The average cost of design per hour....

On average, what is your hourly design rate?

  • Up to £10

    Votes: 17 9.9%

  • £11 - £20

    Votes: 43 25.1%

  • £21 - £30

    Votes: 58 33.9%

  • £31 - £40

    Votes: 30 17.5%

  • £41 - £50

    Votes: 16 9.4%

  • Over £51

    Votes: 7 4.1%
  • Total voters
    171
Yeah fair enough. So to work it out do you just calculate an hourly rate, esitmate how long it'll take, then add on top for each price bracket? Or do you say have a set charge for a livery, and a set charge for a website etc?
 
Tony Hardy said:
But then there's a debate of, 'the more people that see it, the better for me so I can go in cheaper'? But then they're the corporations with the biggest budgets.
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Also, there is that argument, but that is assuming that you WILL get more work from that job because of their exposure. The chances are you won't and you have to plan for that too. Many of the bigger firms won't have any reason to allow you in on their exposure. The only way a potential client will know is by the project popping up in a design magazine or someone seeing your portfolio.

I always charge as the job could be my last! You never know whats round the corner. If a client comes to you because of a previous project I think you have to quote it on its merits. If it means that you drop the price to get the work or potentially more work then so be it. I also include in my contracts a clause stating that the client and myself do not discuss the details of the project with other parties.
 
Tony Hardy said:
Yeah fair enough. So to work it out do you just calculate an hourly rate, esitmate how long it'll take, then add on top for each price bracket? Or do you say have a set charge for a livery, and a set charge for a website etc?
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I have three hourly rate categories. I quote them on how long the job will take in my estimation. I always quote longer than expected. This then compensates for client changes, printer issues, delivery issues, etc. If I get the project completed before the estimated time I tell them so. They then would pay me less and that earns brownie points.

I charge for my services so whether I am doing an identity, a poster or a brochure I'd charge accordingly. The quote would only change for the amount of time it would take, not the type of work I am doing. I find it evens itself out anyway. You can have a very detailed, researched identity, that the client virtually passes first time. On the other hand you can have a very simple logo, for a small business that the client changes 150 times.
 
Thanks for all the information, it's been really helpful :)
I'm guessing you must include a set amount of revisions in with the original fee? And consultation?
 
Tony Hardy said:
Thanks for all the information, it's been really helpful :)
I'm guessing you must include a set amount of revisions in with the original fee? And consultation?
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I don't include a revision limit personally. If they want to keep changing it as long as they know they're paying then I'll go with it. I also charge for consultation. I don't charge the earth but just enough to keep it to a minimum instead of wasting both our and their time for pointless meetings.
 
So if somebody comes back to you after seeing your first version and changes x amount of things, do you just tell them that it's going to cost more? or do you see if you can get it done in the timeslot?
 
Tony Hardy said:
So if somebody comes back to you after seeing your first version and changes x amount of things, do you just tell them that it's going to cost more? or do you see if you can get it done in the timeslot?
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If its still within the time I gave in the quote then I'll carry on as normal, using the agreed quote. If it looks like it will go beyond the timescale I'll tell them that the final fee will be adjusted because the project will extended beyond the timescale agreed by both parties. I tell them this BEFORE it happens as then they don't have an argument when they are presented with a final higher bill. You have to ensure that the contract states that the final fee can increase due to client changes. If its down to you then you have to cut your losses.
 
Ian Bonner said:
If its still within the time I gave in the quote then I'll carry on as normal, using the agreed quote. If it looks like it will go beyond the timescale I'll tell them that the final fee will be adjusted because the project will extended beyond the timescale agreed by both parties. I tell them this BEFORE it happens as then they don't have an argument when they are presented with a final higher bill. You have to ensure that the contract states that the final fee can increase due to client changes. If its down to you then you have to cut your losses.
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My Ts&Cs state that the price quoted includes 3 minor changes to brief or 1 major change. Anything above this will be quoted on the hourly rate agreed for the project.
 
I work a a few companies in my local area of Cheshire, And being their only freelancer options they have i would put myself out of business if i was to charge them silly amounts, They charge a minimum to their clients of £30 per design, and i would normall get £20 out of this unless the design required was to be drawn up, or a website built, the average i would charge on design is a basic hourly rate of £8.00, and if the design was drawn i would be paid for the whole sum at an agreed price.
 
Surely at £8 per hour you cant be making a living?... Once you've paid your tax and NI you'd only be left with about £4-5 an hour?..
 
At £8 per hour it is quite easy to make a living, I work on average 12 hours a day , you times that by 5, then by 4, its not a bad wage at all, this is only 1 company, others i do for pocket money. lol
 
Vanquish said:
I work a a few companies in my local area of Cheshire, And being their only freelancer options they have i would put myself out of business if i was to charge them silly amounts, They charge a minimum to their clients of £30 per design, and i would normall get £20 out of this unless the design required was to be drawn up, or a website built, the average i would charge on design is a basic hourly rate of £8.00, and if the design was drawn i would be paid for the whole sum at an agreed price.
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£8 an hour?! Minimum wage will be catching up with you soon!
 
Vanquish said:
Minimum wage would never hit £8. im sure of it.
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Clear your mind and imagine the lowliest job you can; one so undesireable, unskilled and unpleasant that it really is flirting with the depths of human dignity. Got it? Okay. If we assume that even that job attracts minimum wage you can now imagine yourself outperforming that guy in the wage stakes by less than two quid an hour and you're back in the room.

A quick, very rough calculation says that someone taking home your level of net salary on an average hourly rate of £8 is doing the better part of 90-odd hours a week 52 weeks a year to maintain his current standard of living so I'm assuming this is either some kind of joke or not nearly the whole story.
 
Vanquish said:
At £8 per hour it is quite easy to make a living, I work on average 12 hours a day , you times that by 5, then by 4, its not a bad wage at all, this is only 1 company, others i do for pocket money. lol
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But if you're working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week for just one company, when do you fit these "pocket money" places in?
 
Dave L said:
Clear your mind and imagine the lowliest job you can; one so undesireable, unskilled and unpleasant that it really is flirting with the depths of human dignity. Got it? Okay. If we assume that even that job attracts minimum wage you can now imagine yourself outperforming that guy in the wage stakes by less than two quid an hour and you're back in the room.

A quick, very rough calculation says that someone taking home your level of net salary on an average hourly rate of £8 is doing the better part of 90-odd hours a week 52 weeks a year to maintain his current standard of living so I'm assuming this is either some kind of joke or not nearly the whole story.
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You're quite right. Even at the mentioned "12 hours a day, 5 days a week, four weeks a month" this only totals £23,040. That's with no holidays and not taking out taxes or NI. To get to £31,445 that's another 35 hours ish a week work to fit in somewhere. Hmm.

Personally I'd rather be on upwards of £15 an hour and have a life.
 
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