How Much is the Design Charge to Create My Artwork?

One of the first questions potential clients want to know when they call us for design work is : How much is the design charge? Although this is not a simple nor straightforward question to answer, we will do our best here to explain some general pricing guidelines.

When a client commissions design work to be done by us, we begin with a discussion to assess the requirements of the client. What is the end product? What are the information to be relayed through the designed piece? How does it need to be presented? Do you have any existing artwork or templates that we can refer to for a comparison? What kind of budget do you have?

FROM NAMECARD TO BACKDROP

Just to begin with dispelling a misconception about how design charge is calculated. The design charge is not tied to the size of the physical product that will be produced. For example, a namecard is not cheaper because it is so small, compared to a backdrop. An A5 brochure is not cheaper than an A3 poster. The price is not relative to the size.

It is the content that is the biggest determinant of the price. How much content needs to be fitted into an artwork and the amount of time that our graphic design team will spend (man hours) working to complete the artwork will help us to accurately quote you for the design work.

1. WE BEGIN WITH A RANGE

We will usually describe a range for the project: for example “Poster design will cost between $200 – $400, depending on the complexity of work required.”

The range that we quote is derived from the hundreds of design projects that we have completed over the years, the average amount of time that is normally spent on doing a similar project or scope of work, and also with the deadline in mind. If a customer can give us a longer time to complete the project, we can veer towards the lower part of the quoted range.

If a customer is in a hurry and needs the design work to be completed faster, then we will veer towards the higher part of the quoted range. This is because we have to prioritise your order, and factor in the opportunity cost of putting other orders on the backburner while we attend to your design work with greater urgency.

Our expertise in handling (or rather, juggling) multiple design projects at the same period of time ensures we get all done in good time, with our eye on the clients’ deadline.

2. YOU BEGIN WITH A BUDGET

Alternatively, let us know your budget for design work. How much are prepared to pay? This is another option of how we can quote you for your artwork. For example, say you have a budget of $200 to design a poster.

Our designers will speak with you on what you require in the poster design, and also advise a reasonable timeline for the project. Hence, we reverse engineer the project. Starting with your proposed budget, we both agree what can be offered for that price and work out the agreeable design charge.

The key for this to work is that it is reasonable for both parties: happy designer, and happy client.

Here at Pullupstand.com, we have never believed in running a sweat shop – hiring cheap labour to churn out work non-stop. That’s just not fair to everyone. Our designers have gone through years of formal graphic design education, sacrificed years of training and honing their art, gained much experience in the arts & creative industry, and polished their skills with many design work over the years. They care deeply about your project and with great attention to detail. We always find it such a horror when designers aren’t valued for the highly passionate and committed individuals that they are. They could be your brother, sister, son or daughter – so value their work, please..

3. YOU GIVE US SOME REFERENCE

REFERENCE BASED ON CORPORATE BRANDING GUIDE

Some clients already have a corporate brand guide straight from HQ. That’s great. Do share it with us, so it helps us design with those guidelines in mind. We have much experience working with corporate clients, who are preparing print materials and marketing collaterals for tradeshows and exhibitions. With your corporate branding guide, we will be able to design closely to your other collaterals.

REFERENCE BASED ON PREVIOUS WORK

If you want us to design a namecard, show us how the other namecards in the past looked like. How do you want to go from here? Some clients want it to look exactly the same. Some clients want a bit of modification or refinement. Some clients want a complete overhaul of the design. So do communicate to us what you want right from the beginning, as this will help us quote you accurately. If you want a poster, show us how your other posters looked like in the past. If you want a banner, have you had banners done before this? Show them to us please. Previous work is a great indicator of the design look you might want to replicate. Or if you want a complete design makeover, let us know too. This is an important consideration for us to bear in mind before we begin the project.

NO REFERENCE

Perhaps you have never gotten any design work done for your company. It’s your very first time getting artwork done for a company marketing collateral. Thank you for choosing Pullupstand.com to be your design partner. We will guide you through the process professionally, communicating every step of the way to ensure your job is done well. Like many companies and businesses who have chosen us, you will be served with attention to detail, commitment to your deadline and great support from our design team and sales team. Find out why we are such a great team to work with!

4. YOU DIY PART OF IT

Some clients want a half & half. They do half of the work, so we charge half of the price. This can work too. You can create a draft of your vision using Powerpoint, Word, Paint, etc and show it to us. ‘This is how I want it done’.

If the normal quote for such artwork is $500, and you come half of the way, we might lower our design charge to $300. Bear in mind that we don’t simply take your artwork and send it to print. Our designer will use your DIY artwork as a point of reference, and recreate it from scratch in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop, which a professional graphics editor software. Some graphic elements, such as logos and shapes, will need to be redrawn or retraced in vector format. This is a potentially time-consuming process. We have to do it to ensure that when we print out in large size, the output will be clear and sharp, not blurred or pixelated! That would be such a nightmare!

Also, we retype all the text for you and design again based on your DIY artwork. This is a process which can take many hours.

Vector Outline Drawing for Design Work

5. I AM ALLERGIC TO DESIGN CHARGE

Oh dear. We are so sorry to hear of such an affliction. Some customers are resistant to paying for design work and get allergic reactions when they hear the term design charge. With common refrains such as “MY NEPHEW IS A DESIGN ENTHUSIAST AND CAN DO THIS FOR $20” to “I DON’T SEE WHY IT CAN’T BE FREE?” to “WHY CAN’T I JUST FIVERR IT?”

Once again, we love our graphic designers. They come from good families, with parents who love them deeply, sent them to good schools, brewed herbal soup for them, as they stayed up late at night perfecting their craft, so that they can become good designers to serve our customers.

We really don’t believe in transforming our company into a sweat shop of designers.

Our design charge is reasonable, our prices are market standard and affordable for the average business owner. In most cases, it is an investment on dressing up your company to look its best at its next marketing event. When you look good, we look good.

We have had customers who passed the work to their nephew or to an outsourced designer living halfway across the world, only to emerge from the experience badly scarred and still getting nightmares from time to time. We believe that the design process is smooth when there is great communication both ways.

Lastly, we believe in this quote:

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.“

The Next Step

• View our design gallery for samples of our work.
• Call us to speak about your design requirement.
• Email us to get a conversation started. We love email!

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