Pay/Wages/Remuniration for Graphic Work???

Ry

I've been doing some graphic work for a company for a while now but I feel I've been really undercharging for my work.

Just wondering how much is a going rate for designing posters flyers etc that have been printed and will be in the near future? I've so far done a flyer design which I did various prototypes of before they chose one they liked and then recently I did a large poster design for them to use within their premises. I'm curious what people doing freelance work would charge normally?

Thanks.

Ry

eyedrenalin

Hey Ry,

I've been working as a designer for a few years now and I still am a little unsure as to the 'right' way to charge. A good way to get a good price gamut [although prob not the most honourable] is to ring a range of studios and quote a few dummy jobs. Usually, large design houses have hourly rates of €75+ per hour. It really depends on (a) how good you are, (b) how much experience you have, (c)who your client is and (d) the end use of your design.

(a & b) If your getting regular positive feedback from a few clients, then it's afe to start upping your price.

(c) this should be obvious enough, but larger clients can afford a pricier rate. This doesn't mean large clients will tolerate being milked, but certainly, a rate that is seen to be too low can in certain circumstances be seen as an unprofessional price.

(d) nationwide billboards for example, should be billed higher than a few branded party invites or something. Don't be afraid to make this sort of enquiry in the pre-quote stages, because if nothing else, it will make you look informed and experienced.

I have a simple [but not strict] formula to work out my ball park price. if you are gonna use something like this, once you have a price written down, spend a bit of time just looking at it and consider if it is infact a reasonable price. Don't be greedy and don't undersell yourself.

A word of warning though; it's not advisable to switch prices mid-relationship unless your client will immediately see a benefit to the increase in price. In other words, if your on €25 p.h. at the moment with client X then tomorrow you start charging them €50 p.h.; unless your client can't live without you [which is very rarely the case] then you can pretty much kiss them goodbye.

Also, a lot of freelancers make the mistake of trying to subsidise a client base with high prices; in other words if you only have 2 clients on a regular basis and you want to make €600 bucks a week, you do not split that 600 between the two clients, regardless of the work. In business, inconsistency is scary, unreliable and just plain amatuer.