SayoStudio’s Science Communication Pricing Guide!

To start, let us just say… we’re sorry, we do not have hard-and-fast prices for you. We hear you. We WANT to tell you our science illustration, animation and, design prices. And we will if you reach out to us with information on your specific project. But we know, you’re probably a lot like us. The first thing we do when considering a new app, is to click on pricing to see what features we get, and whether we can afford it.

The problem is, pricing science communication is different from an app. There are many varying factors in complexity, use, and licensing. But we understand. You want to know, before you hit “contact”, what the potential cost is. And that’s smart, right? You want to know if you’re even in the ballpark, or if you need to add a new line-item to your budget for next year. How much easier would it be if we just openly published our prices. And you know what? We even tried that for a while. The problem is, is that… pricing science communication products, whether it’s design, animation or illustration is complicated.

We know, “it’s complicated” sounds like a cop-out. But really, it’s the truth!  And sadly, we’ve found, there can be a bit of sticker shock when our prices are posted, devoid of any explanation of how an investment in science communication will further your goals.

Science Communication Pricing Guidelines

We do want to help, and we DO really want you to be able to plan into the future. So, to give you some insight into where costs come from, here are some of the factors we consider when quoting out a price:

• Complexity — how many elements need to be in the illustration? Is it a single subject, or a complex process?
• Conceptual Development — Perhaps there aren’t a lot of details, but the image calls for a lot of creative thinking to convey a concept. Maybe you need more support crafting your overall message?
• Approval Process — How many revisions will there be? How many different stakeholders’ opinions will need to be addressed?
• Final Use — this plays both into final size, AND exposure. Just the other day someone asked me why a science cover might garner a higher cost than a smaller feature illustration, even if the feature is more detailed. The answer is exposure. There is a higher risk factor in the art on your cover, therefore you are paying a premium for an artist who you trust to deliver stellar results.

And, we expect that you, are considering the following when you come to us:

• Experience — Founder Nicolle has nearly 20 years of experience as a science illustrator and animator, working for the National Science Foundation, UNICEF, and more… And combined, our team has a total of 50 years of working to communicate science.
• Training — We’ve received science and medical graduate degrees, AND science communication graduate degrees at leading schools across the United States and Europe. We are committed to staying up-to-date with the most advanced software to tell your story.
• Science Knowledge — Our SayoStudio team members have strong science backgrounds and hands-on research experience so that you don’t have to worry about accuracy and understanding.
• Management — A little-discussed part of the communication process, is the importance of management. Rest assured that with SayoStudio, we’re adept at navigating large projects where different stakeholders have differing visions that need to be combined into one strong message.

Some Industry Pricing Surveys for Illustrators and Animators

Furthermore, you may not know that there is a lot of stigma to sharing pricing between artists! To avoid price-fixing, artists aren’t supposed to share pries. What we ARE allowed to do is to offer some broad ranges, and resources for you to read up on industry surveys.**Please remember that many of these reflect general illustration, which doesn’t account for the additional technical knowledge required for science illustration, animation, and design.

• Graphic Artist’s Guide for Ethical Pricing
• Litebox Illustrator Salary Survey
• Animation Guild Wage Guide
• Survey of Illustrators
• Medical Illustrators Pricing Guide

That still feels a little disingenuous, so we give-in. Here are some broad ranges for cost. Illustrated figures generally range from $1,500 to $4,500, with cover art in the middle of that range. We do sometimes do graph clean up and diagram beautification in the $300-700 range. This end of services won’t include rethinking how you display and organize your information, but instead focus on consistent fonts, colors, and that sort of thing. We hope that gives you a starting point as you budget! Please know that we here at SayoStudio will always customize our pricing based on your individual project. After an initial meeting we carefully go through your project to price it. Please be sure to read the more complete description of our services, or refer to this image licensing blog post for background information on illustration copyrights.

Science Illustration, Animation Copyrights Guide

And finally, we need to be sure that you understand copyright. Did you know that HOW and WHERE you want to use your illustration affects cost? For example, if you plan to have us create an epic ecology illustration (one of our favorites), the default is that you may only use it in ONE place. That means that you can use your custom illustration on your website, but not necessarily in your upcoming book. If you’re new to thinking about copyrights and licensing, it can be a lot to wrap your head around. That’s why we wrote up a full guide to science image licensing to answer as many of your questions as possible. For your budget planning, here is a break-down of different options we use:

We look forward to hearing from you and answering any questions.

Reach out to us, and we’ll be in touch to get started.

Questions?