Cheap Graphic Artists Guild Handbook : Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 10th Edition) (Book) (Graphics Artists Guild) Price

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Customer Reviews of Graphic Artists Guild Handbook : Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 10th Edition)

Memorize Ethical/Legal Guidelines; Beware DECLINING Prices!
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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Mandatory Reading
This is the most comprehensive guide to pricing illustration and graphic design available. If you are a professional or thinking of becoming one, then this book provides the kind of in depth information you need to run a successful business. GET IT TODAY.

It's not a how-to... there are plenty of those around.

WHAT IT IS is a detailed resource of the tools you need to sell your work for a fair price and retain the rights to that work. Sample contracts are provided that cover a variety of situations from an artist-rep agreement to a Multimedia job order confirmation.

Next time you ask "what do I charge for that?!?!?", turn to this book. It'll save your business and repay the cost of purchase many many times over.

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the best of what's available
Pros: Covers a lot of ground; defined creative terms and boundaries for the profession, fees, moral issues, client relationships, salaries, photographer relationships, illustrator relationships, etc. Rare is the book that has the guts to put actual numbers on project fees, rarer still to see it in this field. The only guide of its kind available.

Cons: Shape/bindery of the piece. It's a pain to even open it wide. (This was designed by the guild?) Some of the fee quotes/ideas are too vague, to the point of offering little guidance. The flow of the chapters is odd. Example: It starts with illustrator relationships(?!), when you'd think the first chapter would be an overall state of industry, issues facing communication arts employees and employers, trends, etc. The section on digital/non traditional media is still a little shaky, but better than it was.

Last thoughts: To the review that said they need a new version, they've done two in the last 3 or 4 years. The most recent being 2003. To everyone else: it's a guide, not a law book. The prices are at once too high and too low. Fees/salaries will vary no matter how accurate it is.