone to join in on the project too - that way you could possibly get someone doing it for love + whatever cut of possible profits & maybe get much higher standard stuff

btw why wouldnt it sell!?
If you going to go for it - then go for it man!

superboyac:
I was going to suggest looking for someone to join in on the project too - that way you could possibly get someone doing it for love + whatever cut of possible profits & maybe get much higher standard stuff

btw why wouldnt it sell!?
If you going to go for it - then go for it man!
-tomos (September 08, 2009, 04:41 PM)
--- End quote ---
yeah, i was thinking about that.  but I just don't know if we'll go for it.  This is sort of a lifelong dream of ours and we've been through a great deal of stuff to get to this point, I don't know if we are willing to share it with anyone who hasn't been involved in all of that.  It would be easier to just own it.  But it's not something I have thought about enough, or know enough to say definitely.  I mean, what are we talking about, as far as sharing?  If it's low like 5%, then maybe we consider it.  but I doubt we consider something like 30%.  It's not that we don't understand or appreciate the talent involved in the work, it's just that we can't justify the sharing knowing what we've been through.

As for the success of it, I don't know.  The things i like are never really that popular.  We are going to go all out on it, but success is such a tricky thing, and the things we like don't normally fall into the successful/popular category.  At best, they are acclaimed critically.

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