Industry pushed me to quit.. ;-;

[Ixyra]

I think it's fair to say this is a good community to start out in and get a portfolio going (sort of - i dont consider items, most pets, and most npcs portfolio pieces), get your name out there and make some side cash. However, not a good community for a seasoned veteran of the arts (any kind either illustration or graphic design) simply because of the lack of professionalism. And I think that's partially due to the age group this niche brings in; most clients and artists on here are anywhere between 12 and 22 - too young to really have experience in owning and operating an entire business or purchasing services. Not saying you cant be professional at that age, but the vast majority are not.

@Bexxy
I completely agree on the real life vs internet-based clients. You meet them, you know who they are, you have a real, paper contract, and real, legal wages. Also a majority of the time they're representing a company, and most decent human beings will not risk their own job simply to be a trolling pest on your work. They'll treat you as the company would want them to treat you. Weather or not they're nice to you doesnt really matter in my book - if they're a client they're not there to be your friend. It's a completely professional relationship and whether or not they know how to be a friendly social person at least they wont rip you off.

[Cakes1991]

I quit commissions for these over four years ago for this reason. Back after that long of a break, but wondering if that's a good plan! I guess I'll give it another go. I really do feel your pain, clients can kill off inspiration in a heartbeat. I worked in a horrible call center for 6 months instead of working on my passion, after cheated out of $700 of art I sent people...

[Hituro]

I've dealt with a lot of the same stuff as far as programming goes. It's why I work so heavily with contracts...when clients are like "Oh, but I wanted this functionality, too" I can say "Not in the contract, so there's an extra charge for my time"....it saves a lot of headache.

Oh yes ... it's why I gave up freelancing years ago. At least on a salary it's their time you are wasting rather than yours. So sorry it's come to this for you @Lolly, don't lose your love for art and design just because of the idiots you've encountered

[Hituro]

So how much does everyone think item art should cost? I always thought $2 to $5 was fair.

Really, Graphic design and illustration is not a minimum wage job. $2-5 dollars for something that takes 30-60 minutes is just too low. Take that person out of the VPL industry and into, say, professional web design, and you will be paying them $20-30 per hour for sure, so your items should cost around $10-15 if they were fairly priced.

Then again, the real answer is, whatever the market will pay and the artists will live with

[Myztacia]

Freelancer = risk = lower payment.
Company = some security = more $.

At least, that's the way I look at it. A freelancer can just quit, and then I have to find a new one. A company will have someone to pick up whatever slack a artist may have by assigning another artist.

[cpvr]

Really, Graphic design and illustration is not a minimum wage job. $2-5 dollars for something that takes 30-60 minutes is just too low. Take that person out of the VPL industry and into, say, professional web design, and you will be paying them $20-30 per hour for sure, so your items should cost around $10-15 if they were fairly priced.

Then again, the real answer is, whatever the market will pay and the artists will live with

It all depends on the artist really and what they're capable of doing. I know a few artists that no longer do "pet site" work, but in fact work on other online games - with a contract and making more money. I think when you're beginning to sell art, you grow your clientel, then work your way up the ladder. Which means, you work for a few pet sites, build up your name, and then try to work for major gaming companies, thus, making more money.

I know @Bexxy does a lot of work outside the VP world, and if she can do it, I'm pretty sure others can to.

[Mantis]

Of curiosity, what is your target audience and where have you been promoting your services? I'm just saying, sometimes bad attitudes come with the territory. The art industry is massive. I'm certain it's not the end of the road for you.

[cameo]

There are bad clients everywehre - I've run into a few. Sometimes I create my own problems - like under-bidding on a project I think I can just whip out and then suddenly - nope - changes wanted (which someties they just don't understand what's hard to change and what isn't) and it's tough becuase no artist wants to provide someone with a mediocre product because that reflects on their skill/reputation. So you have to find a balance. And if you run into too many, I don't blame you for quitting. I bid on jobs that look interesting now and then from here, but not as often as I used to. For virtual pet sites I stick pretty much exclusively to powerpets.com - they have plenty for me to do. Otherwise, I do pet portraits where the market has been very friendly and good to me. That said, I still like to play around in the marketplace and I only sell something when I get what I want for it. I don't stress out if something doesn't sell becuase it is not my main source of income (or I'd be in some serious trouble).

[Howey]

After being in the virtual pet world for what seems like forever! (Ugh 8+ years) I will definitely say that when you work for a Pet Sites you don't do it for the money.

Mind you I'm only able to speak to programming (and owning a pet site) but I've always coded pet sites to strengthen my ability as a web developer, never expecting to make too much money off of it. (well I guess that last go at Sensi was kind of a business plan )

But honestly all my work on sites like Sensipets, Subeta, Zetapets, etc. has REALLY paid off. I mean I hope that the artists, developers, etc that invest themselves into pet sites do it with the thought in their mind that they use it to make a portfolio to show to prospective big clients and companies or to develop as a person.

If you're a developer - look at what sites like Facebook/Google/Reddit/etc are doing and jump on the bandwagon. With the last iteration of Sensipets I worked with the Paypal API, Google Checkout API, Canvas/JS API, Facebook API, Twitter API, I could go on for awhile. And when I went to interviews I showed it off because I am crazy proud of what I was able to accomplish (with the help of my lovely staff <3). Push yourself, don't get caught up in making another boring login script (and if you do, use a new framework!) Make something fun and dynamic! Code in Ruby! Code in NodeJS! Code in something different and learn from it! Make a game only in canvas, make a game using a new API just released, always push yourself in your abilities as a developer. And always push the abilities of the code.

If you're an artist - Look at playing with styles, crazy ideas, be as creative as you want to be. If the owner of the site doesn't want it, then try to sell it for others to use - regardless though don't feel like you've wasted your time. Items, look at the amount of detail you were able to add to such a small canvas! Pets, look at the creativity and attention to detail. Maps other randomness, look at what you can do with a huge canvas. No matter what you draw on, make sure you're enjoying it and that's it's helping you develop as an artist. If a pet site gets boring or repetitive, talk to the team. I LOVED when artists came up with new ideas. Regardles take those examples and show them to art schools (scholarships!) and shows (bigger commissions!). I've seen artists with HALF the ability that most here show who get paid very well.

If you're a mod - Look at helping organize and get plots up and running. Or just watch over the users. When it comes to corporate America, I've always seen mods as the Project Managers and/or Business Analysts. They see what the site needs to do and how to operate smoothly, that's essentially what PM and BAs do. When you start looking for a job, bring up your experience on pet sites. Honestly being able to handle 20+ complaining users speaks a lot to you working under pressure and how you decided to represent yourself and the pet site you worked for.

If you're a writer - Don't let what a pet sites goals are cloud your ability to be creative. Anything that gets rejected? Save it! Put it in a blog, write it down, etc. I'm sure someone would love to read it. Someone would be interested in what you came up with. That's what most marketers do. They create a story that is then translated and sold to consumers. You're ability to create a well defined description of that pet site item, could (in some cases) be used to represent a real item in a magazine of some sort. That plot you just came up with? Could be a great novel or kids book story.

Whatever your role is at a pet site, always remember that as much as you help the site grow, it should help you grow. Don't let money stop you from gaining experience that will help you out in a month, a year, a few years. Because I owe where I am today to Sensipets back in 2004.

Edited a bit

[Ixyra]

@Howey

Artistically, I can't agree. What I've noticed is a very strict set of styles - line art, cell shading (Whether soft or hard edged), and bright colors. If there is a pet site that uses painted images they're a horse sim with a hyper-realistic style that still requires layers to be easily recolored leaving the shading (usually a multiply layer or a low opacity black) very lacking in depth. The only tool that's ever used is the default round, usually at 100% opacity with 100% flow. Airbrush may be used to do effects, but never, with my trained eye, have I seen another brush used to experiment or bring out texture. Ideas in art aren't meant to be what a new item should look like; I feel it should be how an entire image is approached. I find that very few artists, even those with more experience than me, have less knowledge of the designing basics and are crutched by the constant niche-forced style. Because of the constant need to saturate, bright, non-composed, lined image, it has actually caused me to move back from where I personally want to be as an artist and now I must refocus my energy on creating images using design and art theory instead of this never-changing "style". I don't have a "style" I say that I use. Style to me is how several artists will draw the same image under the same criteria, not what color they shade with or how thick their lineart is, because anyone can mimic that. I can't think of a single image I can use for my professional portfolio or for a scholarship because of this. I feel this petsite niche has people doing exactly the same thing in every site - and I say this after having worked with petsites since 2009 as both an art head and as an artist for many different sites/clients.
If you can show me an artist who knows/has learned here what a horizon line, vanishing point, TRUE lightsource, local color (which is used in EVERY image here), balanced/semi-balanced composition, contrast, and values are, I will take all of that back.