On the topic of pricing your work, Pablo Picasso sums it up beautifully with this little story:
Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.
“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”
So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.
“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”
“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.
“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”
To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”
Do you agree with him? How do you price? By the hour or by the project or both? What do you base your pricing on – time or value?
And, while we are on the topic of being paid for your service, I found this awesome ad on Craigslist via a graphic design friend of mine.
This post is obviously poking fun at the fact that we – graphic designers – are constantly being asked to work for free with only the promise that they will tell everyone how wonderful we are and guarantee that we will get more work out of this (more free work, that is). Anyway, it’s all in good fun – but makes a valid point. No one – from graphic designers to painters to mechanics to accountants – should be asked to give of their talents for free. I mean, I at least pay my baby-sitter (read: my mom-in-law) in baked goods and books.
Everyone deserves to be paid what they are worth.
Do you agree?
~Amy
{story sourced from “How Much Should I Charge?” by Ellen Rohr}
{image via the telegraph}
