Is it my job?...
-
...To be responsible for the text and heading of a book/product after I've done my part illustrating? I understand my responsibility to leave room for text where it is needed. However it was never discussed beforehand to do the lettering/company logo/bar codes and such (some of these things require knowledge of Adobe Illustrator). These responsibilities just sort of became "tacked" on to my workload and had to rush to figure out adobe Illustrator. Is it normal in this industry to just assume these will be my responsibility and price it accordingly? I never want to be unprepared again.
-
@Cjones No it’s not your responsibility. It’s the Graphic Designer’s. Who is your client? Politely tell them that you don’t know how to use Adobe Photoshop and that a Graphic Designer will do a better job. If your contract did not state it, you have no obligation to do it. I hope this helps.
-
@Cjones , if you were hired to illustrate the book, that usually means only that; creating illustrations for the interior of the book (and sometimes the cover as well). It wouldn't also include setting the type, getting an ISBN number and bar code, creating a logo, laying out the graphics, page numbering, etc. That doesn't fall under the description of illustrator and so, unless it was discussed separately or written into a contract, that isn't what you agreed to.
-
Thank you all for clearing that up. Looks like I just need to put my foot down.
-
@Cjones Even at the tiny local press where I got paid shit for the book, they had a graphic designer...
-
When I did my first book (self-published through Amazon by the author), the author put in the text themselves, but it didn't look as good as it could have. The second project I did with the author, I offered to do the typesetting myself in InDesign. MUCH more difficult. While I'm glad the author gave me an increase in pay (and was happy to do so), adding the type myself was hard and tedious. I wish there had been an opportunity to work with a graphic designer to help with the text rather than my doing everything myself. On the one hand, I felt more in control over the quality of each page. On the other hand, it increase the stress of working on pages (and I had the lovely task of having to fit both English and Spanish translations of huge paragraphs).
So I'd say, if you haven't discussed text, and especially if it's not in your contract, politely discuss this with your client. Hopefully they'll be understanding.
