# In-house artist - How to negotiate a New Contract?



## gunrkan2 (Jan 14, 2010)

Ok, 

I am was a self taught in-house artist for a screen printing shop. Actually their first inhouse artist ever. Learned their system, seps output - EVERYTHING on my own.

I have actually been designing for 8 years now, started off in web and marketing world. I Freelance almost everyday so I am at the point where I loose money at times going to work as an inhouse - but the work is STEADY so I cant really let it go just yet.

I have been there three years at the end of this month and I feel that its time for a NEW CONTRACT. I do not wish to be a full-time employee, but rather a "contract" employee so that I can do my other freelance work as I please. *THEY would still need me to go in to the office but so that's why I need to figure out in which direction I should go with this.*

I currently get paid like a noob. $13 an hour as the ONLY designer there - do about 7 designs a day 5 seps a day.

The plus is I live in a rural area so the Next real artist lives probably about 100 plus miles away.

I took that pay cut from my last job because the work flow at that time was extremely low and I did have to rush or over extend myself - it has gotten to the point where they are almost pushing too much into a weeks worth of work.

I know as soon as I want to negoaite though they will try to go to their previous designer who is a horrible UNDER-CUTTER. The guys charges about 25 bucks per design and sep and he has a SLEW of decent raster templates so it seems (to the untrained eye) that he is a good designer.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## foot print (Jun 2, 2010)

Test the waters it's sink or swim time. If you are losing money on the freelance work. Then it may be time to jump ship. $13 an hour sounds fair if you live out in the sticks. Your area will set the bar as to what you should make.


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

gunrkan2:

I've negotiated several contracts for myself and hired others as well. In the beginning it has to all start out with a conversation. Someone once said, "you never get paid what you are worth, you only get paid what you negotiate."

If you've worked for these folks for three years, so you must have an idea regarding how this is going to go over when you broach the subject. You desire the stability of a steady paycheck, but the freedom to freelance and do what you want.

Does the employer currently know that you freelance your creative skills after hours? Is this even a problem? Do you have a contract now that states explicitly that you can't freelance? Do you have annual reviews based on performance? Have you received any raises or bonuses during your tenure with the company?

$13 an hour ($27k a year) is about average for an artist with only a few years under their belt. Not sure how you rank on the talent meter, but if you have decent creative chops, can sep high end simulated process jobs (with little on press changes) and can work fast, you'd probably be worth somewhere between $30k - $50k on the open market...all depending on your portfolio and who's hiring.

Do they offer any benefits such as health insurance? 401k, vacation pay, etc?

Before you start the dialog with your employer, I think you should write down some short, medium and long term goals concerning your freelancing...and also regarding your employment with your present company. Money, time, effort, marketability, self-marketing, potential freelance client pool, legal issues, taxes, overhead for running the freelance business, etc. Pile everything together and get a handle on it. 

If you draw a line in the sand, be prepared for them to tell you to take a hike.

You might want to contact some headhunter/recruiters too. Have a conversation about the job market currently. Basic rule of thumb is that for every $10k in salary you want it's going to take you one month to interview around and land a job.

Good luck,

-M


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