For those who are starting to work as a freelance designer, almost always this question pops up: How much should I charge for a design? If there is one thing that is quite hard to put a price to – it is creative outputs. There is really no set value, and the prices vary depending on the artist and the client. It’s hard to equate in numbers the creative process and the hours of work you put in creating the logo.

However, there are a few things that you should consider when deciding the rate for your logo design.

Design Pricing Formula

To start, graphic designer and brand consultant David Airey shared his formula for his pricing. The components of his formula is something that you could follow and adopt to your own pricing.

Level of Expertise + Project Specification + Turnaround Time + Level of Demand + Current Economy + Physical Location = Total Cost

Expertise

Your expertise and skills play a big part in determining your rate. The only way to determine this is to be honest with yourself – how much talent you’ve got, and how much work have you put into improving your craft. If you’re a newbie designer, how would you compare to someone who has been in the industry for several years now? Obviously, you should be charging less for a logo design than someone like that.

Project Specification

Each logo design that you will be doing is different from each other. Some would want a simple design, while some tend to be more complicated. Of course, simpler designs will cost less than designs with more specifications. Other things you should also consider are the revisions of your designs, as well as if you’re going to provide your client several logo designs to choose from. The larger the scope of work, the higher the price.

Turnaround Time

How fast you can produce your logo design also plays a part in pricing. The faster your logo design is needed by the client, the higher your charge should be. Of course, even though you can do a quick turnaround, you should never let the quality of your designs suffer.

Level of Demand

We also follow the law of demand in determining rates for designs. The higher the demand, the higher the price should be. If the supply of work you can provide is not meeting the demand, your price will be lower than the value you deserve. However, if work is continuously coming in – making you busy for the next few months, then you should charge higher.

Current Economy

Most of the time, you wouldn’t be taking this into consideration. However, if you happen to find a project that you really want to work on but the client’s country’s current economy is not in a good state, you can consider lowering your rate.

Physical Location

Communication with a client is usually done online, especially if you’re in different sides of the world. However, there will be certain situations where clients may be reluctant to work with you because of this. David Airey shares that the one time he did experience this, how much he charged wasn’t affected; however, how much the client was willing to pay was.

Another thing to consider: Client

This is not part of the formula mentioned above. However, you should also consider the kind of client you will be dealing with in your projects. A big company or established organization is an opportunity for you to raise your rates up. These are groups that (most of the time) money wouldn’t be an issue. If your quote is something too low, they may think twice about hiring you. However, if your client is just a small business or a startup, you can take that into consideration and make your rates a bit lower compared to if you’re pitching to a big company.

Methods of Pricing

There are two ways you could determine your pricing. The first one is hourly-based pricing where you determine your rates based on how long you’ve worked on the design. Basically, this is when the more you work, the more you make. Creating a logo design goes through a process: research, brainstorming, creating mockups, presentations, revisions, and the final product. While it is possible to charge your clients on an hourly basis, it’s not ideal. Hourly rates don’t increase and moreover, there will be times where a client will need a design ASAP.

Another method of pricing is value-based pricing where the amount you charge for your logo design is based on the value your client will receive from your design. For any company or business, your logo design holds a lot of value as it is a big part of their brand identity – this is even more true for big-name brands. The long-term benefits your client gets from your design is equal to the value of your design. Furthermore, remember that the logo is not used once only. Clients will use them on their social media pages, merchandise, business cards, and more. So take that into consideration when setting your prices.

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