The 13th edition of The Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines is now available [Amazon]. The 2010 edition includes an updated pricing survey, legal information and sample forms & contracts. As in previous versions, there is a section dedicated to standard trade practices and rates for technical illustration.
If this book isn’t on your shelf now is a great time to get it. If your copy, like mine, is out of date it might be time to update.
Sometimes freelancing can be like solitary confinement. Big projects, tight deadlines, (and if you’re in the Pacific Northwest, terrible weather) can all keep you locked up in the home studio. To ward off cabin fever I like to listen to a small selection of podcasts, some illustration-related, some business-related and others general interest to stay current with the rest of the world.
Sadly, I haven’t found a technical illustration podcast, but here’s my playlist:
Escape From Illustration Island: The Podcast
In-depth interviews with illustrators, artists’ representatives and art directors. Companion to Escape From Illustration Island, a resource portal and illustration community.
Big Illustration Party Time
A conversational podcast about the ins and outs of freelance illustration and cartooning.
Hawk and Squirrel
A brand new podcast searching for its voice. As manic and entertaining as its hosts (and friends of mine), Chad Covino, Juan Solon and Nimit Malavia.
Freelance Radio
Official podcast of FreelanceSwitch.com covering work and life issues of freelancers.
The Monocle Weekly
A mix of discussions, interviews and field reports on world events and culture.
Stuff You Should Know
Official podcast of HowStuffWorks.com, explains how everyday things and not-so-everyday things work.
Have any podcasts to recommend, illustration-related or otherwise? Let us know in the comments!
For those of us who work with publishers of magazines, newspapers and books, the past few years have been trepidatious. The future of the printed page looks uncertain. There’s much speculation that this business model or that device will save the industry. And as much as we techies may fall in love with each new gadget, they have been looked at as a threat, or at least an unknown variable in our careers.
But through all this, I’ve taken comfort in two facts. First, that we live in a visual society. For this reason, the pixel pushers, the vector tweakers, the pen sketchers, and more importantly the visual thinkers will always be in demand. Secondly, the environment around us grows more complex every day. We specialize in distilling complexity into more comprehensive, communicative forms.
I feel our skillset will remain relevant and in demand, but it is crucial to stay informed about prevailing technologies and mediums, and to constantly update our workflows to be able to deliver our product in whatever packaging consumers demand.
Threats or opportunities? What are your thoughts?
Bill Fehr is a technical illustration veteran, with 20 years experience in the field. In this interview, we discuss the technical skills, the ongoing learning of new software and technologies, and the exploration of new business models necessary for a sustainable career in illustration.
What is your background? How did you get into technical illustration?
I have worked and lived in St. Louis my whole life. I graduated in 1982 with an Associate in Applied Science degree in Technical Illustration from Meramec Community College here in St. Louis. I later went back and got my Bachelors in Business Management.
Since I was in High School I knew that I wanted to become a technical illustrator. That idea came to me when I was in drafting class and in the text book we were using was a description of what a technical illustrator does. It was accompanied by a photo of a guy using an airbrush to create a concept rendering of a car. That was it for me.
I was lucky enough to land a job as a technical illustrator before I graduated with my illustration degree. This was in the 80’s mind you so there were no computers. Everything was hand drawn. I was lucky enough back then to work for a small company where I had to learned to wear many hats. It was there that I learned to spec type, create photostats, airbrush, knockout backgrounds in photos, take photos, and paste up documents by hand.
In the eighties we didn’t have the advantages we have today of tracing digital photos or importing CAD data. Illustrations were created by extracting dimensions from blue prints or measuring actual parts. We would draw out the illustration in pencil first on a sheet of velum. We would then lay over that a sheet of mylar and “ink” the illustration using technical pens and templates. Inking was an art all by itself and one that I still miss to this day.
I have seen many changes over the 20-plus years that I have been doing this. The one thing that has never changed is the need for visual communication. The only difference between then and now is how it is created and how it is delivered.
How do you work? Employed, freelance or somewhere in between?
Currently I am employed by American Power Conversion as a technical writing manager. Our department creates installation, operation, maintenance, and service documents, just to name a few. In the evenings and weekend creating stock illustrations and photographs. I do very little freelance work. It requires much more time than I am willing to give these days.
What’s your favorite kind of project?
I still find black and white line art to be the most fun. Though at first it seems like it would be the easiest I find the opposite can to be true. You don’t have color, transparency, or animation to get you out of tough situations. All that you have to use to communicate is a black line. What you do with that line, now that is what makes all the difference. To me it’s very Zen-like.
Any advice for technical illustrators just starting out?
Experience with software is secondary to technical knowledge. Anyone can learn software. The ones that can get themselves out of tough situations without using software in as a crutch are the ones that I respect the most. That’s not to say the you don’t need to know how to use Illustrator, or CorelDRAW, or whatever. In fact, the better you know the software the better you can illustrate because the software is not “getting in your way.” I’m just saying that you shouldn’t rely on the software to replace technical knowledge. There were many times where I had to rely on my technical training to get me through projects that had no reference photos or CAD data. All I had was a rough prototype and some napkin sketches.
What is your software of choice?
Everyone has their favorite software. This is usually the software that they have used the most and are most familiar with. For many years I have used CorelDRAW exclusively. Once I started getting into stock illustration however I started to migrate over to Adobe Illustrator because stock agencies require an Illustrator version 8 compatible EPS file. It was much easier to make the transition to AI than it was to go through the process of exporting Draw files over to Illustrator, make correction, then export to EPS. I also moved to an iMac recently so that drove my decision to move Illustrator as well.
I have used a few vector illustrations packages over the years, CorelDRAW, Corel Designer, Xara Xtreme, IsoDraw, Deneba Canvas, and Adobe Illustrator. I also have used Solid Edge, SoldWorks, AutoCad, Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Blender for 3D modeling and rendering work.
Most of my experience has been with CorelDRAW. It has, I believe, one of the best toolsets for technical black and white line art. It allows you to draw with much more precision and at a higher rate of speed than other programs. I have also created a custom technical illustration toolbar that I use within DRAW which helps me get through an illustration pretty fast. I also like that the overall file size is small. CorelDRAW is great for those just starting out because it is inexpensive.
The downside to CorelDRAW is that it is a bit buggy and will crash at the drop of a hat. I have learned to save versions of the file that I am working on just in case of such a crash. CorelDRAW does create backup files and crash recovery files but they are not always usable.
You sell stock illustration via iStockPhoto, Shutterstock and Dreamstime. What has your experience been with this?
I love the microstock business. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. On one hand I can create what I want when I want and still get paid. Of course the more your work aligns with the needs of the customers the more money you will make.
The stock photography and illustration business can be tough to define. What is going on is your trying to guess what somebody might need. You want to create images that can be incorporated into design pieces, film, advertising, mailers, etc. You can try to communicate concepts or ideas like space travel or a health care. It can be fun and challenging.
I think creating stock images fits my personality and lifestyle better than doing freelance work. I am under no pressure and I can work whenever I want. I have done my share of freelance and I don’t care for having to find the jobs during the day then working evenings, weekends and holidays to get it done.
Bill’s technical illustration work can be found at TekART Technical Illustration, and his fine art and photography at BillFehr.com.
I’m talking about going from a full time corporate job to going full time freelance.
I want to hear your stories. How did you do it and what were the circumstances?
Were all your ducks lined up perfectly or did you just get to a point where there was so much freelance work coming in that you just went for it? Or did you just say the hell with it and jump in the deep end to see what would happen? Did you like the job you were in previously, hate it or were you just tired of working for someone else?
If you’ve been doing it for a while how is it going for you? Do you ever miss the corporate 9-5?
Are you making more money now? Are you working less or more?
What do you like and dislike about freelancing full time?
What do you do if you like your full time job but are getting so much work freelancing that you have to turn it down?
Spread some inspiration on those of us working the 9-5. Seriously, we’ve got some of the most talented illustrators on the planet on this site, share some wisdom people.
Thanks!
“Technical” may be the last word you’d use to describe illustrator and illustration community leader Nate Williams’ work. But his advice on a career in illustration is relevant to just about anyone with a career in image making.
I first read it shortly after graduating college, and since then I’ve revisited it every few months to re-evaluate my career and hone my efforts. It’s an all-encompassing checklist, covering the subjects of technical skills, style, online and offline marketing, customer service, workflow, creativity and attitude. I think this is a great resource for any illustrator, at any stage in their career.
I was recently approached by a publisher of several software/tutorial magazines about doing a 6-page technical illustration primer. The pay was laughable, but the contract was downright insulting:
3.2 Anything that you […] produce or invent for [us] as part of, or in connection with, the Contract shall be [our] property absolutely and you shall assign or procure the assignment of all Intellectual Property in such things (whether existing now or arising in the future) free from all encumbrances to [us]. You also agree to obtain all releases that are necessary to enable [us] to exploit the Work as it sees fit. If you provide any of your own pre-existing Intellectual Property as part of the Contract you hereby grant [us] and, if relevant, Clients to whom the relevant Work has been provided, an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free licence to use such Intellectual Property in relation to Work similar or equivalent to the Work.
Worse, still:
3.3 Where you are the author of the Work, you waive absolutely your right to be identified as the author of the Work […] and your right to object to derogatory treatment of it (granted by section 80 of that Act) and, so far as is legally possible, any broadly equivalent rights you may have anywhere in the world. Where you are not the author of the Work you undertake to obtain equivalent waivers from the authors.
…and in case they missed anything:
7.6 This contract may be reviewed and/or amended at any time by [us].
[Emphasis is mine]
Even if I was ready to work for next to nothing, even if I was willing to hand over all rights to whatever I created, even if I convinced myself that the exposure from a project like this was worth the work involved, they wanted me to waive my right to be identified as the author of the work. Oh and they could modify the contract at any time.
Illustrators — Read your contracts. Understand them. If they have bogus clauses, ask for changes or reject them outright.
What bogus clauses have you gotten on contracts? Let us know in the comments!
Technical Illustration and Non-Disclosure Agreements
Almost every project I take on involves signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement of some sort. An NDA is a contract that protects the client as well as the illustrator from legal and financial liability should confidential information related to the project fall in the hands of a third party.
A client with a patent pending wouldn’t want their illustrator disclosing details of a project to a competitor (or anyone for that matter). On the other hand, the illustrator needs to show work in their portfolio in order to bring in more work. The NDA contract ideally strikes a balance between the needs of the two parties.
For example, they may agree that everything is to be kept under wraps until the project is completed and published by the client. After that, the illustrator is free to use the sketches, roughs and finals for promotional purposes or even reuse or resale. This is a typical NDA clause for magazines
They may agree that all roughs, reference materials and correspondence be kept confidential, and that the illustrator can use only the final image. This is typical when working with science and technology firms.
Or the client may insist that the project be kept strictly confidential in perpetuity (Forever. Forever ever.). Because an illustrator needs to show work to get work, a clause like this seriously restricts future work opportunities. This factor must be taken into consideration when negotiating a fee for the project.
A non-disclosure agreement can work for you or against you. Read it. Understand it. Negotiate it. Abide by it!
How do you deal with non-disclosure agreements? Let us know in the comments!
The phonecall woke me. It was early morning. Summer. A few months after graduation. I was a freelancer. I had started freelancing during college, so the transition to full-time freelancing after graduation was natural.
The phone rang again. This could be work. I scrambled for the phone. I didn’t recognize the number. Maybe a new client. It rang again. I answered.
“Hello, James speaking.”
“This is James Provost?”
“Yes it is.”
“Hello, this is John Smith. You posted a message on my blog yesterday?”
“I don’t think so…” Who the heck is John Smith??
“Do you know my blog?”
“Sorry, I don’t…”
“Could you please go to suchandsuch.com/johnsmith?”
John is an illustrator, and like many illustrators, John blogs about his work. To my horror, in the comment section of the latest post on his blog was a rather inflammatory message. The author: James Provost. The message itself was standard internet troll-ism, your typical YouTube comment. But instead of using a disposable, anonymous identity, the troll had decided to use mine.
When freelancing as a technical illustrator, deciding what to charge clients can be as delicate and precise an art as technical illustration itself.
Here are three key factors to consider when quoting on a project: