Hi all,

I hope it's okay to ask this here. As a developer I occasionally get hit up for free work, and I gather that it's very common for artists. I would imagine that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, especially if you're a professional.

If someone does want concept art done for free for a hobby project or speculatively based on rev share, what factors would influence your decision to do the work and feel respected in the process? Is the nature of the work much of a factor, e.g. creative freedom, a subject that you like, an intriguing concept?

Are there any things they can provide which you'd consider a plus, e.g. trade in kind, payment up front if it goes commercial, etc?

Thanks in advance for any replies, even if I end up losing an arm.

JT

If you are doing something as, let's say, part of your day job, I'd say you have to charge and work accordingly, even more so if you are just providing some product (concept art in this case).

On the other hand, if you are doing it as a hobby, then there should be some motivation for doing something potentially without any monetary gain. I'd say creative freedom is the least that can be offered (at least within some broad constraints). 

Mixing the two (even worse, without both parts agreeing) sounds like it's bound not to work well...

23 hours ago, Thiago Monteiro said:

If you are doing something as, let's say, part of your day job, I'd say you have to charge and work accordingly, even more so if you are just providing some product (concept art in this case).

On the other hand, if you are doing it as a hobby, then there should be some motivation for doing something potentially without any monetary gain. I'd say creative freedom is the least that can be offered (at least within some broad constraints). 

Mixing the two (even worse, without both parts agreeing) sounds like it's bound not to work well...

 

Thanks for the reply.

I'm assuming this is not a regular day job. I guess the reason I floated those options was whether it makes much difference to an artist whether it's a hobby project which is guaranteed to never make them money, or whether it's something which tenuously might maybe kind of make some money.

Beyond that, creative freedom is eminently fair to offer, but is there anything else that comes to mind?

16 hours ago, Tom Sloper said:

If I was a freelance artist, and if I was willing to do work for no pay, I would absolutely need the game concept to be intriguing to me. And I would want my name in the credits even if you didn't wind up using my concept art. I would not trust promises of money after the game sells, unless you gave me a lot of evidence that shows you know how to turn a game into money. 

Thanks, very good point about guaranteed credits. I totally understand your point about promises of money after sales, I've worked for rev share, and the film industry is of course notorious for their accounting that gives creatives almost nothing. I was more suggesting preferred payment for the artist, e.g. if any money goes into the project (including investment or gross profit) the artist gets paid.

17 minutes ago, jefferytitan said:

Thanks for the reply.

I'm assuming this is not a regular day job. I guess the reason I floated those options was whether it makes much difference to an artist whether it's a hobby project which is guaranteed to never make them money, or whether it's something which tenuously might maybe kind of make some money.

Beyond that, creative freedom is eminently fair to offer, but is there anything else that comes to mind?

Good question. Statistically speaking, the vast majority of independent projects have very limited visibility. So besides being a project/context the artist is interested in and will be credited for, I think that it's really what Tom said, you need to show why, different than most others, you are capable of bringing money or visibility to the artist.

3 hours ago, jefferytitan said:

I'm assuming this is not a regular day job. I guess the reason I floated those options was whether it makes much difference to an artist whether it's a hobby project which is guaranteed to never make them money, or whether it's something which tenuously might maybe kind of make some money.

Artist don't eat air and their computers need electricity, it matters that the game has a chance of making money. Art takes a lot of time and as such requires a lot of money to keep the artist living long enough to finish the work.

Most artist join hobby projects knowing it's a gamble, but they do expect to be payed if the game makes money. Also they won't quit their day jobs to help with your game.

There are many artist who spend free time working on hobby games. One deal is to keep tab, that way when the game makes money you can pay the artist; this is what I recommend.

A experienced artist won't take revenue share, it never-never works. Exposure means nothing because a person who can't pay money, doesn't have any exposure to give.

On 3/7/2018 at 10:18 AM, jefferytitan said:

If someone does want concept art done for free for a hobby project or speculatively based on rev share, what factors would influence your decision to do the work and feel respected in the process?

The game should be more than just an idea. Some real design documents and even prototype code is a must have. Having placeholder art in the game already is a huge plus.

The developer must have made a game before even if it's only pong.

A topic that the artist is interested in spending their free time on. So check their portfolio to see what the artist likes making.

No legal obligation beyond a simple None Disclosure Agreement. A Copyright contract is some times OK, but don't be surprised if the artist wants to keep the copyrights to their work till they get payed.

Understand that you are in no position to make demands, unless you pay them. Artist get hundreds of requests for help, leaving your project for a better one is easy for them.

Mostly think of how you would want to be treated if someone asked you to make their game.