The Art of Business: A Fresh Look at the King of Graphics Business Books
Jump on Amazon and type in the key words “graphic arts business” and 157 titles pop up. That’s a tall hill of books, including a few seminal titles that are favorites for good reason, such as the no-nonsense “Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers,” by Tad Crawford and Eva Doman Bruck, and the elegantly written “The Business Side of Creativity: The Complete Guide for Running a Graphic Design or Communications Business,” by Cameron S. Foote.
But the perennial bestseller in the category is “The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines” (Amazon sales rank of 2,153 on the day this article was written).
The Good
I’ve looked at a lot of graphic arts business books (by no means even a majority of those listed on Amazon). Still, I’d wager to guess that the Handbook of the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG, for short), now in its tenth edition is the best of the bunch – with, of course, some room for improvement, which I’ll get to in a moment.
The Graphic Artists Guild is a national union of illustrators, designers, Web creators, production artists, surface designers and other creatives. The guidebook was first published in 1973 as a 24-page booklet. Now it’s a 464-page behemoth jam-packed with practical advice, trade customs, pricing surveys, business forms, and glossaries.
There’s just something about iterations that make a book both deep and brisk all at once. You see it with a good piece of software that’s seen a number of versions. And you see it in this handbook as well.
The book is divided into 15 major sections including chapters covering project planning, proposal development, budgeting, legal, intellectual property and contractual issues, working with artists’ representatives, billing procedures, credit, and more. It’s all covered in depth and organized in a clear and concise format, with step-by-step information and resources.
The price of the book (list $34.95, available for under $25) is well spent alone for the chapter on standard contracts and business tools. The chapter starts with a general overview of contracts, and includes a glossary of common contract terms. But then the chapter dives deeper, exploring the differences, for example, of a project-based retainer versus a service retainer, and it suggests remedies for disagreements or breach of contract.
You can save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars just by reading the slim section entitled “before calling a lawyer.” And you can save even more by utilizing the copies of contract and legal forms included in the section.
But the handbook really shines in its middle sections, the hefty chapters that deal with the key arenas of graphic design, illustration, cartooning, animation, surface design, and others. Starting with the premise that the reader knows little or nothing, the chapters begin with quick overviews of foundational basics. But rather than seeming elementary, the writing style is so clear and concise that the reading is enlightening even for pros. It’s sort of like reading the Declaration of Independence and suddenly remembering all those rights you’ve taken for granted.
For graphic designers, for instance, the handbook establishes 12 historical trade practices, all in the space of less than one page, but these 12 cover a wide range of fundamental business and contractual elements, from rush fees to major revisions and alterations. The graphic designer chapter then goes on to spend considerably more time explaining specific and prickly subjects like options and considerations for retouching projects.
The result is a deft balance of overview and detail that works for all types of readers. Plus the information is presented in a visually sparse style, meager bullet lists and simple tables without shadow boxes and other bells and whistles. The result is a book that is immensely readable. In today’s market, with book publishers going to great lengths to mimic web pages, it’s nice to see a commitment to classic book design.
The Bad
Now the caveats, though there are only few. The first is that the editors have been slow, very slow, to focus on the Internet and New Media. The book dedicates a scant 19 pages to the subject — cartooning is given near equal weight — and is off the mark or behind the times in more than a few respects (“Great emphasis is being placed on the development of preschool and elementary education programs. Much of this work is called ‘edutainment'”). Now, last time I checked this market was all but moribund, with major content creators in this space long gone belly up.
While there are some helpful tips, if a good part of your day is spent inside Dreamweaver, GoLive, or Flash, you’ll simply have to augment the handbook with another business book. Try “Pricing Guide for Web Services: How to Make Money on the Information Data Highway,” by Robert C. Brenner (out of print but used copies are available), or “The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build & Maintain a Successful Web-based Business,” by Janice Reynolds and Roya Mofazali.
The other major problem with the book is the fee guides. Thirty dollars an hour for a freelance designer? And $55 and hour for an art director? Many a designer would go flat broke using the GAG’s recommendations. Even in these dire economic times, these figures seem woefully low.
The editors are quick to point out that the fees listed in the guidebook are compiled from national surveys. While this may certainly be true, it’s helpful to keep in mind that averages are incorrect for everyone except the average. Use the pricing guides with more than a pinch of salt and by making adjustments based on your experience, region, client base, and so forth, or check out the AIGA annual salary surveys, available from Aquent, which are far more up to date.
For the price of the book, it also would have been nice if the editors had included a CD-ROM containing electronic versions of the business forms and contracts. That way readers wouldn’t have to fish around the Web or (gasp!) retype them from the book.
The Ugly
Finally, what’s with the cover? A penguin paperclip? A “bright idea” light bulb? A computer mouse that’s a mouse? And those colors? With my apologies to the cover artist, am I missing something? Enlighten me, please.
Other than these minor points, the handbook stands out as a must-have for every creative professional, and worthy still of its long-held crown.
This article was last modified on December 14, 2022
This article was first published on August 12, 2002
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
