Quality, Delivery times, and Client Input

Quality versus Price or Price versus Quality

After getting a wonderful commission for some artwork, there are some considerations to consider. There is quality to price issues, delivery times, and client input. First, there is a price to quality ratio. Quite a few artists I have met are of the opinion that you give sufficient quality for the price quoted. Actually the reverse is the proper way to think of the ratio. As an artist you should have a certain non-negotiable level of quality that you out into each and every piece of art that you create. That quality equates to a certain price. Then do not budge more that 5% from that price. Reason is that in many cases, the client will forget that they agreed to a lower level of quality for a lower price. When you deliver the completed artwork, then you have to resell the concept of lessened quality for a lesser price. Besides, as a pride issue, would you really want to put out substandard or subpar work for a subpar price? The client who foisted this on you is proud of their “negotiating” skill and brags to all his friends. All the braggarts’ friends see is a sad and low quality artwork that he bought because of a low price. Is that the reputation you want to be tarred with – a low budget, low quality artist? Don’t think so. Artwork should make the soul soar to a higher level, not fall to earth like a lead balloon.

Delivery Times

Make delivery promises set in concrete. Your client expects you to deliver the right item in the right time frame. Anything else is playing into the old lame game of artist as tortured soul, poor business person, etc. Also gives the customer if they are shrewd an opening to renegotiate the price downwards. Or you can invoke penalty clauses if those are in your contract for the artwork. Penalty clauses are a quick way to lose any and all profit in a project. On-time delivery is a sign of a professional artist.

Client Input

All people feel that they are creative. Be aware of this when accepting custom work. You need to listen carefully to the client, take notes, and if possible try to work in some of the clients’ notions. Ultimately though, the client asked for you based on your previous work. The client may have some great insights that will help your work tremendously. Sometimes, you have to diplomatically ignore the client suggestions – preferably not in their presence though. If your design is strong and thoughtful enough, the client will forget all about their hot trendy ideas and embrace your ideas. In fact the client may just congratulate you on how well you translated their ideas to the “perfect” artwork for them. That would be wonderful.

Copyright 2008 Carl Wright

Art in the Corporate Environment

“Art is the signature of civilizations.”
Beverly Sills

Recently, I have been thinking about art in the corporate environment. Wondering if there were any statistics, I started looking around and found some interesting abstracts.

So far the statistics are nowhere to be found. It appears that quantifying art and its impact on the workplace has not been dealt with in a published form. But it has been dealt with in a less than empirical way. Having said that does not negate the fact that art is important as a visual stimulus. The abstracts made fascinating reading and were very hard to put down.

Some extracts from an abstract by Caroline Made at St. Andrews College include: “Corporate art investment has become part of the firm’s overall business strategy to promote its brand name and image. Corporations proclaim that they house art in order to create a more enjoyable and beneficial working environment for its employees as well as highlighting the philanthropic nature of its support of the arts. ….The corporate collection bestows a complex yet highly beneficial element to the firm’s internal environment. Art in the workplace provides an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere for both the firm’s workforce as well as outside clientele.”

Her comments send shivers of delight up my spine. These comments were made about Deutsche Bank’s collection; but I would assume that they are true of any other corporate setting desiring to broaden their appeal to clients and co-workers. Art would be treasured more if there was a statistically-based, quantifiably accurate way to demonstrate that art in the corporate world increased business metrics. Say it increased productivity and morale by 45% and made new clients fall into a cataleptic fit until they bought a 5 year supply of the company’s product. Would that be great or what?

To me, it would make for an easier marketing and selling proposition. To be able to hand art statistics to a CEO or President of a corporation would be virtually priceless. CEO’s and other business leaders understand and appreciate numbers. Supposedly, “the numbers don’t lie”. It would take selling art away from being a soft, squishy selling proposition to a numbers game. One more sales objection would be satisfied.

It would be the end of boring, featureless hallways, or would hope for that. I can see the headlines now in the Wall Street Journal: XXX Technology Company Goes into Bankruptcy. You read the story and find out that the poor Luddite company owner did not buy art to enrich the company environment and his company failed because of that. And then I woke up.

Copyright 2008 Carl Wright

Jody's Book is Available

Great News!

Jody's newest book "50 Secrets Humans Should Know" is now available. It is the culimination of Jody's goal to publish a book that encapuslated her philosophy and paintings in a gorgeous package.

The book, available through most major retailers and Amazon.com, is a delight. When the book is open, two pages face the reader. One page has a copy of one of her paintings and the facing page has a a short thought that goes with the painting.

This personal-sized book is the perfect gift. Click on the link If you would like to see the paintings that are available that are in Jody's new book: http://www.wsggallery.com/Dog%20Series%20Page%201.htm

To order a copy of the book from Amazon.com :http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/104-0243492-9087104?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=50+Secrets+Humans+should+Know&x=15&y=21

Happy Reading!

copyright 2008 Carl Wright

Buying art from an artists studio

Payment can take many readily familiar forms – cash or check. It can also include credit cards, debit cards, Paypal, barter, etc. Cash and check are pretty straight forward. Any artist can take those.

Credit Cards

If an artist is a little more sophisticated they can also take credit or debit cards. Basically this is an arrangement where the client can charge their purchase to their existing credit cards. With a little effort, an artist can get a merchant account and start taking credit cards. We found on average, that the ability to take credit cards boosted the individual sales amount as well as boosted the number of sales by about 30%. Not to shabby!

Paypal

A twist on credit cards, and a easier way to become a credit card merchant , for an artist, is to open a Paypal account. With Paypal you can take credit cards, travelers checks, etc. through your web site. Also can be used in a pinch for a sale that pops up at the studio. Very handy. Paypal is only good though if you make sales through your studio, near a computer.

If, as an artist, you do art/craft shows you will need to have a conventional merchant account though a bank. You can become a “paper” merchant – one who takes credit cards and physically calls each sale in. This is different from the normal merchant who just swipes a credit card through a credit card reader and the card is automatically verified.

Barter

Finally, barter. Barter is a hard mechanism to get right. For us it has worked well a couple of times, but you have to have the right ingredients. You first have to have two equally willing parties. Dumb as that sounds, most times one side of the barter arrangement is more keen to do the deal than the other side. There should be an established price for services from both sides of the arrangement. For instance, we did a barter about 7 years ago with a vet. We traded some art (which was priced at our normal standard price) for veterinary services (which were also priced at his normal price). This worked out well for both parties since the vet loved our work and we loved his services. He got the artwork he wanted for his business and we got a credit on our account that we used up over several months. A very good way to go.

Most times though, barter is used by people in an unequal transaction when the value or prices of services are murky. The artist usually comes out poorly, we have found. To illustrate, a client comes in and wants to barter for some art. You have done no business with them but they are eager to “do” a deal. The client wants a custom artwork and wants to trade accounting for your business for a year. Sounds good. As an artist you can spend more time doing art and less doing accounting. What a deal turns into a Faustian bargain.

After the artwork has traded hands, the accountant wants to change your accounting style from single entry (the simplest) to double entry (a much more complicated method). Next they become quite imperial in their demands that you do all the accounting for your business their way. Then when tax time comes, they make out your income taxes poorly, and give you very poor advice about paying Social Security taxes. All of this causes you to do the years taxes over your way and refill out the income tax forms. A very poor barter. This can happen, so be forewarned.

Those are the main ways we have found to pay for artwork. We prefer anything that is a cut and dried transaction. Also a cut and dried transaction gives both parties what they want now, for the client: artwork now – for the artist: money now. Barter can get messy because to utilize the full extent of the services for the artwork sometimes the party with the artwork decides that they have paid enough and gets rid of the remaining credit. Makes for hard feelings in the next transaction.

Copyright 2008 Carl Wright