Lessons Learned from Jobs that Got Completely Out of Control:
Part One of a Two-Part Series.

I ran a full-page color ad of my illustration work in the Graphic Artists Guild’s Directory of Illustration #11. It set me back $3500, but I was convinced it would open all kinds of doors for me. Within two months I received a call from the owner of a puzzle company who saw my ad and wanted me to create a 30”x48” full-color map/illustration of Aspen Colorado for use on puzzles and postcards. The client happened to be only three hours away, so I arranged a personal meeting. We discussed the job and I worked up a quote for $4000. They also said the job requires me to fly to Aspen for three days to sample the bars and restaurants, take pictures and go shopping. Oh…and they would pay for everything on top of my illustration fee.

This all sounded great to me… could it get any better? The directory ad paid for itself and I was off to an all expenses paid trip to Hollywood’s Winter Playground (it was February). I finally hit the big-time.

The Trip

I flew into Denver early afternoon then had to rent a car and drive another four hours up to Aspen. I hit heavy snow soon after leaving the airport and, long story short, it took almost nine hours to get there… by the end of the drive I got the flu. I woke up late the next morning and it was still snowing. I felt terrible and just went back to bed. Day 1: Wasted.

Day 2 was beautiful and I felt much better. I dug out my car and managed to take all of my reference pictures while I wined and dined myself all day. Day 3 it started snowing again and avalanche warnings were posted throughout the area. There was talk of closing I-75, so I decided to leave for Denver early, hoping not to miss my 1:00 PM flight back to Boston the next day. I packed up and headed out just before midnight. It was a complete white out situation all during my 30 mph crawl down the mountains. I arrived just outside of Denver at 7:00 AM and checked into a hotel so I could catch a few hours of sleep. I was exhausted and getting sick again. The trip itself was only the beginning of this unfolding nightmare.

The Other Trip

Now comes the fun part. Back in my studio and fully recovered, I had to design a title/logo for the piece, then sketch out an aerial view of the town and surrounding ski slopes. I needed to design and create a border with about fifty little sponsor ads with hand-written text for the local vendors. Then I needed to recreate each of the vendor’s logos to call out their location in the map along with a little drawings of their buildings. I also had to label streets and public places, and finally garnish all remaining negative space with images of local attractions and activities, not to mention hand written blurbs about the area’s unique facts. O.K… what did I charge for this job? I realized that I got in over my head. My drawing style is very detailed, delicate and time consuming. If I was going to show a profit on this job I had to change my style and work faster.

I submitted a full size pencil sketch to the client after a few weeks and they approved it with only minor changes, a rare bright spot in this experience. However, the marketing guy, let’s call him Guy, was beginning to apply pressure on me for the final (though we set no firm due date). So, I had to hire an illustrator at $10/hr to help me carbon transfer the border ad sketches while I finalized the composition of the rest of the drawing. As I proceeded, I just could not break out of my original “steel engraving” vision for this project, so the drawing phase just dragged on. I was happy with the way illustration was turning out—very accurate and meticulous ink lines with subtle watercolor washes—but Guy was soon breathing down my neck again. Apparently, the longer I worked on the illustration, the more money he lost. Nobody told me about this. The “boss” said don’t worry about him, but it was like trying to ignore the rat that was chewing on my shoelaces.

Anyway, after four months, I finally got this thing finished. It took forever (I made about $9 per hour), but it looked beautiful and I figured at least it would be a great portfolio piece. I was so proud to present it to the client, believing he would shower endless praise upon me and even give me a bonus.

When he looked at it he paused, then said, “The colors need to be brighter. Yes, my photographer will never capture your colors, they need to be brighter”.

“The photographer?” I said. “Aren’t you going to scan this board electronically? You can enhance the color in Photoshop if you want”.

Only then I find out that this company was old school. They used film cameras to take pictures of their illustrations (I didn’t want to ask how many generations and degradations it went through before it was burned to plate). The only chance they get to adjust the color was on press, so it was back to the drawing board. I pushed the color as far as I felt it could go, as I watched my hourly rate sink below $5. I presented the revisions to the client and he was still not happy with the color, but he took the final anyway and it was a done deal.

Five months and $4 per hour later it was over, but I was very excited to see the finished work because it was my most unique job to date. The client called a few weeks later and said he was extremely happy with the way it turned out. Press proofs were on the way and I couldn’t wait to see it! When it arrived, I opened the package and all of a sudden the sky grew dark. He apparently hired another “artist” to paint over half of my original art with globs of acrylic gunk to “enhance” the color. The original antique feel was completely lost and the details were hopelessly marred. This “artist” even signed his name under mine. There no way I could to add this piece to my portfolio. I felt like I flushed five months down the toilet. I hated my stupid life.

What did we learn today?

I made many mistakes on this one. I was young, starry eyed and naive. Hopefully, I can help you avoid similar experiences by sharing this advice:

1. Don’t be Afraid to Charge Enough Money for “Big” Jobs. $4000 is not a lot of money after you give up five months of your life and a pound of flesh. I should have charged double that amount. If the client balks, then you walk.

2. Take Your Time Working Out a Price Quote. I gave this client a price on the spot… not good. Find out as much as you can about the project. Think through everything that could possibly go wrong with a job and always give yourself at least a night to sleep on it before you commit to a fee.

3. Estimate Your Time Accurately. Here is my rule: Figure how many hours it will take to do a job, then triple it. Without fail, it usually takes me about three times as long to do a job than I initially think it will take. Factor that into your price.

4. Get it in Writing. The “You give me money, I give you drawing” agreement didn’t work for me here. Without a contract you expose yourself to many abuses (see above). Save yourself. Never, never do a job without a signed written contract clearly stating all of your terms, especially fees, deadlines and provisions for additional work.

5. Never do work-for-hire (unless you are desperate for the cash). This client wanted to own the original, so I let him keep it… for free. (duh!). In the real world, the client only pays for the rights to use your work in print, online or whatever. The original art belongs to you unless the client agrees to pay additional for ownership, which can be double or more of the usage fees.

6. Sometimes it’s better to simply pass up the job (unless you are desperate for the cash). If the client says you charge too much or you take to long, then so be it. Your time and talent are valuable. You have to decide which is more important: taking the job or taking a vacation.

On a final note, this was the only job I received from the ad I placed in the Directory of Illustration.

Stay tuned for Part Two…

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Design Careers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.