Commercial Illustration (illustration, cartooning, caricatures, character design)

Turnaround Time

Turnaround time for commercial illustration varies depending on the project. Once the initial concept is agreed upon and the sketches have been approved it takes about a day or two to complete a spot illustration or character design. A full-page Illustration takes an average of three days to a week or more depending on the amount of detail involved.

Guidelines for Pricing

Hourly rate for illustration: $75 an hour*

*Additional pricing info: The hourly rates above are general guidelines for our services and for changes made by the client after approval of any artwork produced. Serkworks' prices are based on the project rather than by the hour. This allows us to adjust the price according to the complexity of the project and the usage and ownership rights granted. (usage rights are detailed under About Usage Rights below).

Note: Rush jobs usually involve rescheduling projects that Serkworks already has in progress. Thus in many cases a premium is added. Serkworks may charge a "cancellation fee" for jobs terminated by the client after work has been done but before delivery of the final art, equal to 75% of the negotiated amount. Any additional expenses that are incurred, i.e. messengers, models, travel etc. will be added to the final payment.

About Usage Rights

Following is our policy on ownership. Serkworks may offer to negotiate for usage rights, which allows you to pay according to what you need the image for and allows you to save money by not buying full usage rights. This is standard procedure throughout the illustration industry.

One of the most important factors in figuring the price of commercial illustration is determining how the artwork is intended to be used. For example, if the artwork going to be used in a magazine, for a web page, or for adaptation into animation and licensing, your price will be negotiated entirely differently. Therefore, it's helpful to know in advance just how you plan to use the artwork before commissioning an illustration.

For instance, a magazine usually only requires the right to use the artwork once (called "first use rights") and doesn't really have much practical use for the image beyond that one issue.

A T-shirt manufacturer may only require the right to manufacture the images on shirts and wouldn't expect to have to pay for rights he wouldn't ever use, like comic book or movie rights. A buyer who wants exclusivity to ALL rights would expect to pay significantly more, to offset the fact that he is profiting more form the image and preventing other usage sales of that image.

Serkworks offers a couple of options. First Use rights, and Full rights. First Use means you are only buying the right to use the art for a specific purpose i.e. for a t-shirt design or a magazine ad. Serkworks will retain copyright and any further use you might want must be negotiated. Full rights covers everything. The art is yours exclusively, for any future uses that might occur to you. Rough sketches and ideas that are passed up in the process remain property of Serkworks.

The Process

Step One: Assessing the Project:

We discuss the details of your project. Using the details discussed as a basis Serkworks will provide you with a personalized estimate. After the estimate is approved and returned to us along with a down payment of 1/3rd of the total amount of the project we move on to step two.

Step Two: Conception

Serkworks begins this process by fleshing out a few ideas usually in the form of rough sketches. We will submit anywhere from 3 to 5 rough pencil sketches, which can be altered, reworked, tightened up, or combined, until the concept is acceptable to you. You can ok the final sketches either by email, post or fax. Once we receive a go ahead from you Serkworks can proceed to do the final art. Any additional changes made by the client after approval of the final sketch will be billed at our hourly rate. After approval of the final sketch we ask that you pay a second installment of 1/3rd of the total amount of the project.

Step Three: The Final Artwork

Serkworks now moves on to illustrating the final artwork. Once the final art is complete and you are satisfied with the results Serkworks then receives the remaining 1/3rd and delivers the artwork on disk or via email along with any applicable usage rights purchased.

Other Services

Conceptual Illustration (comprehensives, production art and storyboards)

Logo Design (corporate id and branding)

Graphic Design (graphic design and creative services)

Web Design (static and Flash animation)

Serkscapes (murals and themed environments)