What do you charge?

DadaKopf

I've been looking into hourly rates to see if there's a real average or not.

From what I gather, the bare minimum freelance charge for a qualified, experienced designer is €45 an hour. Many go below that, some go way above.

I've realised recently that I seriously undercharge for the work I do, and this is made harder because most of my jobs come from the NGO sector, so it's hard to push for more when they're poor enough as it is. But I need to press the case.

I'm wondering what others charge. Who wants to start?

spidermonkey

what i've been told by my lecturers is that while your in college charge about 15-20€ per hour, finished college about 30-40€ per hour, i can only assume that with more experience and skills(programs) gained the higher that price becomes.

my print lecturer told me last year that he knows the guy that designed the AIB logo-the one with the bird- he was an old guy in his 60's(a real sherlock holmes type), he spent about a month trying out the logo and type on different papers and materials to make sure it printed alost perfectly on every kind of material, he even rented some of the irish times printing presses to do this. in the end he got somewhere close to a million for it.

but im sure thats including the renting of the printing presses too. so i guess a price takes into account more than just per hour.

Sonnenblumen

The best barometer to check your rate is check your order book. If you're good and cheap you'll be swamped, good and expensive probably manageable workload, if on the otherhand you're the greatest and charge top rate, well you might have time for other interests. get my drift, sure there are market forces, general rates, ask your mates or ex-College mates what they charge.

Drill down for feedback on pitches you've lost - you ma be surprised to find cost isn't the biggest reason. Availability, turn around, quality and reliablity are also important aspects.

What are you happy with- if you're good run a test period for the next 6 enquiries, pick a rate (higher than normal) which allows you some scope to manouver during negotiations with prospect. The rate will more likely self select, ie, what your client types are prepared to pay to you. Because someone charges more than you or evemn less than you does not mean you'll win.

Mr Wally Olins was responsible for AIB C.I. and like all such major projects, fees cover a wide range of design management across diverse markets. Nobody gets a Mill for drawing a bird. Remember, those that do do, and those that can't teach!!

€ 50 /hr sounds very reasonable, I know designers charging x5 times that and no problem getting it.

Crap is crap no matter what it costs!!

Good luck

Shrimp

May I ask, how long does the client know you are spending on their work? Like especially if it is freelance?

DadaKopf

Yes, Sonnenblumen, I know what you mean. Professionalism is key. I'm also looking into project management - also in other areas in the NGO sector.

Another issue is how to know what to charge. I should be experienced enough to know how many hours a project should take, but I can never work it out. Where do you start to work it out? I suppose all hours have to be worked:
- Meetings
- Phone consultations
- Design brief
- Concept development & research
- Design work
- Print management
- Provision of 2 design drafts (more to be paid for)
- Organising other things: photographers etc.
- Print management

You know, things like that. What would you do if you were an experienced freelancer designing an annual report for a middle-sized company?

heggie

common practise is to % charge to print management (15 seems the norm) - as in 15% of cost of print production

Sonnenblumen

We run a landscaping business which involves design fees (but only as a subsidiary but important cost, implementation being a multiple of the design costs, typically X10-15.

Our project costings are structured into 4 key stages (I do not wish to spell out here) and an additional stage for Options/Additions. All costings are working estimates, and as a rule we complete projects +/- 5 % of costings. Where there are significant over-runs these must be raised and agreed at the earliest opportunity. It is quite common in many businesses that a typical handling fee 5-15% applies to Third Party costs, but obviously Key Clients will expect reduced rates and it is difficult to avoid no discounts.

In general, we do not do speculative (free drawings) design however on occasion we will support Quotes for large projects with an outline sketch, which we always retain unrtil commissioned. In most other cases we charge for our design work.

In graphics like most other projects, it should be possible to do project breakdown into 3-4 stages. Origination/Concept Development (Design /Site Preparation, Implementation (Construction), Repro/Plates (Consumables), Printing (Planting) etc etc Within each stage it should be possible to reduce to key components which can be costed separately, all this information can be effectively captured and presented on Excel for clarity and ease of comparison.

You got to be careful and honest with your costing structure, too generous (screw the client) you will lose project/and if it repeats could tarnish your market reputation. If you're too modest you could seriously risk working for little or no margin. Margin is key, businesses only grow on margin, but you've got to be good at the knitting also. How many design businesses go bust every year and why? Rarely for bad design, more often for underestimating the importance of being competitive and make a PROFIT.

There's no perfect starting point, sweat it out, gain some experience and yes make a few mistakes along the way, but with good persistence you'll get there. Good luck.