I am doing a freelance job for a guys starting his own business. He wants me to tell him how much it will cost him for me to do rough idea sketches to start out. then after we brainstorm with those he'll pay me for the finished product. I usually don't do this so I'm not sure what to charge him. I want to tell him what to pay me per step of the design. (note: I have to desige several versions for T-shirts, bumper stickers, signs, etc.) Thanks!
Drawing & Illustration - 3 Answers
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1 :
This is a toughie. It really depends. Some designers charge by the hour, but other designers who are faster and more experienced would make less money this way so they charge by the project. I've noticed on craigslist lately a lot of startup t-shirt companies are wanting to pay by the finished product only and not for your time and the developement of the product, which I think is pretty unfair to be honest. I think you should really evaluate what you feel your time and effort is worth and go that route. I know some people in the business are charging as much as $100 an hour freelancing. Sorry I couldn't give more specific help!
2 :
you should prob charge minimum wage by the hour if you or he is a new business thats what i do anyway and you can then charge for silly things like web hosting, maintenance and travel costs!
3 :
Graphic Designers get $8-100 per hour. If you're both starting out, stick to the lower end of the scale...$8-20/hr. Determine how may hours you want to invest in each phase of the project and add 30%. This will allow for anything you forgot to account for (like brainstorming). $1000 is a good starting point for a logo and I'll break it down financially for you. For instance, the company logo (usually a combination of an icon and text). Making 6 rough sketches at no more than 30-60 minutes each. So on the low end of the scale, 6 drawings at 30 mins each at $8.00 per hour + 30% the charge would be $32 + materials ($5.00) = $37. On the high end of the scale 6 drawings at 60 min each at $20 per hour + 30% the charge would be $160 + materials ($10) = $170. So your range of pay for the roughs would be $37-$170. From the 6 roughs pick 2-3 to make the comps. The comps will have more detail and some color but will not be production ready. Figure 8 hours for each comp at the hourly rate you have chosen + materials (double the previous materials cost because you are using better paper, ink and color for the comps). From the comps, pick 1 design for the final logo and you will need to make this camera ready or a digital file. Figure 40 hours at your hourly rate. For the sake of argument lets pick $10 per hour (because it's an easy number to work with). Roughs = 6 designs @ 1 hr ea @ $10 per hr = $60 + 30% = $80 + $5.00 materials = Subtotal $85 Comps = 3 designs @ 8 hr ea @ $10 per hour = $240 + 30% = $320 + $10 materials = Subtotal $330 Final = 1 design @ 40 hrs ea @ $10 per hour =$400 + 30% = $534 + $50 materials = $584 The total for one logo design from start to final (camera or digitally ready) would be $999. If you really want to do the job, be willing to negotiate the price but don't sell yourself short.
