Character designs for a website. Not sure how much to charge.

[KRGR]

Hey.

I've been approached by a local game development studio to draw up some character designs for their website. They've asked me how much I'd charge for this.

I have absolutely no experience in this area. I've been reading up on it and I'm still not sure. Should I go for an hourly rate or charge per picture? My artwork's very cartoony and simplistic.

I'm from the UK. I'd be very grateful if anyone could throw some advice my way.

[mikeorion22]

hi when ive done this type of work, i decide on how many characters it will be like if its just one i would charge $100 US, but if there is a lot of characters you might want to charge less per character as sort of a package deal. im not a well known name so i cant charge as much as others might. decide on how long long you think it would take you. my work is very cartoony as well and a character design probably wouldnt take as long as someone doing a realistic sci-fi character. if i can help let me know

[mickeymao]

First, make sure everybody is clear on what you're selling them. If they decide to feature those characters in a game or on merchandise that is sold commercially, you'd want more money for that than just for displaying them on a website.

If they only want online rights for the images, then you just need to charge enough to make it worth your time. If they want to OWN those characters, then ask for more. For example, I've done freelance character portraits for games for as little as $200 per piece, but if I was selling all rights to an original character I'd be thinking more in the $500-1000 range (maybe more if it's a large company). This will incentivize them to just buy the rights they need now. Then if they want more later, they have to come back and renogotiate, i.e. pay you more money.

Of course, if their eyes bug out when you quote them a price, you can come down a bit, but make sure it stays worth your while.

I work pretty fast, and in my experience most companies don't like to pay high hourly rates, so it's almost always to my advantage to charge per piece -- plus it makes the client more comfortable to know in advance exactly how much they're paying. But if you're worried about your speed, or about them asking for a lot of revisions, then you could go hourly.

[KRGR]

Thanks for the help, chaps.

[mrsamct]

I'm from the UK. Thanks for the help