How much should my friend charge for Vulcan calligraphy tattoo design?
April 4, 2018 6:21 PM Subscribe
So, my roommate has launched a small business based on artwork and her proficiency for conlangs. Right now, she does mostly Vulcan calligraphy--phrases translated into Vulcan and then written in a stylized form, with some circular Gallifreyan transliterations on the side. She's getting a lot of interest from people who would like her to design a tattoo, but she has no idea how much to charge for something like that. In your experience, what's going rate for a service like this?
Additional information: she does "your name in Vulcan" for $5, but that's really quick and doesn't incorporate any of the translation aspects, which can be difficult. (For example, "eat a bucket of dicks"--the meaning of the piece above--was hard because Vulcan doesn't require plurality suffixes on nouns without context, so to be sure she was accurately translating she eventually settled on "eat a bucket of multiple dicks." Or the recent attempt to translate "queer" into Vulcan, which doesn't have an analogue in the canonical dictionary and required some thought. Or "Human nature is a mystery that logic alone cannot illuminate," which you'd think would be easy but actually required some thought. Or "May the Force be with you!" which requires an imperative subjunctive, which Vulcan doesn't have....)
Sometimes there isn't enough vocabulary, so you have to be creative; sometimes the grammar structure doesn't exist properly, so you have to work out how to phrase it in a familiar fashion. (She's been doing enough translation that I've been prodding her to go get in contact with the Vulcan Language Institute and start picking up a role expanding it.) And then there's the matter of knowing when to drop words based on context...
Anyway, what's been happening is that someone will notice she can do this or ask for advice on a translation, see her work and go "oh my god that would make an amazing tattoo," and then ask if she could design them something either in her usual style or in a more simplified black and white style she also does. She's been charging around $30-50 for these quotes, depending on length, but she's also been getting some success through her online store and she's been wondering if she might be able to build up her business enough to cut back hours at retail and spend more time on calligraphy. She's also done one very intricate piece on velvet, for which she charged about $100.
She has plans to go get a tattoo herself from a local artist and ask the artist for her opinion on tattoo design and pricing, too, but that's going to be a little while away. So I thought I'd ask Metafilter for advice while she's still in talks with the tattoo artist she's got in mind.
Additional information: she does "your name in Vulcan" for $5, but that's really quick and doesn't incorporate any of the translation aspects, which can be difficult. (For example, "eat a bucket of dicks"--the meaning of the piece above--was hard because Vulcan doesn't require plurality suffixes on nouns without context, so to be sure she was accurately translating she eventually settled on "eat a bucket of multiple dicks." Or the recent attempt to translate "queer" into Vulcan, which doesn't have an analogue in the canonical dictionary and required some thought. Or "Human nature is a mystery that logic alone cannot illuminate," which you'd think would be easy but actually required some thought. Or "May the Force be with you!" which requires an imperative subjunctive, which Vulcan doesn't have....)
Sometimes there isn't enough vocabulary, so you have to be creative; sometimes the grammar structure doesn't exist properly, so you have to work out how to phrase it in a familiar fashion. (She's been doing enough translation that I've been prodding her to go get in contact with the Vulcan Language Institute and start picking up a role expanding it.) And then there's the matter of knowing when to drop words based on context...
Anyway, what's been happening is that someone will notice she can do this or ask for advice on a translation, see her work and go "oh my god that would make an amazing tattoo," and then ask if she could design them something either in her usual style or in a more simplified black and white style she also does. She's been charging around $30-50 for these quotes, depending on length, but she's also been getting some success through her online store and she's been wondering if she might be able to build up her business enough to cut back hours at retail and spend more time on calligraphy. She's also done one very intricate piece on velvet, for which she charged about $100.
She has plans to go get a tattoo herself from a local artist and ask the artist for her opinion on tattoo design and pricing, too, but that's going to be a little while away. So I thought I'd ask Metafilter for advice while she's still in talks with the tattoo artist she's got in mind.
It sounds like she might have this covered, but understanding that a lot of detail gets blurred out in tattoos, especially over time, is important. Skin tone is a consideration, too. If people are asking for tattoo designs, stating a ballpark minimum size that tattoo will look good at (long term) might be a good idea.
Maybe she can develop a working relationship with her artist and kick the artist down some dollars to tweak the design for tattoo appropriateness?
(Also, I'd go higher than supercres's estimate, she will need to spend some time marketing and running the business + self employment taxes. There are books targeted at crafty businesses that might be a good place to start.)
posted by momus_window at 7:11 PM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Maybe she can develop a working relationship with her artist and kick the artist down some dollars to tweak the design for tattoo appropriateness?
(Also, I'd go higher than supercres's estimate, she will need to spend some time marketing and running the business + self employment taxes. There are books targeted at crafty businesses that might be a good place to start.)
posted by momus_window at 7:11 PM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mm yeah I didn’t think about overhead tasks. Actually, come to think of it, what tattoo artists charge wouldn’t be far off— 150-300/hr depending on demand (more for really famous people), and that’s just counting needle time, which is probably less than half of their job.
posted by supercres at 8:15 PM on April 4, 2018
posted by supercres at 8:15 PM on April 4, 2018
Don't price based on tattoo designs - it's the responsibility of the person buying the design to discuss this with their artist and to choose someone who can work with script (it isn't a universal talent) and with small pieces. It would be good practices to warn folks who are commissioning before any discussions start that she isn't responsible for the final tattoo, people need to discuss designs with their artists, blah blah fishcakes. Only the person with the gun gets to have that talk!
Price like an artist, valuing your time and expertise. Translation time is part of the artwork, just like setting brush to paper. And she can always adjust prices if she feels that she's getting swamped, or if people are consistently turning away.
I will say that if she charges $300/hour and it takes two hours to translate a simple phrase, she will be pricing herself out of the market. I do occasionally commission art, and I tip, and I would consider this a jaw-droppingly stiff price even granting the scarcity of the request.
posted by Nyx at 8:46 PM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]
Price like an artist, valuing your time and expertise. Translation time is part of the artwork, just like setting brush to paper. And she can always adjust prices if she feels that she's getting swamped, or if people are consistently turning away.
I will say that if she charges $300/hour and it takes two hours to translate a simple phrase, she will be pricing herself out of the market. I do occasionally commission art, and I tip, and I would consider this a jaw-droppingly stiff price even granting the scarcity of the request.
posted by Nyx at 8:46 PM on April 4, 2018 [8 favorites]
She's been charging around $30-50 for these quotes, depending on length, but she's also been getting some success through her online store and she's been wondering if she might be able to build up her business enough to cut back hours at retail and spend more time on calligraphy.
I think $30-50 is on the nose if her goal is to replace retail income.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:28 AM on April 5, 2018
I think $30-50 is on the nose if her goal is to replace retail income.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:28 AM on April 5, 2018
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My rough heuristic is to think what an appropriate annual salary would be for doing X, multiply by 1.5 (benefits) than divide by 2000 (rough hours per year full-time).
posted by supercres at 6:32 PM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]