Pricing

Prices for graphic and web design work can vary widely. As a rule, if you choose an independent contractor, you will be paying less than if you choose a design agency. Because of the lack of a brick and mortar studio, I have low overhead and no regular employees. Should a project require it, I will bring in additional manpower to get the work done in a timely manner.

With an independent contractor you will not get the same type of manpower you will get at a medium sized or large design office, but if you are willing to take things at a slower pace you will get a higher quality product than a huge percentage of web designers out there. I have several years experience in my field and am both reliable and available most days of the week for projects.

I am not priced as competitively when it comes to places like Craigslist, but may work at a lower rate if I love the project and am able to fit it into my schedule.

Projects can range in price from between $3,500 and $25,000 for a website, and between $3,500 and $6,000 for a logo and style guide. Occasionally, I will get talked into dipping below this range, but this is not the norm. There are only so many corners you can cut with a website, and certain time consuming things always have to be done, like coding for a variety of browsers and operating systems.

How to keep your costs down

Here is a list of things you can do that will make your project more attractive at a lower price:

• Have all of your content ready to put on the site, including photography and text;
• Have an outline or wireframe prepared of what pages and functionality you would like;
• Stick to the project calendar deadlines;
• Review design concepts and revisions promptly and be available to discuss your feedback;
• Keep moving forward on a project as each stage is completed;
• Be flexible on delivery dates;

Fixed Price or Hourly Rate

Both have their advantages and disadvantages for both client and designer. Here are some ideas about both:

Fixed Price. This can be very helpful to the client as it lets them budget more easily but if every aspect of the project is not articulated, a condition called “project creep” can crop up, making the designer very cranky. “Project Creep” is when the client asks for little extras at every stage of the project, resulting in a quite a bit of extra work that the designers is expected to do for nothing. The benefit of a fixed price for the designer is that he or she doesn’t have to be as strict with time tracking and there is no penalty for working efficiently and getting the job done on time or ahead of time.

Hourly Rate.  Many people want to know a designer’s hourly rate up front, but hourly rates can be deceptive. If a designer takes a long time to complete a phase of the project, there is no downside, and time spent solving problems is covered. In can, however, be difficult for the less experienced designer to be able to give a realistic ballpark on how many hours a project will actually take, and if you are working with someone for the first time, it can be hit or miss. An optimistic programmer might underestimate the time it actually takes to code a page, and you will end up overbudget in a very short time. The advantage to the client by working hourly with a designer is that it is very easy for both sides to make frequent changes to what is needed without having to create new estimates.

Hybrid, Best of Both Worlds? I have worked both ways, and if details can be nailed down firmly, will set a fixed price and switch to hourly if extras are needed. This way everyone’s budget is happy and the client isn’t afraid to ask for extras and the designer is compensated for extra work. The onus is on the designer, however, to immediately let the client know when anything he or she wants is outside the agreed-upon paramaters of the project.