Lets say I get hired to do roughly 300-500 images for a game (including characters, enemies, animations, items, tilesets, etc.) This job would take about 3 months to complete. The employer would write up a contract and I would then sign it, but before that, I need to know what would be appropriate pay.

They have already stipulated that they cannot pay full commercial wages, which is fine with me because Im still a college student and mainly looking to do this as something to put on my resume, not primarily a source of income. On the same hand, I certainly dont want to get screwed over and end up working full time over the summer months only to realize I've been bamboozled.

I realize that the quality of my work is a large factor, but lets put that aside and assume that its near professional quality. Im not asking for critiques or I would have posted it. This is primarily a plea for help in knowing what would be a fair amount to be paid for this job.

Again: 300-500 images, characters, enemies, items, animations if applicable, tilesets, etc. 3 months roughly to do it in, and they are all 32x32 pixels. They cant pay full commercial wages, which is okay because Im not a working professional yet, but what would be the minimum to ask for, and what would be fair.

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give me on this subject!

Edited by willy626 - 12 April 2009 at 6:08pm

A 32x32 image takes me about 1-2 hours to finish and polish.

I'm not trying to sound rude, but I would have done that if I really thought it was so simple. 

But I have no benchmark, the fact is I've never worked outside the retail/customer service sector, and I dont know how much a job like this is worth.  When you say "then consider how much does someone gets paid for 1-2 hours of work"  the issue is I dont know how much this work is worth in general.  Minimum wage? That varies greatly from place to place.  Average hourly income?  Again, changes greatly from one vocation to another.  The industry standard?  Alright, but what is that exactly?

I do appreciate your help, its just I dont know how to judge this.

Lets make this an open question:  Without divulging to much personal information, and only if someone is comfortable with posting it obviously, what have you been paid for a sprite position?  It doesnt matter if it was only one image, or an entire games worth, try to break it down so I can compare it.  Again, this would be greatly appreciated!  I know their are some working professionals that submit to this site (Paul Robertson jumps to mind).

Could you please help a fellow artist trying to get into the business?  Its not like I'm asking for industry secrets, job opportunities, or contacts,  just a little information to make sure that I dont end up working for peanuts.