any freelance graphic / web designers - can I ask for your rates?

[blabbba]

hi all

am a freelance graphic designer based in SE region (mostly branding / print, but a bit of small scale web stuff) and am wondering what others charge. I've been doing it several years and have a steady client base; mostly charities / 3rd sector, but some small creative sector clients and a couple of businesses.

I am just wondering what others charge per hour / per day.

My current rates are fairly variable according to the client but I charge £27 - £35 (average £30) per hour / £220 - 250 per day according to the client (I rarely do a full day in a go, more a few hours here and there). I do make allowances for rates for the charities I work for.

I never seem to make enough ££ as there's so much more to do than the main design; the endless emails and little amends after a job has been signed off etc!

I sometimes quote on a per project basis; quite often they go on forever and I end up losing out although sometimes I will make an additional charge.

Websites seem to go on forever and I work with a coder sometimes who helps but he's not always the most accommodating when being asked to make changes.

Does anyone else have any feedback on their hourly / daily rates or what they would charge per project for e.g. a logo design?

I like to do high quality work and I think this is reflected in my end-products and my ongoing workload. But I am sure I could do better and am always wondering if I should be charging a lot more.

Any thoughts welcomed. :-)

I am not a designer but I work closely with several and their rates are very much in the same ballpark, but I think that is at the lower end for high quality work (we work in a niche area where it is hard to push rates up much more).

If you are charging by the hour though then the extra emails and amends should be covered, just remember to account for them. You can get timesheet apps which you click on and off for different clients, and I think it is completely fine to round up to a 15 minute minimum or so if you are getting endless bitty emails or calls.

Charging per project is pretty tricky with new clients - I personally think you need to get a feel for how they work before you commit to a cost, but obviously some businesses always want a fixed price. If you do that I think it is completley fair to fix things from your side of things too: e.g. This quotation includes 3 design concept drafts, one final version and one revision. Any further or additional concepts or revisions will be charged at £X rate.

It is the start of a new tax year - so a good time to review your rates. And definitely always quote to new clients at your highest - or future proof - rate

thanks Dusting, I will certainly take your advice into account. :-)

maybe I need to try get the right clients that don't mind about the price and are more concerned about the end product!!

One thing I am terrible at is logging my time though. Must try harder!! It causes me much more work at the end of a project when I try to retrospectively add it up (have got Rescue time recently but finding it difficult to interpret). I use something called Toggl but am rubbish at remembering to click it on and off.

I think I might have to round up a bit more to nearest 15min. You are right. I might put it in my ts and cs.

PS get in touch if you want a quote on your next project!! ;-) I'll do a good job! (cheeky me eh?).

Ponybark, do you have a website I can look at?

I am a designer as well and it is hard especially if like me you are doing house stuff and picking kids up as well as work so don't always remember to time watch. For me I tend to encapsulate a bit of time for the phone/amends/emails stuff within my price. I charge a variable hourly rate or piece by piece rate as I rarely spend whole days on any one thing. My hourly varies from around 30 - 40 but I am not in the SE so it all goes a bit further!

Dont be afraid to big up your quality, I freely say that I will not necessarily be cheapest but I do have a right first time policy and a quality system that cheaper options may not have.