Character design pricing

[thee_nethken]

Hi there,

Does anyone have any advice on pricing for character design? Say for example I'm freelance and I design a character for a client, what guidelines should I use when charging them?

Thanks, any advice much appreciated. :)

[ocampos]

Hi nethken!

I think there is some basics to know how much to charge. First is how much time it takes to you to finish a character design? Take an average if that time usually vary depending on the character itself. For that it is important to track the time of your work, personal or client.

Another aspect to know is how much do you spend or need for living in a month for example. To that amount you need to add any business-work costs for the same period of time. Then divide the result in the number of hours you will work during the same time (160 hrs for example) and you will get your first hour rate. Be realistic!

If you know the time some work takes you and your hr. rate, the final math is simple ... Ok, just multiply A * B.

This a basic approach to how calculate your rate. There are many variables to take in count and one of them is the market and how much your competition charge. You will prune and improve this on the fly, by try and error. There is no a magic formula, each freelancer has they own method. And I'm sure you will find yours.

But I hope this helps for a start.

Good luck!

ocampos

[thee_nethken]

Hi Ocampos!

Thankyou for your response, it was very helpful. It clears up how to charge for the time taken on a piece of work.

But, what about copyright? Say a client wishes to own full copyright of a character, that is surely going to cost more than a character design with limited rights. How does one charge for the intellectual property aspect of a character design? Any ideas?

Thanks again!

Kenneth :D