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196 of 207 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Memorize Ethical/Legal Guidelines; Beware DECLINING Prices!, June 5, 2001
This review is from: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook : Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 10th Edition) (Paperback)
The Copyright, Legal, and Professional Issues and information, and Trade Customs in this book are an invaluable and comprehensive resource for freelancers, art buyers, and business managers--a real bible. I gave the previous edition of this book a 4 star rating for those reasons and continue to give that large portion of the book the same rating. The Pricing charts for freelance illustration however, need a strong ALERT. If one quotes the fees in these charts or budgets these figures with no adjustments, the fees in these charts will remain the same, year after year, ad infiniteum because the same figures will continue to be reported. In comparing figures from previous editions, many of these figures in these have remained exactly the same or even gone down for at least a decade. THE FEES WERE HIGHER IN 1991, TEN YEARS AGO Even in places where they have gone up, and if one considers inflationary adjustments, the scenario is even more negative. From 1991-2001, the inflationary adjustment based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index is 31%. To compare, if the price for the front cover of a paperback trade book, major distribution is suggested in the1991 edition to be $3000, and in the 2001 edition the range of fees reported is $1500- $3000, something is wrong. That inflation adjusted fee of $3000 in 1991 would be almost $4000 today. The scenario is no better in other areas like advertising, corporate, and magazine editiorial. If a freelancer does 2 dozen jobs like this a year, at the stagnated fee, if would mean a $24,000 loss of income compared to 1991. That loss is even higher when you factor in capital expenditures in technology-computers, printers, scanners, websites--which didn't exist before. I am not saying that this book is to blame for declining or stagnating prices. the reasons for that are many and complicated: wild discounting by stock houses, and increased competition caused by easy access to national/international markets, increased pressure on copyright usage caused by globalization, electronic uses and corporate conglomerates, to name a few. But freelancers using the reported fees in this book for quoting and accepting fees won't even maintain the status quo ad infiniteum, to the delight of client business mangagers.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential book for any serious professional, August 13, 2001
This review is from: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook : Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 10th Edition) (Paperback)
I've read about the shortcomings others are citing, but I just don't see them. The amount and kind of information that a professional graphic artist, designer or illustrator, needs has exploded, and it's unrealistic that any book can keep up with the variety and complexity of projects that we're faced with everyday. This reference does a MAGNIFICENT job of distilling the essential factors that go into a pricing decision. The ultimate decision rests with the artist about what to charge. This book has been a lifesaver and continues to be dog-eared at every turn....it's SO valuable. You can blame it for not keeping the x-acto knife sharp, and lots of other challenges that designers and illustrators face, but it does a FANTASTIC job of doing what it sets out to do: provide a professional graphic artist with the tools needed to make a pricing decision. One reading of it will give you the confidence to MORE THAN make up for the purchase price.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Unreal Pricing Guidlines, November 20, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook : Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 10th Edition) (Paperback)
I found that the prices given in this book were way off for my demographic and line of work. With the knowledge of bidding my own freelance jobs and hiring designers for the firm that I work for that the pay scales in this book are way out of wack. I'm not saying that they are all over priced like other readers might assume. I found that many estimates to be quite low. You run the risk of losing a job because your bidding estimate is to high in some instances and in other given estimates you are going to lose a lot of money. The given freelance hourly rate for an Art Director is $55.00. That is way under what the market pays in the area and industry that I work in. You will also find pricing like this: National advertising campaign (Print Media) between $11,000-$25,000. There are no specific variables given to this enormous disparity in pricing. There is a heap of useful information in this book, but pricing isn't one of them. In fact it's bloody useless.
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