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How much should I charge?

creator2456

creator2456

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 10, 2007
1,649
2
Chicago
My brother-in-law wants me to design a logo/business ID for his new insurance company. I am a GD student and know pretty much what I am doing, but this is my first paying job.

I am just wondering what you suggest as a good hourly cost is to charge? ($15 sound good)
Or should I ask for a flat fee? ($150)
Or both? ($75 fee then $10/hr)
 
A professional would charge $800 - $4000 for a business logo, and up to $50,000 for a full corporate identity package complete with focus groups, etc. etc.

$15 an hour is way too low.

Here's a way of calculating an hourly rate:
How much per year do you want to make, if you were working this fulltime?

Say that's $50,000. Now add about 30% for taxes and expenses, so $75,000

Now divide that by 1200 = $62.50 per hour. That's the bare minimum you would have to charge to put $4K per month in your pocket. A self employed contractor can bill 1000 - 1200 hours per year, the rest is spent on non-billable activities.
 
CanadaRAM said:
A professional would charge $800 - $4000 for a business logo, and up to $50,000 for a full corporate identity package complete with focus groups, etc. etc.

$15 an hour is way too low.

Here's a way of calculating an hourly rate:
How much per year do you want to make, if you were working this fulltime?

Say that's $50,000. Now add about 30% for taxes and expenses, so $75,000

Now divide that by 1200 = $62.50 per hour. That's the bare minimum you would have to charge to put $4K per month in your pocket. A self employed contractor can bill 1000 - 1200 hours per year, the rest is spent on non-billable activities.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice. I was going off of complete speculation on the amounts and you cleared it up a lot.

Just wondering if anyone else will agree/disagree with the amounts that CanadaRAM has stated?
 
I don't disagree with his figures. However, you are a student and this is your first job, so I wouldn't think standard rates necessarily apply -- that's up to you. I'd probably charge somewhat less if you want the work to put something in your portfolio, although if you think you're ready to charge full rates, by all means do so. Just remember people who charge full rates usually have an impressive portfolio, proper professional equipment (computers, high-end printers and scanners, art supplies, etc.), and a good looking web site, and at the higher end even office and meeting space, receptionist, assistants, fax and copier machines, etc. Those things cost money which you can pass on to your clients when you're at that level.

Your client is also a family member, which can complicate things, be very careful about that.
 
HiRez said:
I don't disagree with his figures. However, you are a student and this is your first job, so I wouldn't think standard rates necessarily apply -- that's up to you. I'd probably charge somewhat less if you want the work to put something in your portfolio, although if you think you're ready to charge full rates, by all means do so. Just remember people who charge full rates usually have an impressive portfolio, proper professional equipment (computers, high-end printers and scanners, art supplies, etc.), and a good looking web site, and at the higher end even office and meeting space, receptionist, assistants, fax and copier machines, etc. Those things cost money which you can pass on to your clients when you're at that level.

Your client is also a family member, which can complicate things, be very careful about that.
Click to expand...

By no means was I going to charge full price for this. I just wanted to make sure that the amounts were fairly accurate that I would be basing my price off of.
 
well, I'm not saying this is what i charge, cause i would never do that on this thread, but i've heard of some Graphic Design Classmates charging $50 an hour for their work, and just billing it by the hour. That's what i would go off of. There is also a really good book for this, called Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. you should check it out. It's a good read.

-JE
 
"What the market will bear"

What to charge is a dicey question, not to mention as someone brought up not that long ago in a similarly-topiced thread, it could be considered against the law in the US! :eek:

That being said ....

As a student, $150 is probably a decent rate, considering your (assumed) level of expertise ... Just don't get shafted by a bunch of revisions.
 
oscuh said:
"What the market will bear"

What to charge is a dicey question, not to mention as someone brought up not that long ago in a similarly-topiced thread, it could be considered against the law in the US! :eek:

That being said ....

As a student, $150 is probably a decent rate, considering your (assumed) level of expertise ... Just don't get shafted by a bunch of revisions.
Click to expand...

I don't think that i need to worry about getting shafted. My brother-in-law is the guy who paid my younger sister $10/hr to babysit while my older sister (his wife) was still home working around the house.

I will look into that book, thanks for the suggestion.
 
CanadaRAM said:
$15 an hour is way too low.

Here's a way of calculating an hourly rate:
How much per year do you want to make, if you were working this fulltime?

Say that's $50,000. Now add about 30% for taxes and expenses, so $75,000

Now divide that by 1200 = $62.50 per hour. That's the bare minimum you would have to charge to put $4K per month in your pocket. A self employed contractor can bill 1000 - 1200 hours per year, the rest is spent on non-billable activities.
Click to expand...

thats a good way for professionals to calculate a rate, but he is a student, and no way in hell anyone would (or should) pay those numbers to a student.

when i was a student i consistently got $25/hour.

10 hours is not nearly enough time to properly develop a good logo.
 
Just wondering didn't someone posted some link with this that had a spreadsheet and database of information on how much freelancers make and ways of calculating this?
 
CanadaRAM said:
A professional would charge $800 - $4000 for a business logo, and up to $50,000 for a full corporate identity package complete with focus groups, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

I just did a logo for a group that needed a new logo design. With that said since this logo would be used for everything, i.e. official main logo for one (it will be reconized by all), advertising, fund-raisers, promotions, merchandise, attracting sponsors and so on… I felt that my range was a good place to start. Sorry but it's in the above ballpark^^^ from CanadaRAM I just won't say either on the board.
Most places understand (doesn't mean they wish to pay out $$$) that the logo is what people see them as, such as a BMW, Ford and a MS logo does for those companies. I would say $1500 to start for a very well trained student or anyone just starting out.
 
GAG is GOOD

Yes, the Graphic Artist's Guild Pricing and Ethics Guide is great. It covers all matters legal and pricing. One of the things you'll find in it is the idea of exposure-based pricing, meaning "How much will the design in question be exposed to the public?" An office memo letterhead design will not get much exposure - just inner-office communications, but an outdoor billboard advertisement for the same company will get strong exposure to thousands of people, thereby bringing in lots of business to the client. The amount of business that your design brings to your client can determine how much you charge your client to make the design.

Except for family.

I actually don't charge close family members or in-laws. They always insist on paying, and I let them, but I don't charge them any kind of official rate. That's entirely my call to make as a business owner, so you'll have to decide what to do with that. Just remember that family lasts forever, so if you can extend blessing in this scenario, it may pay you back later on in non-monetary ways! Please don't take that as being manipulative; rather I see it as being wise and gracious.
 
For a student I would say $25/hr is reasonable and then you could always knock 10-15% off the total for a discount for being family.
 
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