In April, we opened up our monthly meeting to a larger group of makers and shakers in the Bay Area community and invited them to come and share their experiences and hear more about how to navigate collaborations between artists or with stores.

Ideally every collaboration starts and ends as friends, or at the very least, colleagues. But navigating collaborations can run the gamut of experience.

Here are just a few of the ideas that came up at the meeting to make collaborations go smoothly.

Charge a design fee - If a client is coming to you to create a custom piece, this may entail all kinds of hidden time costs including redesigning packaging, scaling their logo, product testing, etc. Be prepared to charge for it.
Have a contract - This is a useful tool to determine who is responsible for what, and also can include deadlines and calls to action for both entities
Negotiate the price - collaborations with stores are essentially like custom work - aka, super-rewarding, but also more time and labor-intensive. Make sure that the collaboration will be worth the money it brings in.

If you are collaborating with another artist, make sure you spell out who will be responsible for purchasing materials, tracking costs and making sure that everything is spread evenly {editor’s note - Splitwise is a great app for tracking expenses as a group, and Creative Business League uses this regularly}
Recognize when it’s a collaboration, and when you are essentially contracting with another artist to produce parts that you need for your work. Credit them accordingly.
Make sure that the marketing and promotion is spread evenly and is utilized effectively

What has your experience been with collaborations? Do you have hints and tips to share?