Concept fee?

Good91

New Member
Hi,

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, I'm new. I've recently been asked to do 1 illustration for a stationary company. This is my first professional job so I'm not sure how much I should really be charging. They have asked how much my Concept fee is and then if they choose to go ahead with my design they will also pay a top up fee.

The illustration will probably take about 4-5 hours to complete so with my logic, if I charge £20 per hour, the total cost of my services is £80- £100. Do I charge a percentage of this as the concept fee? Has anyone used this structure of charging their fees before?

Thanks in advance!
 
Your concept fee should be based on how long it takes to do it , just like your fee for the illustration itself. Don't undersell yourself, if it takes you
two hours to sketch it all out initially, then you need to charge that as well as the cost for the actual illustration.

Don't forget to ask for some kind of Purchase Order from them detailing your fees before you start any work, and send them any terms and conditions you may have.
 
Hmm... I'd maybe look at some 'guarantees' regarding use of concept after them seeing it. Once you see a concept you can easily get it 'mocked up' by in house staff etc.

As to cost... charge how long it takes multiplied by how much you charge per hour and that includes the time it takes to 'generate' YOUR concept before creating the file you'll send to the client. Thats what EVERY other business that has an hourly rate does, graphic design should not be any different no matter how much companies and other individuals expect us to do stuff for free etc.
 
Also, be clear on the definition of "concept". Will they accept a series of quick scamps, or do they want a more final worked-up version? Do they expect to be able to ask for changes and revisions? This will all affect costs. Ultimately, you have no guarantee that they will hire you for the final piece so make sure you charge enough that if the work doesn't come through, you haven't lost out. I'd up your estimate a little and go in at £140 based on your estimates. This is what I charge for half a day and typically covers 4-5 hours of work. I find it's a good meeting point for both parties, not too high for the client, and not too low for me.

Don't forget to ask for some kind of Purchase Order from them detailing your fees before you start any work, and send them any terms and conditions you may have.
This is good advice for any project really. An email or written agreement is fine in most cases, but with larger companies you should always get a PO number so you're costs are conformed in the ledger and they're legally bound to pay you. The person who hired you and you deal with often isn't the person responsible for paying you, so make sure they assign a PO before you start work. I recently had to chase a big invoice that was 2 months late and wasn't ever going to be paid because it didn't have a PO number attached. Lesson learnt.
 
A bunch of discussions has already been placed at here, what I want to add here is that," As this is for an initial starting, you should charge the minimum cost also what Paul said " An email or written agreement is fine in most cases, but with larger companies you should always get a PO number so you're costs are confirmed in the ledger and they're legally bound to pay you. ":

But I always prefer for a long-term relationship, because in these market a loyal client is more than a good investment.

First, you should make sure about the market price; I would recommend reducing minimum 10% to 20% for that initial start.
 
Back
Top