Graphic Arts Guild: A Union for the 21st Century - PhillyBlog

Eagle Scout · #1 (**permalink**) 08-30-2005, 03:37 PM

Does anyone here do graphic arts work? You should check out these two sites:

http://www.gag.org

Quote:

The Graphic Artists Guild is a national union of illustrators, designers, web creators, production artists, surface designers and other creatives who have come together to pursue common goals, share their experience, raise industry standards, and improve the ability of visual creators to achieve satisfying and rewarding careers.

We do this through democratic and egalitarian means (see our Mission Statement) within a structure open to all working artists. Every Guild member is guaranteed a voice and the opportunity to actively participate.

The Philadelphia Chapter
http://philadelphia.gag.org

Swinefeld · #2 (**permalink**) 08-31-2005, 02:45 PM

Yup, I'm an illustrator and graphic designer here in Philly. Thanks for the links.

SurfDog · #3 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 12:01 PM

I told a friend about it and she said it was too expensive for what she got back from it. I, of course, disagreed, but it made me wonder ... if more people joined could they lower the membership or improve the benefits.

eldondre · #4 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgandersen

I told a friend about it and she said it was too expensive for what she got back from it. I, of course, disagreed, but it made me wonder ... if more people joined could they lower the membership or improve the benefits.

yeah, the trades unions are clearly beneficial to all trades workers.

Teddy Warbucks · #5 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 05:41 PM

As an illustrator myself, I looked into the Graphic Arts Guild. The web site looks great. Everything looks great... except on the application form, where you "...hereby authorize the Guild to act as my representative with regard to negotiation of agreements to improve my wages, fees, hours, and conditions of work. I further assign nonexclusive agency rights to the Graphic Artists Guild and extend to it my power of attorney to represent my contractual interests."

That scared me off. There's nothing in the site that covers this, and I don't know what I'm agreeing to, really. I'm glad to have their pricing guidelines -- I bought their book on Pricing and Ethical Standards -- but I want the flexibility of taking a job for less than they say I must charge, if it's a good opportunity for exposure or whatnot.

I don't know -- I just felt a little weird about it. Illustration isn't a trade like bricklaying or auto assembly -- no two illustrators do the exact same work, and we're not interchangeable. It's great to know what the current market is for our work, but to say we should all charge X for a certain kind of job implies we can all do that job the same way, or that we're all just as good as each other.

bluecuracao · #6 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teddy Warbucks

I don't know -- I just felt a little weird about it. Illustration isn't a trade like bricklaying or auto assembly -- no two illustrators do the exact same work, and we're not interchangeable. It's great to know what the current market is for our work, but to say we should all charge X for a certain kind of job implies we can all do that job the same way, or that we're all just as good as each other.

Yeah, I think there's an element of "you get what you pay for" in the freelance graphic arts world. I appreciate the guidelines, too, but also do not want to be trapped by them.

I can see a graphic arts union being more helpful to full-time employees, since graphic designers are often treated like crap. Maybe an employer would be less likely to run his people into the ground if they were backed by GAG.

Teddy Warbucks · #7 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 10:47 PM

That's a good point. The Graphic Artist's Guild does also represent full-timers in the design field, and that is a more appropriate arena for a union in the traditional sense.

Like you said, I do appreciate the guidelines, and the GAG has done a lot to raise awareness of copyright laws and the rights of illustrators. They've done great things for our profession, it's true.

Julius Luzinski · #8 (**permalink**) 09-14-2005, 12:13 PM

I'm a former GAG member (in NYC and Philly). The Guild (and the Illustrators' Partnership of America):

http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/

are two organizations that work toward the protection of artists' rights. While GAG aims to encompass all graphic artists, the IPA focuses on illustrators, who for the most part, are free-lancers. The organizations have been battling each other for a few years (The IPA is a relatively new organization that came about party because of the GAG's apparent lack of progress on a number of issues). I haven't been a member for a while, and am not sure if they're getting their act together or not. I hope so.

While I'm not a big fan of either organizations' operations,the GAG's book of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines is a very important educational tool, not so much as a, "You'd better not charge less than this!" manual, but more of a "Look what others are getting for this." informational text. I don't see it as a trap. For someone new to the business (not to mention someone who's been in the business for a while), there's really no other way to know what's going on out there, pricewise. Of course, you could talk to other folks in your business. But illustrators are a notoriously hermitic lot.

Though they do tend to communicate in other ways. Like posting things on message boards under assumed names.

-Julius

Teddy Warbucks · #9 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 09:20 AM

Thanks for the feedback, "Julius!"

I hadn't heard of Illustrator's Partnership. I'll have to check them out. Like most illustrators, I am rather hermitic, which I realize is deadly for a businessman like myself. So I have to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Eek!