- Determining a budget for the project is important
to keep it on track.
I'd love to tell you a logo should cost x amount of dollars
and a website should be double x, but I can't.
Every client and project is unique.
There are variables of scope, usage, and client involvement.
If you ask a designer for a proposal and fees,
he or she can provide that.
But, I'll reiterate.
It saves time if you know your budget for
an identity package is $1,000 or $10,000.
A good designer will take that number
and determine what can be done within it.
Some designers work with a project fee,
others charge hourly.
I prefer determining a project fee for both parties.
Hourly agreements tend to exceed the amount of
time everyone expects and become
an ongoing project with no end.
A good resource for design fees is
the Graphic Arts Guild Handbook
for Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.
This will list the type of project
and associated fee depending on type of industry
and size of the client's company.
You might ask a designer how much he or she charged
on a similar project to get a sense of the budget, also.
A project fee is focused on the value
and process of a project.
Clearly an identity program for a Fortune 500 corporation
is going to have a higher budget than
one for the corner flower shop.
It's all about effort and time.
The large corporation project will involve many more
meetings, iterations, committees, and design time.
The end monetary return for the corporation may also be
in the millions of dollars.
If you decide to hire an individual designer
on an hourly rate, expect to pay $75 to $150 an hour.
depending on the designer's experience.
A young designer maybe on the lower end,
but the project will take longer.
Make sure you put a cap on the hours.
Make a not to exceed number, say 20 hours.
If the project gets close to the limit,
the designer will need to come back to you
with a new contract for another set amount of time.
Now, this is the hard pill to swallow.
The more time you give a designer the better the solution.
Do you want a solution that was fast and cheap,
or smart and great?
I've had potential clients ask me to show them
some ideas before they decide to hire me.
That's called spec work.
It's a bad idea for everyone.
The client will get a pretty, but irrelevant, design.
The designer hasn't learned what the brand is,
who the audience should be,
what the technical parameters are,
or what the client thinks.
It's a shot in the dark and always leads
to a shallow solution.
If you do your research and decide Susannah Walker's
firm is a good fit, get in the trenches with her
and do the hard work.
Design is not easy.
It takes a multitude of skills to do well.
Good designers spend years in school
working to master visual communication.
There is a reason why every major corporation
hires designers to realize their brand image.
A company like Target is built on design.
Pay the designer well.
You want him or her to feel fairly compensated,
so they can focus on the work,
not trying to pull in more work to pay the rent.
Believe me there are very few millionaire graphic designers.
And those that are made money in real estate.