If your a new or established illustrator and your interested in working with Cult-Stuff then you have come to the right place! This area has been set up to provide you not only with general working terms but also set specific information that will help you once you start work. If you need more information or feel you really would like to be a part of one of our upcoming projects please drop an email to liza (at) cult-stuff.com. It is best to include a little about yourself and what you like to draw as well as links to your work.
You will find your set specifications on the links below:
Lets run trough some common questions we receive:
Q: Do all the cards have to be in color?
A: No, we do like to see colour cards however some sets and styles work best in B&W or grey tones. We leave this at the discretion of the artist, who knows how best the work will look.
Q: What is the minimum number of cards I can do?
A: Technically we have no minimum number, we want your best work so you tell us how many you can get done within the time scales. To be fair to collectors we would ask that you do 20+ but again this is not set in stone.
Q: What if I cant get my cards done in time because….
A: Real life sucks sometimes, and it means that deadlines are missed, we understand this. The only thing we ask is that you make sure we know whats going on as soon as possible so that we can make other arrangements. If we know your running late or that you cant get the work in at all, we can and will work with you and resolve things. If you just vanish with no communication or explanation you will not be considered for future work with us. Communication is the key in this situation. This works both ways we will contact you with any problems you need to know about. All unfinished cards MUST be returned to us.
Q: I want to ship the cards back now what should I do.
A: If you can please scan them and email us copies, that way in the unlikely event any changes need to be made it saves all the mailing costs, it also means we can start advertising your inclusion in the set with images much faster. If you cant scan thats ok, just post them off to us at the address below. Before you do however remember two things:
1.We are in the UK not the USA so postage costs will be higher, however we will reimburse you for these but please pack securely.
2. We print all our own cards and we have already paid tax on them in the country of origin, so please when shipping them back do not put a large value on the customs deceleration. If you do we will be charged an additional 20% of the “value” + a handling fee to receive our own cards back. Remember if your worried about shipping you can send them recorded, just don’t put a high value on the package. For customs we find it best to use commercial samples (Artwork), printed paper, or just just write in trading cards.
Ship to:
Cult-Stuff
Unit 9 Strand Business Center
Locomotion Way
Camperdown
North Tyneside
NE12 5US
UK
Q: You use PayPal but they charge me fees!
A: Yes they do they charge us fees as well! However when you are working on a low card rate PayPal fees are far to high and because of this we will cover the PayPal fees on every payment we send you for cards. If you are still unhappy with PayPal email us as we can find alternative payment arrangements. At this time however PayPal remains one of the fastest cost effective methods for moving cash between currencies and across boarders.
Q: I have a friend who would like to work for you…
A: Great get them to email us! liza (at) cult-stuff.com. It is best to include an introduction to who you are, what you like to draw, your experience and a link to some examples of your work.
Q: I have been told it’s hard to work on your card stock and that its glossy..
A: Yup, that WAS true, we spent a lot of time working on ways to correct that problem, and the solution we came up with has worked very well indeed. We now have some of the best sketch stock on the market, in fact I would say we have THE BEST sketch stock available from any of the big 10 card companies. We now use a 400GSM rough uncoated stock with no lamination or alteration. This is premium quality drawing paper and it works with everything from Oils, to acrylics, to Water Colour and Copics. All of our card stock problems have been resolved as far as we know, however if you have problems with ANY of our stock we want to know so please email us as always.
Q: Why are sketch card artists paid so little?
A: This is a complicated question so don’t expect a short answer! The truth is sketch cards are a small part of a larger product, and the pay rates on a per card basis do not accurately reflect the time and or effort many of the talented illustrators we work with put into there cards. That said the cash per card rate is not the only form of remuneration received by the illustrators. We also advertise most of our artists in print and on the web, along with offering return cards, product samples and support with promotional materials and even on occasions references for some. We also chose some of the work to highlight in sets as basic or promotional cards bringing far more eyes onto he work than would usually have been seen. Several artists who started work for us have gone on to successfully illustrating work in other fields and with other companies. We are also one of the best paying mainstream card companies in the market. Even after saying all that I still feel the pay is to low and as soon as we are able to raise the fees from $3.00 per card we absolutely will.
