kaiapi

I’m glad you asked this because now I have an excuse to make my coloring tutorial:

SO to start, once I have my base colors down I change the lineart color to blend better into the base colors so it appears softer and not so hard edged.

oh SHOOT well i cant swing 100 but how bout

Hey guys, looks like its story time… I’m going to vent to you guys about something that just happened to me today, and hopefully you guys can reblog it so that we as artists, can try to avoid this from happening in the future.

For the last month or so I’ve been working on a freelance project for a woman who plans on running a blog about going to College. Throughout this process, I’ve worked with her step by step, going through designs, drafts, re-drafts and etc. After turning in the final design yesterday and being in agreement that the design was good, and that payment should be finalized; she sent me an email stating this: 

“I ran the design by a couple of people affiliated with by blog, and I am going to have to ask you to redo it.  It’s just not what we were looking for.  I’m not a design person at all and I wanted it done, so I settled on it. But this has to be done right”

Settled. 

“Okay, fine” I thought. Sometimes things don’t work out, and designs need to be redone. I was fine with this, and I have absolutely no problem working with a client to make sure that they’re happy; but something about her wording stuck a chord…. She settled. And for reference: THIS is what she said yesterday- BEFORE the email today stating: “This has to be done right” 

FUN FACT: I had gone in a completely different direction before coming up with the design I sent yesterday, but after HOURS of working on it and checking in with her (with her telling me she loved the way it looked) –

–I was asked to redo it.

She told me to redo it. A DAY BEFORE IT WAS DUE.  Which I did (The design I turned in yesterday). But I digress..

I continued reading through the email: 

“If you are not able or willing to take this on, then we can just cut our ties here.  If you would like to finish the project in a time sensitive manner and be paid the other 50$ and be featured, then please get me a new design by today.” 

At this point, I’d been working with her for a little over a month, (I’m a full-time student, and I work the maximum number of hours that I’m allowed to work on campus, on top of that I’m the president of an animation organization on campus, so suffice to say, I’m busy) and she had a deadline for the project, so there was a part of me that could understand her urgency. We had decided on $100. Half up front and half after I had finished. But now something else had stuck with me: “Please get me a new design by today”

What? Are you kidding me? a NEW design? We had been working together for over a month, and I had worked based on what she wanted, and now she wanted a COMPLETELY new design by the end of the day. A day, I might add that I don’t have free because I have work and then other school-related obligations that I need to fulfill… That would mean sketches to generate more ideas, having to confer with her on the design, THEN actually implementing the design, and having to clean it all up, with 1.) No direction (because the way I designed it previously was obviously all wrong), and 2.) By the end of the day.

This had to be done right, and after all of that working and reworking, I was STILL looking to try to be as helpful and professional as possible. So of course,  I was considering starting from scratch and coming up with a THIRD finalized design, until I read the rest of the email… HERE’S THE KICKER: I can’t even make this shit up. 

“A few things to keep in mind. 1.  I am a professional.  I’m an adult, this is my business.  I want it clean, simple and streamlined”.

In my head I thought: “You’re joking. You’re going to tell me these things like I’m a child? First of all, I may be a student, but I’m a working adult, I take care of my schoolwork, I pay rent, I pay a car note, I’m ENGAGED, AND take care of a pet Ferret. Beyond that, not only have I worked on this project with you step, by step, but I’ve done COUNTLESS drafts and ON TOP OF THAT, you’ve told me multiple times that the design is perfect for what you’re looking for”…

The email continued: 

“https://designschool.canva.com/blog/graphic-design-tips-non-designers/”

Are you fucking kidding me. This woman thought it was okay to send me: A designer; this “HELPFUL” link. About tips. FOR NON DESIGNERS. WHEN SHE HERSELF IS NOT A DESIGNER. After this I was LIVID. But I kept my composure and kept reading:

“Ask me questions, read the blog, treat me as if I’m a real client. Let me know your thoughts on this.” 

I almost couldn’t contain myself. For a month I’ve done sketches, layouts, and etc… I’d worked with you step by step, following her instructions for the design, FOR EACH ITERATION OF THE DESIGN and I had tailored each of my changes exactly to her specifications. Beyond that I’d read and re-read over the blog multiple times in an effort to come up with a design that would best display her intentions. I was so upset after reading her email that I literally just closed my phone and walked around for a few minutes to clear my head. 

After much consideration, I decided to do what she herself had suggested and cut our ties. And I did it in what I feel was the most respectful way that I could while still maintaining my dignity. I sent her a message stating that I’m sorry that things didn’t work out, but that I could tell that she clearly didn’t respect me as an artist, and that I thought it best if we didn’t continue working together. I wished her good luck in finding a designer that could suit her needs, and I went about my day. 

Although this situation didn’t end the way that I had expected it to when we began working together, I’ve learned some things, and I wanted to share my story with you all as a way to help raise awareness for things like this:

-VALUE YOUR ART.  -VALUE YOUR TIME.  -VALUE THE CLIENT BUT DO NOT LET THEM STEP ALL OVER YOU

There are non designers who will commission you and be happy that you created something for them, and there are those that will NEVER be satisfied with what you give them. See the warning signs and DO NOT work with people who are going to be difficult for the sake of being difficult.

 I’ve worked with more than a few people who don’t appreciate the amount of passion and hard work that goes into art, and it draining, frustrating and its just not worth it. 

Another thing that I learned is please please please DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT. 

The project that I was working on wasn’t worth $100. And after the second draft it was even worth doing for $200. I understand being a student and needing money, but I’d rather work for free on something that I love than work for pennies on something that I hate. 

Don’t take a project just because it pays. AND PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO UNDERCUT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU’RE A STUDENT OR BECAUSE YOU DON’T FEEL THAT YOU’RE A “PROFESSIONAL” YET. 

I have friends in the animation industry who STILL don’t feel like they’re necessarily “Professionals”

KNOW YOUR WORTH.  And never ever EVER Let anyone tell you what you’re worth. Especially if they don’t know or respect just how much work and time goes into making the beautiful things that you all make.

I think that’s about it. Thanks for putting up with yet another long rant about me trying to navigate my life as an artist!

(also… completely unrelated: If you’re an artist reading this, let me know! I’d love to follow you and I hope you do the same!)

1. Get everything in writing. A preliminary e-mail should specify the exact task and the scope of it, the agreed-upon budget, and the rough deadlines (which, by the way, the client will never stick to.) The important thing to make clear is that the client has already accepted your skills as their artist and to set professional boundaries, even if you don’t feel professional. It’s a contract of sorts for the people who don’t know how to draft contracts to protect themselves. Of course, it can still all go to hell like above, but in this case the artist even had approvals of their designs in writing as evidence. And that’s a good thing!

2. The way you get paid is negotiable. Sometimes it’s 50/50 (half up front, half upon completion), sometimes it’s divided based on the number of steps (so if I’m doing a comic I get paid in installments after a draft, after the inking, and after the final product is approved.) But there are two really important things about the way you get paid to avoid the situation that happened above. A cancellation fee, and a revision charge. 

For small projects like this one, where the client is personally in control of the project, a cancellation fee can be a little tricky because individuals can be annoying about it. I usually have cancellation fees if my client is a third party and I’m not dealing directly with them, because that way if it falls through on their end I get paid by the middle-man anyway. This varies on how big your client is and your own method of working.

But for small projects like this one, where the client is personally involved and temperamental, a revision charge is necessary. This is what I usually do: You get one draft and one - five revision(s), depending on the project. After the draft is approved (and this is why I like to get paid after a draft, because it cements the approval), extra changes will cost you x amount. What this does is it makes the client realise their mood swings will cost them money, and so when they ask for a revision they make sure it’s what they really want. It also saves a lot of time because in my experience it’s not just a major rehaul that’s exhausting and unrealistic but constant tiny changes every single day (e-mails at 2 am asking you if you could change the font color, and then after you do, asking you to change it back.) You can set the type of revision and charge according to the project, but the important thing is that the client knows that extra revisions will cost them and so they’ll be more thoughtful about it. Also, a timeframe for revisions is important! This should be specified in the first e-mail timeline, for ex: “creating a layout takes 4 - 5 days” so therefore if a revision demands a new layout, you need another 4 - 5 days. No “we need this tonight!!!” nonsense. Alternatively, you can charge extra for working overtime, if you’re forced to do it overnight because they disrupted the schedule/timeline.

3. Never ever ever ever ever send a final project until you get paid. Specify that in the initial email. If you’re sending artwork for approval, send a low-resolution version that can’t be used for work or watermark the crap out of it. Otherwise you won’t get paid on time, or you won’t get paid at all. People are the worst. 

This is getting kind of ridiculous.

SO YOUR ART’S BEEN STOLEN AND PUT ON TEECHIP

You spend hours on a design. You slap it on tumblr. It gets lots of likes and reblogs. Two weeks later, some shitlord steals it and uploads it to Teechip or some similar cesspool and makes hundreds of dollars. You throw a fit, you start a flamewar, you get nowhere. That’s because you’re dealing with greedy enablers who don’t care about you. They don’t, and they won’t. Ever. You’re dealing with a company whose BBB rating has zero positive reviews and whose twitter feed is 99% boilerplate infringement replies to defrauded artists. Their business model is largely funded by turning a blind eye to the black market they cultivate. And they will do the absolute minimum to protect you against their own financial interests. So here’s what I’ve learned from dealing with these useless assholes.

1. The infringing parties follow a pattern.

If you’re dealing with some generic idiot, you might try contacting them via message or comment first. However, most of these guys are part of a well crafted abuse system. You usually spot them in a Facebook fan group. The biggest warning flag is text that resembles this:

[insert name here] - Just Released - Available with Tshirts and Hoodies Get it here => [insert link here] Not sold in stores - Tag your friends who love it.

This account probably belongs to some shady offshore bank account that would piss on your parents’ graves if it got them another buck, so don’t bother trying. Facebook is very responsive to takedowns, just report the page and follow the links to their copyright infringement form. Easy peasy.

The next thing to note is the timeframe of the campaign. Seasoned infringers set up automatically repeating 24-hour campaigns so that, by the time you’ve noticed the infringement, the damage is already done. Teechip’s max DMCA response time is 24 hours, and their minimum campaign time is also 24 hours. Criminals use this to their advantage. Teechip knows this. They don’t care. So….

2. Don’t take it personally.

They don’t see you as a person. They will go out of their way to service their soulless, thieving sellers, but the best you’ll get from them is a week-long runaround while they rake in illegal payments without incurring any liability.

We artists are often temperamental. It’s OK to be angry and to even fly off the handle. But no matter how much energy you expend arguing with Teechip, they will not budge without you taking the proper steps. So take a deep breath, pretend you’re a cool, silicon-based being of pure and absolute logic, and read on.

3. You have to deal with this their way or not at all.

DO NOT immediately engage Teechip on social media. It will feel good, but it is useless venting and you won’t get anywhere.

DO NOT send your friends, fans, and family on an email crusade. Teechip will respond to some or all of those emails with a form letter and then wipe their hands of culpability.

INSTEAD:

*** You must send one concise, properly written DMCA takedown email to [email protected] ***

Here is the format I used, which was for a piece of fan art that I created:

My name is [insert full name]. A campaign that your company hosts is infringing on a specific piece of artwork that I created.

The original artwork [add a creation date if you have one, you want to establish a timeline] can be found here:

[insert link to your original work, or say “see attached” and include attachment]

The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at:

[insert link to infringing work]

This letter is official notification under Section 512( c ) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your website. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that my rights are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.

[insert your full name] [insert your mailing address] [insert your phone number] [insert your email address]

It is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NECESSARY to do it as close to this as possible (it may need modification if you are acting on behalf of a company). Do not leave off any of the contact info. If something essential isn’t in there, you’re gonna have to do it all over. They won’t take a DMCA notice in two parts. Remember, you are a being of pure, cool, unmovable logic right now. Do it this way, and only this way.

*** Take note of the opening phrase “infringing on a specific piece of artwork that I created”. If you are fighting the theft of your fan art, you must never claim copyright over an IP that doesn’t belong to you, accidentally or otherwise. As a fan artist, you’re already on thin ice, and Fair Use may or may not protect you from a counter-DMCA; so unless that’s your original IP, make sure you only claim copyright over your specific piece of artwork. ***

Teechip will respond to a properly written DMCA sent to their copyright address in 24 hours. You can escalate it by calling them on the phone. If they don’t take the infringing campaign down within 24 hours of your 100% properly formatted DMCA email, THEN you can consider additional legal action. If they do take it down in time, you might still be entitled to damages from the seller – ask a lawyer before making any demands of Teechip, though. I can’t advise you further on this matter.