AuthorTopic: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines  (Read 7091 times)

Offline AdamAtomic

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I just finished writing the rough draft for a blog article on Gamasutra by that title:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AdamSaltsman/20090724/2571/Pixel_Art_Freelance_Best_Practices__Guidelines.php

1 - From beginners (at either freelancing or hiring): was anything confusing or unclear?  Anything you would like to know more about?

2 - From veterans (at either freelancing or hiring): did I get anything just plain wrong?  Any subjects I missed that are particularly important?

Thanks ahead of time!
« Last Edit: July 25, 2009, 04:52:51 am by AdamAtomic »

Offline heyy13

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #1 on: July 25, 2009, 07:22:54 am
As someone who isn't at all involved in the gaming side of pixelart (any commishes i do are stand alone peices for private use, ie, to hang on someone's wall/personal gallery) i have to say it was all interesting, concise and well exicuted. It kept interest the entire way through and felt neither rushed nor as if it was lacking in information. All around very informative and comprehensive without dragging on.  :)

It was interesting to read even if it's not something i ever see myself getting into.

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #2 on: July 25, 2009, 07:41:35 am
I bet it would be a good read, but for whatever reason it won't show up, just get the site background : [

Offline TomF

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #3 on: July 25, 2009, 08:58:52 am
I found it a good read, nothing was confusing to me. I love how you are completely open with the hourly rates, as a lot of artists don't like sharing that kind of information.

I think the part about underestimating time frames is important for people like myself who have only been freelancing for a few months. I've been guilty of this, as well as not taking design time into consideration.

Offline CharlesGabriel

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #4 on: July 25, 2009, 09:11:31 am
This is something I've been looking for, for a while now. I'm interested in reading it, but It shows blank, I can only see the log in stuff on the left and the ads on the right... do you have to log in to view it? or is this an error or something...?

EDIT: Nvm Adam, I clicked on your pro and got it from there haha... for some reason the link didn't work when I clicked on it. Anyways, here's the new link in case anyone can't get through...

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AdamSaltsman/20090724/2571/Pixel_Art_Freelance_Best_Practices__Guidelines.php

EDIT 2: Finished reading it... interesting. I am hoping you'll update it and add more content to it... or expand the sections with more information, I was a little dissapointed you were wanting to stop talking lol, keep sharing more tips and pointers on regards freelancing as a pixel artist. I can never get tired of that lol... specially since I'm still a beginner at this.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2009, 10:23:09 am by Antifarea »

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #5 on: July 25, 2009, 10:21:58 am
""I need a logo design, but I only have $100.  I know, I'll hold a contest!"  No."

as if this wasn't already very helpful, that one line makes for total win.
I found nothing at all unclear, and it makes me want to try and do some work again :p but I don't have the programs to do it and any pixel art I do will be that fantasy of a game idea I have. Although, when discussing payment, I don't believe you talked much about paying by the asset. surely I'm not the only one to ever have done that? I've always found hourly wages too confusing because when I pixel I very often do it while IMing and suchery and would find it unfair to make someone pay for an hour if half of it was " lol omg"

Offline TomF

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #6 on: July 25, 2009, 10:56:01 am
Yes, I often get asked to work by the asset also. I haven't done any "true" hourly jobs where by time logs are kept. Most of the time I will work out how long a job will take, apply the hourly rate, and then we both agree upon that fixed price. If it takes me longer than the said amount of hours to complete the work then that's my fault for underestimating.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2009, 01:11:41 pm by TomF »

Offline AdamAtomic

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #7 on: July 25, 2009, 12:01:30 pm
noted!  I'm gonna keep collecting feedback all the way through the weekend, so keep it comin!

Offline 32

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #8 on: July 25, 2009, 01:24:10 pm
Thanks for writing this, nicely executed and nothing was overly hard to understand.

The only constructive thing I have to say is that you could probably elaborate on the importance of the designs, maybe some figures about the impact it has on your pixelling time, for me designing can sometimes take longer than the pixelling itself, not sure if that's true for others but estimates from your experience could be useful.

Offline #36005A

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Re: Pixel Art Freelancing: Best Practices & Guidelines

Reply #9 on: July 26, 2009, 03:32:06 pm
Excellent article, Adam! I really enjoyed reading it - very informative.
As far as feedback goes, I just wanted to point out one tiny proofreading thing:
Quote
...a few hundred kilobytes is more than enough for a small to medium-sized game.
This was missing an "a". ;D