graphic design, freelancing, illustration, advertising, web design

I dont know if there is a pattern that by following it you can actual use in order to charge.

But as you said above knowing your experiance and how much you need/want to make a month and long will it take you is a good way to be really fair with your clients.

I received a worksheet in one of my business classes that helped us calculate our hourly rate based on all sorts of things like health insurance costs, utility bills, income taxes, rent, etc. These weren’t necessarily things that could be written off as business expenses, but more “How much money do we need to make a month to live?” I don’t remember all the specifics that I entered in mine, but it said I would have to charge at least $60/hr. I think as a recent graduate I would be extremely lucky to get $40/hr.

I’ve discovered that the rate for people with my amount of experience in my area is between $30-$45/hr. In my recent experience in determining how much to charge, I think about how much work the job will be. I go through and break down all the work I have to do and estimate the amount of hours I think all the different tasks will take. For example, 4 comps will take about 3 hours each and finalizing the design will take an additional 4 hours, including going back and forth with the client and revisions, and I add in a little bit for a consultation fee (my knowledge is worth something!). Knowing how long something will take just comes with experience, learning how quickly you work. And be sure to add in a little extra for unforeseen problems!

Your business classes sounded really useful. The ones I had (years ago! on my design course) didn’t really teach me anything of use in the real world.

Actually, I think that was about the only useful thing I learned because that was the only business class I had that was actually taught by a designer. All the other ones were accounting, how to write a business plan, technical writing… and they weren’t tailored to designers. I’ll see if I can find that worksheet. Maybe you can post it in the resources section!

That would be great if you can find it thanks.

I charge $75 per hour for the most part. I’m fairly cheap for websites (somewhere between $500 on $5000) Logos I start at $375 and go up from there.

I started by charging $25 and was told by other designers that I needed to up my prices because it was cheapening the service for the industry. I believed them.

I’m in Texas. I was in San Antonio when I started my business 5 years ago and I’m not in College Station (3 hours to the North East).

Of course some clients I charge less.

Thanks for the post. I’ll be watching this blog.

Here’s my design blog: http://jorgegoyco.blogspot.com

i don’t have a pricing structure, i charge by the clients’ wallet and the complexity of the project. if i get a client who can afford, why not make them pay more. but for starting companies or person(s), i charge them less, because should their companies grow, i stand to benefit later. so always have marketing mentality, to maintain your relationships with your clients.

If you have it available, pick up a copy of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, put out by AIGA. It is tailored to the USA, but for those of us here it’s an invaluable resource. It’s updated regularly, and gives ranges for just about every creative field, as well as rough variations for location.

I’m just starting out with a friend (we’re going more for webdesign rather than graphic design) and we’re really struggling with what to charge… We both work 9-5 so it’s not like we’re in this for the money, so even if we make £1, that’s cool. But, we don’t want to charge too little…

Any suggestions?

Hi Rachael,

I think a lot depends where you are based, your experience etc. Are you intending charging an hourly rate or by the job. I have a rough idea what print designers charge hourly rate Uk - East Mids. if you want to email me to discuss please use the contact form.

As far as I can see, factor #4 is the most useful.

A s far as I can see, factor #4 is the most useful.

Iam doing freelancing in webdesign, graphic design and print……

The fact is graphic designs are a dime a dozen these days. Charging thousand of dollars is no longer an option.

I think number two is very important. Designers who freelance for big companies can charge more than those working for agencies (who take a cut) and small businesses (who keep a close eye on spending). In particular, designers who focus their service on marketing departments in large companies can often charge the best rates.

I’m a marketing manager for a publisher, and I expect to pay my designers around £40-£50 ($100) per hour; approx £2000/$4000 for a 12-page brochure; £500/$1000 for an ad. (Maybe not at first, but if once in, my regular designers can bump up their fee by at least 25%. Not all of them do, but they could, and I would pay it.)

The issue is really what your design is worth to your client. In the advertising arena, design is crucial for selling the product, and results can be quickly measured. Therefore marketing clients will be willing to pay an extra £200 or so — as a slightly better design can make a massive difference to sales.

When you work for a marketing department, you’re often dealing with people with big budgets. In my case, I don’t necessarily shy away from ‘expensive’ designers. In fact, I gravitate towards them. Because it’s not MY money, and being an advertiser and copywriter, I know the importance of good design.

To find out more about freelance design rates and pitching in the marketing field, visit http://www.copywriting-designers.com/latest_home_based_business_ideas.html

Thanks Shaun, that’s some good advise. It’s good to see that some people are recognizing the designers’ worth. I’ll take a look at that link…

I have always stunk at charging for graphic design. When I would find a client that I really liked working with, I ended up charging way too little. I was practically a graphic design philanthropist.

I found a loop-hole to the whole thing. I started using my abilities to create my own products. Instead of trying to sell a lot of hours, I try to sell a lot of T-shirts. With the quality of digital printing getting to new levels, there has got to be all kinds of opportunities out there for people with good design skills.

I also believe it all depends which company you are working for. Even with 8 years expereince under my belt I have charged some companies from £12 to £75 per hour, sometimes you also have to see what project you are working on, when I charge someone £12 or £15 an hour I am not suppose to create concepts and spend time on research, I normally tell client this before and mostly what I come up first time client take it after some amends.

Now I work full time in big IT company on senior level and usually hire freelance designers time to time to shed my workload and in this case I am not going to pay them £40 or £60 an hour. £18 to £20 feels reasonable for someone with couple of years experience.

We pay some designers upto £100.00 per hour, and some we pay £10.00 per hour. It depends on how good they are. Pay peanuts, get monkeys

There’s a wide gap in what people get paid in the freelance space. If you’re a freelancer who does most of their work through an agency, you’ve got to leave enough margin for your client. This creates an upwards limit on how much you can get paid.

There’s also a lower limit too. You shouldn’t find yourself getting paid any less than what you would as a full-time employee.

In terms of how I work out what to charge, I always base it on hourly rate. For fixed price projects I will work out how many hours I think will go into the work and price accordingly.

I think sometimes you dont have to overprice. If you want to get the freelance job, you should first impress the client. After the job you can charge him a decent rate because you already have proven your worth.In my case he’s the one giving me a good payback without me asking him.