How long should a designer take on designing an artwork?

whatsoutthere said:
...i think this includes communication, research, creating a side logo with creating illustrations and much more has gone into it. If the client had provided all the information and I had to do a simple artwork compilation...then yes 2 to 3 hours...
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That's the thing: price for the job in full if you must but get a good brief with everything you need, estimate on the understanding that all content, etc. will be signed-off and supplied prior to commencement and make it clear that client-directed changes post-submission will be charged at an hourly rate. I personally don't charge for communication, etc. as seperate items (it's built into my rate) except where the client requests a consultation.
 
Hi All

Thanks for the help.

Surprisingly I am still doing this A5 double sided flyer for this client since I posted this thread.
I want to finish this now, get paid and move on to do some other work.

But this new client keeps making me do changes, gives me new things to add like logos and list of numbers, which takes more of my time and I have to move things around.
I dont think she knows what she really wants.

In her brief she hadn't given me anything. All I got was the company's website link, the logo and purpose for the flyer.
And said it was up to me to decide on what content the company needs in the flyer.
(This really annoys me as I am no god and I would have liked the client to give me some proper input and content information. As you end up wasting time because if the client doesn't know what they want then how the heck are you going to know?)


To understand what she really wants I had given her a list of questions in my word document and she only replied to one or two. Like just ignored the other questions of mine. I understand she is busy but by not responding properly and not giving me enough input it doesn't help either of us!

For this flyer I have created an illustrated character, a logo for the company's anniversary, an illustration of the map and things to go with it like a speech bubble, tree, sign for the list of numbers etc.

Basically both the sides are illustrative which is why it took me many hours.

I have charged her only 150 pounds for double sided for the flyer. I roughly did it for 11 hours but I must say it has taken me a lot more hours! Now I wish I had charged her much more!

What do you guys think?
Is this normal for clients to not give you a clear brief from the start and
instead say that they want you to tell them or up to you to decide?
Do you think I charged too little or high or just right?

Thanks
 
Sounds like a rough deal! We've all been there though, and it's working with clients like this that help you improve your business sense. The constant adding and changing of things is referred to as "feature creep". Be wary of emails that start "can you just..." because chances are they're asking for something that wasn't agreed upon beforehand.

It's up to you to specify exactly what the client is getting for their money, ideally in a written contract, but I tend to just list everything out in an email and keep a copy of their reply agreeing to the conditions. Give them a limited number of revisions to prevent them from repeatedly asking for changes and additions, and specify before you start that you will charge for each hour that you are forced over your initially quoted time. This should help them to decide what they want.
 
^ Good advice (and like Paul says, we've all been there - you just need to make sure you don't go back). 11 hrs for an A5 flyer is outrageous anyway but for it to not include enough contingency to get you to sign-off beggars belief. Don't start work until you have a good enough idea what you're aiming for and make sure that you have all content agreed before you click a mouse button; if you have a broad agreement before quoting, state what you will do for the price and make it doubly clear that any changes to the brief which require extra time on your part will be charged at an hourly rate - you're safeguarding yourself from the runaround and you're providing your client with the framework to think properly about what they want and how much they're prepared to pay for it.

In short, if they're not clear enough about what they want (and able to broadly communicate it from the start) then the chances of you achieving it within a reasonable timeframe are slim.
 
In my experience, these days - designers - if you are worth paying for, you are required to be marketing professionals as well as designers - if you can take what they want and make it into a marketing campaign that brings in customers without the need for a marketing professional's advice, you have it made and they will come back for more.

In order to cut down the hours worked on a fancy design and to get designs approved faster - include the 'buy', 'come', 'see' with in-your-face flashes, using the clients supplied copy and you are sorted. Tacky usually and tough to incorporate into what one would consider a 'good' design, but it keeps clients happy and the design hours/costs down.
 
You've created way more than any client could reasonably expect for a flyer. You've designed them a logo, a character, drawn a map and other elements - the cost for the logo alone could have been substantially more than you've charged. At least next time you'll know to factor in brand new assets created from scratch and they won't pay for them if they're just for a flyer, saving you all this hassle.

I've created posters for bands and gigs etc. and made elements from scratch because I love the work, not because I wanted to get paid commensurately for it. Matobo's advice is spot on - for those jobs that need to pay and get completed within your timeframe to reasonably pay the bills, keep some stock elements to put together. Some design is for love, some is just work.
 
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