How do these prices look for a starting off local graphic design company?

JMG Graphics

New Member
Logo £50
Business card £20
A3 poster £50
A4 poster £40
A5 poster £30
Invitation £20
Menu £40
Leaflet £45
Website Banner £40
Website Banner Animation £50
Headed paper £20

Thank you ever so much:)
 
Logo £50
Business card £20
A3 poster £50
A4 poster £40
A5 poster £30
Invitation £20
Menu £40
Leaflet £45
Website Banner £40
Website Banner Animation £50
Headed paper £20

Thank you ever so much:)

Well, you'd get clients but how you'd be a profitable business is beyond me, logo design for £50 is just ridiculous, without seeing your work I can't pass comment but I can't expect it'd be up to much unfortunately. Good logo designs don't even charge that per hour.

Next you'll be offering a 10 page website with unlimited revisions for £60.

Sorry to rant a bit, but if you're good people will pay, don't lower prices, it kills the industry and eventually it'll kill your business.
 
I'm only starting off though and since I have no experience would people really pay that much for a logo? How much would you say I should charge for each of the above? Thank you ever so much!
 
Should you not assess each project and quote based on its bespoke requirements? From my experience your approach is wrong. You're attempting to start at the end (not at the beginning of the process).
 
Would I get as many clients though doing in that way? Because they wouldn't know how cheap I am compared to other companies?
 
You're missing the point, you don't want to undercharge yourself because if you're designing a logo for example you need time to discuss it with the client, develop ideas, start designing it, make any revisions, develop some brand guidelines, sort out different file formats etc. (there'll be more, I'm not a logo designer) that all takes time and might take weeks to complete to do a very very good job. Now if you're charging only fifty quid you can't from a business pov run a business like that you need to charge more.

How I work is on an hourly basis, so I get a project, attempt to calculate how long it'll take and then workout a price for the entire project from there. If it takes longer then the client gets charged more, which you have to point out to them in advance obviously.
 
If you're starting out without design knowledge or experience, don't try and start a design company. It's highly competitive, and if you offer cheap prices, you'll get cheap clients (which believe me, you don't want!). As Chris said, clients should be coming to you because you have the knowledge and experience they require, not because you're the cheapest artworker around.

Start small, work for free for charities if you have to to get experience of working with clients and some work to build up your portfolio. Make a note of how long projects take you to complete, then work out an hourly rate, multiply these two together and that's your rough price.

Running a design business isn't just about being able to make things that look nice, you need to be able to deal with all the client shit that comes with it: Mistakes you make that cost your client money. Last minute changes that were needed an hour ago. Problems with the print finish. Clients wanting extra work and no extra cost. All this is stuff that you learn to handle from experience, but if you jump in with no prior experience, you'll find yourself out of your depth and disheartened.

I don't want to put you off (the opposite in fact), I just urge you to get some practical experience before you try to offer design as a professional service.
 
Can I just add that, if you start cheap, you'll always be cheap. A lot of work in this industry comes word-of-mouth and recommends. Try explaining to your next customer that their logo will be £250 when their mate's was £50!
 
How much should I charge?

Approach it this way: Factor in what you will offer with a logo design. For example;

  • An initial client meeting - this might take an hour
  • 4 initial ideas/sketches for every logo - this might take 4 hours
  • Two of those can have a revision into more comprehensive design (chosen by the client) - this might take 6 hours (including correspondence with the client - emails etc.)
  • One of those left can have an extra two revisions to get the final logo just right - this might take 3 hours (including correspondence with the client - emails etc.)
  • Final logo is presented to the client in suitable file formats and with a brief 'brand guideline' document that states colours and fonts used - this might take an hour

Now take the hours spent on developing the logo, in this case 15 hours, and multiply that by your desired hourly rate. Say you want to earn £20 per hour than that makes a logo £300 from start to finish.

Remember these timescales and figures are just examples I have plucked out of the air. You need to now sit down and work out what your time/fee structure will look like. You'll also need to factor in 'market forces' and what your competitors are up to in terms of pricing and offering before you hit your magic "how much should I charge for a logo?" figure.

We can't just give you a figure and, if you are serious about running your own business, you need to get your head round this kind of stuff.

Now PLEASE stop saying
How much should I charge?
because the answer is "It's up to YOU"
 
Do you have a client asking for a piece of work and have you been given a brief?

I'd like to add that Corrosive's advise is spot on.
 
defo agree with corrosives post. as my business adviser once told me NEVER be/or use the word cheap it might sound good to you but a potential client/customer will think different they will think..... "why is this so cheap?" always think affordable/competitive rates.

everyone charges/prices different depending on experience and how long you can actually do the job in.

take this for an example. I charged someone just last week £15 for a 4ft x 2ft vinyl banner (printing and materials cost me just under £3 per print) and i ended up fucking it up 6 times ( well actually the printer fucked it up by scuffing it ) and i lost £3 on this job, not alot but its a loss and i wasted ALOT of ink and material which i have 2 replace :(
 
defo agree with corrosives post. as my business adviser once told me NEVER be/or use the word cheap it might sound good to you but a potential client/customer will think different they will think..... "why is this so cheap?" always think affordable/competitive rates.

everyone charges/prices different depending on experience and how long you can actually do the job in.

Completely agree with that!
 
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