Graphic Design Contracts ?

Ive been in the design field for about 10 years and have about 8 being employed by some company with 2 yrs freelance.

Im a bit bored with the normal 9-5 but need the stability of the income and benefits.

Is it wrong for me to ask for a "contract or retainer" to work for a company? Like an a athlete would ?

With the field getting smaller and smaller and job finding almost impossible unless you know someone of someone to get your foot in the door... and then not being paid the average price of either the area or your experience...

You can ask for anything. I doubt you'll get it. I recently concluded searching for a new GA to layout our magazine. I spoke to people all over the world. With the advent of the internet and the fact that almost everything is transmitted to a printer electronically I seriously doubt you will get what you are seeking. In fact you may find yourself being thanked for your time and shown the door.

Athletes and how they are paid is very unique. The company neg is granted exclusive rights for that person and all other comp is frozen out of the bidding.

Your case is not the same. Unless you do something that can't be duplicated by someone else, I haven't seen that yet, I'd be very wary about pushing this.

If you are talking about freelance that is a different story. I also do free lance websites for F500 companies and I get 1/3 up front, 1/3 at the compl and final payment 30 days after delivery. This is non-refundable. I do have a contract that I use and had drawn up by an attorney to protect my interests. If a company says they have one beware, no attorney that has been commissioned by someone else is being paid to worry about you.

There are some good books on this at Amazon written for GA's. I'd encourage you to buy one. The one I am thinking about is less then 20 US.

Good luck in your career.

No, not at all.