Hi, I have never done one of these before! Basically I need advice on how much to charge a client for some graphic design work.
He is a family friend and is starting a clothing line, he has been to china to pitch his ideas, and now it’s full steam ahead. I am a graphic designer and photographer, I also do cinematography too as a hobby! But I have never had client work before.
I am designing the logo for the brand and also designing the prints for the t-shirts and stuff, I will probably end up doing photoshoots for the images and I am also doing the website building and social media marketing, and he asked me what price, but I am unsure on what to charge?
Yeah I do know how to do these things, I studied photography and graphic design and as a blogger, I self taught myself how to build websites, I have researched it, but can’t seem to find a straight forward answer. That’s why I came on here to get some advice.
There’s really no way that anyone here can tell you how much to charge. That’s totally up to you.
Here’s how a fee is typically arrived at, though. Get everything that’s expected of you written down, then estimate how many hours it will take. Decide how much you want to make per hour, then multiply those hours by your hourly rate.
If the entire scope of the job can’t be estimated, you can divide the job up into phases or individual projects, then figure out your fees for each from there. Things always take longer than expected, so add in a cushion for those unexpected problems that arise.
In your contract (agreement), state how much per hour will be charged above and beyond those things specifically mentioned. (Little add-ons and extras usually come up, and you don’t want to do them for free.) And speaking of contracts, it doesn’t matter that you’re dealing with a family friend. Contracts are very useful since they spell out exactly what’s expected of both parties. This avoids confusion as the job progresses, which is important because you don’t want a misunderstanding to arise — especially with a family friend.
My school taught me to charge 3x what you want to make per hour if you plan to make a living from it. This covers business overhead, advertising, and drought periods. But that was 25 years ago. I’m not sure if this would be good advice today. I never did it because I’ve never tried to make my entire living off of freelance…
I just typically figure all that stuff into how much I want to make per hour. But yes, it’s important to consider all one’s expenses when determining fees.
Someone just doing an odd freelance job probably doesn’t need to worry much about it. But for someone regularly bringing in work, there are taxes, insurance, equipment, supplies, software, rent, furniture, utilities, etc., that need to be covered — and that’s before one even begins to make a profit. All that kind of thing needs to be factored into the hourly rate.
The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines has suggestions for pricing, contracts and trade practices. It includes sections on working with textiles, logos and websites.
Thanks again!