On Sat, 28 May 2005 23:46:49 GMT, Ralph wrote:

I do sell my work but I do not take orders for special items and I turn
only what I want to. I did take an order once but I did not like the
deadline commitment nor turning some design that I was not to fond of
doing. I may not make a living this way but I'm happy with what I'm
doing and I get a bit of extra cash for wood, tools and such things.

I've got a comission for some flatwork right now from a guy at work,
and it's pretty fun. He wanted a custom samarai-sword display case
for his apartment, so I said sure- but set a number of rules for the
job to make sure that there were no unrealistic expectations.

First, I do the design and choose the wood- he gets to give a thumbs
up or down, but can't pull something funny like wanting a butternut
frame with red oak panels, with all the parts slathered in cherry
stain or something equally unappealing.

Second, he is not allowed to tell anyone what he paid for it. If he
tells anyone, any further projects for him get an automatic 500%
markup. (This can burn you badly if you underprice something because
it seemed like a fun project- pretty soon you're doing production work
for WalMart prices if you're not careful.)

And Third, he gets it when he gets it. If it takes a year, it'll take
a year (it won't, but that's the deal) and the final price will be set
when the project is sitting in front of him. If he doesn't want it
when it's done, it's going to become a DVD cabinet in my living room
(see rule #1, and you'll understand why I wanted that one!)

Now the useful thing in this case is that the guy has tastes similar
to my own, and he approved the first plan right off the bat, which
also happened to be the plan for the aformentioned DVD cabinet, minus
the shelves, and with some minimal mounting hardware added. But even
if the situation was completely different, the same rules apply. I've
found that setting a couple of rules, and making it very clear that
they must be honored for any work to be done has been very beneficial
for me. Not only does it set up the proper relationship between the
client and myself, but it also has an instantaneous 'artist' effect-
people expect an artist to behave a little oddly, and are generally
willing to wait for their comission, lest they get a dose of that
fabled *artistic temperment* we've all heard of at one time or
another. When they're just looking for a standard widget with a spec
sheet, that's when the trouble starts.

It's no way to run a business, but it makes for a good hobby.