FINANCES.

The thought of VAT, invoices, taxes and accounts makes me want to crawl into a hole and ignore it until it goes away. Unfortunately, this probably isn't the best approach and needs addressing sooner rather then later. To give us a little bit more insight into the real world of illustrators, our tutor sat us down and gave a thorough, in depth lecture on how to transform from being a poor student, to a slightly less poor professional designer.

Taxman by John Royle

To start the day, we saw two accountants from a Stockport based firm that had been invited to speak to us about managing our accounts, keeping books and business plans. This was aimed at the people that were contemplating setting up their own business or declaring themselves as being self employed, rather then full time work at a studio. It seemed a little pricey, but sounds as though its pretty easy to get snowed under by not keeping tabs on everything so could be worth the money spent. Saying that, I think if you're careful and committed, you can always keep on top of things as long as you start of that way (speaking from someone with no experience in finances at all).

Ian's lecture was specifically aimed at us as illustrators, not necessarily just business people, so focused more on charging fees and copyright issues. I found it helpful to hear how an effective business structure should be set out by covering topics such as business summary, market competition, pricing and promo, financial requirements and operations. It was daunting to hear how much needs to be put into projects like this and gave me a slap round the face as its something I'll have to be dealing with very shortly. Covering the basic knowledge was good to prep us all for whats to come and how to deal with any legal problems that might arise. One of which is making sure you get correct payment for you commissioned work that only comes with using contracts and invoices. One of the most important points covered was make sure a contract is written up and signed prior to working so clients can't get one over on you. This ensures payment for multiple print runs and cancellation fees.

I read a interesting piece on Computer Arts about how illustrators can get more for their work that can be found here. Definitely worth a read if you have a spare 10 mins and want some extra dollar for your drawing.

Pricing up a commissioned piece is something I haven't yet had to deal with and imagine could be a difficult obstacle to start with. When charging for a job, we were told to consider the following factors : the time it takes to make, the size of the print run, the exposure for both you and the clients profile, how much you actually want to do the job and finally, the going rate for a commission that size. It makes it seems more manageable once broken down but still think its an issue that will come easier with time.

The day was very eye opening and has switched me on a little more when considering work as a freelance illustrator. Overall, it seems that as long as you're careful and cover your traces, you don't have to worry too much. It seems to be worth the hassle in the end and its an aspect of work that I'm dreading, but at the same time wanting to tackle it and become a "real artist".