What do you charge for design work?

[stickermonkey]

Hello All!!

I've been curious as to how much everyone out there charges for design work?

Do you charge and hourly rate and keep the logo on file for only your shops use? Or do you see the artwork as part of the package?

What I do is charge the customer an hourly rate for the design. We provide up to 4 alterations or variations during the process and typically end up capping the hourly rate depending on the details in the design. For instance...something that is fairly quick and straight forward would be capped at 2 hrs design rate, and something more detailed would be capped at 6 hrs. Then, once the logo is done and approved, we provide the logo on disk in both black & white and full colour (various file types) at a charge of anywhere from $89.99 - $189.99 (depending on how many different file types they require). I always offer a free business card layout & 10% off all work for a period of 6mths after the logo design was purchased.

How do you guys do it?? Just curious...I've changed how I do this over the years because TOO many times I had my concepts or designs stolen by my competitors.

thanks in advance for the input

 

[ChiknNutz]

Damn dude, you're giving away your work. Design work for non-logo apps was at our std. shop rate, which was $72/hr. Logos were generally flat fee and we had 3-tiers: $325, $475 and $650.

 

[Gino]

This whole thing was discussed about a week ago in full detail. Try the 'Search' button.

 

[stickermonkey]

Damn dude, you're giving away your work. Design work for non-logo apps was at our std. shop rate, which was $72/hr. Logos were generally flat fee and we had 3-tiers: $325, $475 and $650.

My hourly rate is $65/ hr...+ the logo file disk charge...I'm the most expensive and the busiest designer in my area.

ps....that's dudette to you! lol

 

[stickermonkey]

This whole thing was discussed about a week ago in full detail. Try the 'Search' button.

Thanks Gino...I will try that.

 

[DucatiDave]

$100 an hour...print ready files get no setups or charges, but if the designer has to tweak it...they have to pay, and have been told before hand...so they don't complain...

 

[Fitch]

No disrespect but I think this is a shallow and no result question.

Good example - the US is a big place with lotsa critters in lotsa areas that do design work. Many demographics and geographics influence the socio economics of achieveable outcomes in terms of $$$. To what degree in terms of design is good and what degree is crap is in the old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Some clients have more money than others. Some have a lower standard than others. Some have a rush of testosterone... others have a more urgent need than others.

At the end of the day it comes down to two things:

1) How much you value your work

2) How much someone is prepared to pay for that percieved value.

Sadly, and I include many members from here and those on other forums (I may just be one of them) some overrate the value of their "artwork / design".

Just because they get the money... does not actually mean that it is worth it. If you are in a small town commanding the highest price for crap... it's still crap. But that is usually determined by those better experienced rather than those better educated. A dufus seeing all spark plugs, chequered flags and fat tires may think the design reflects who they are... but still... it's a crap design.

Critique your own designs from 5 - 10 - 15 years ago and many would agree that some painful designs whilst at the time were thought good - are actually substandard.

Personally I hold three teirs of design pricing:

Dimensional signage - $250 + tax (10% here)

Standard designs - will not do unless the quote/ bid is accepted. This tells me that they are a client within MY price range. It is then MY responsibility to come up with a design that fits the quote / bid. If I can't deliver on design... that's my fault - not theirs. It just wasn't meant to "be".

Regular client - FREE. FFS... artwork costs nothing but time. If you are good enough... you will keep the client, and that design fee will work it's way (be absorbed) into the overall cost, which generally is better than market. I do tend to weed out tire kickers and only hang on to those legitimate clients. So I waste no time in letting them know that I am there to help them... not the other way around. I don't know their business... and they don't know design. That's why they approached me in the first place.

I must admit though.. these days, the most I would spend on any single design would be 2 hours max. Most - 1 - 1.5 hrs. 3D is different - I may spend 5 hrs doing something but I only do this in times when I am not snowed and $250 pays quite a lot of gas running around to the next (hopefully successful) client.

I have ALWAYS charged by the job. I look at the job, what it costs me to produce, and then carefully look at the design and say "now how much do I want to make on this".

As an example - I just completed a $7,500 job. Cost me $2k in materials etc. That's $5500 nett profit for really 3 days work - disregarding dry times, outsourcing delay times etc. If I don't work for another month - doesn't matter.

Charge what YOU want to charge. Don't worry about what ever everybody else is charging.

Whatever the market will bear.

Make a living and create a lifestyle.

Do 1 job and earn $300... not 10 jobs with a $30 profit on each. Forget the 9 jobs you don't do - give that crap to your opposition. One day you will thank them for taking all the sh!!t jobs from you.

Cheers - G

 

[sdimmick]

Fitch, thats great advice...

unfortunately, i get the sh!!t jobs from my opposition....im really new, so it's hard to understand what to charge. I have no art background, but feel if I have the time, i can supply a decent product....I have a flat fee of $75 per design. Because I dont get all that much work, it's working out well for me now. Maybe someday I can adjust my prices.

wow, i didnt realize i was replying to a 2009 post, LOL!

 

[JAMEY]

I get $75 per hour for my design time.

 

[visual800]

I charge nothing for art, if a customer wants a logo and logo ONLY then I charge. Along with that charge (based on how big a PITA they were or how complex) I offer business cards, letterheads and other stuff.

If a customer comes to me wanting a sign I do the layouts for nothing in hopes of getting the job. Most guys around here say they charge but they dont. ill just be honest about it around here if you told bubba you needed $100 for an art fee for the layout of his wrecker, bubba would walk away and go down the street to the other guy that dont charge

Ain't no sense in lying

 

[Mosh]

$0

 

[CentralSigns]

$0, goes with the sign job. 1hr only then $ if client can't decide and takes longer

 

[bob]

Likewise $0 unless it's strictly a design job with no sign involved. If I'm doing sign work I have to lay it out regardless.

I find those who attempt to charge for 'design' separately to be amusing. For the most part they are incapable of designing a ham sandwich. The ones who piss and moan the loudest about what they perceive to be the worth of their talents and abilities are usually typographical illiterates. There isn't a one of them that's half as good as it might think it is.

 

[cdiesel]

We typically include some design time with the product. If things get excessive, we nudge the client along with discussion of design fees. We charge $75 an hour. Logo packages start at $300 for very basic, and go up to $1500.

 

[Joe Diaz]

We charge for our design time, Just like we charge for production time. It's all included in the price of the sign. Time is money, it doesn't matter if it's design time or production time.

I'll tell you what we don't do. We don't design for free in order to sell a job. sketches require some sort of deposit, and a lot of times if the sign requires a logo, and the client doesn't have a workable logo, we then try to sell them on that service. We then view logo design as a separate product.

I'm not saying this is always the case, but perhaps people like bob are incapable of selling their services without giving away their design time. Which I think is totally fine, but those folks really don't have room to bad mouth those who can.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Since at present I don't do any design with software only by hand, my layout & idea ability's are what I sell then they can take it to someone who knows software to push buttons and finalize.

But to get a logo designed layout idea from me Min. $100 to $500

 

[Derf]

I charge $95 per hour for any time I spend wether digging a hole or sitting behind a desk designing. Depending on the job my customer may see it on the invoice or it my be absorbed in the proposal for work.

If some one comes to me for a design only there is a $250 retainer and $95 an hour each hr after.


I like what Fitch said too.