So someone needs a logo, video, website, or ad and you are a ninja in Adobe?
Great! sounds like you have a client on the line.
I have recently got some sound advice on how this should work and I feel it's worth sharing. Not all your customers and clients are going to realize what is involved with the projects you bring to the table.
This is especially true in logo design and things where simplicity rule as most effective. Editing video is another place where people tend to lose touch with what is involved.
So here is the meat and bones of what I have learned:
* Charge fairly, for what you are worth, and be up front about potential future fluctuations in price.
* Have your client bring you examples of what they like and don't like. This can save you hours of guessing and frustration.
* You are getting paid to deliver what your client wants, but don't bring proposals you hate. This work will be a rolling advertisement for you as a designer too.
* Your computer is running, is the meter? Billing for time rendering animation and video is not only common place, it is essential. Especially in a world of HiDef Video production. Even the latest I7 processors with scads of Ram (which you laid out scads of overhead for) can take hours to render. This is time that you could be working on other clients projects.
* Don't always try to under cut the competition. Production houses and Ad agencies charge what they do for a number of reasons. Often there is a formula behind it. A couple of people operating out of their home may be able to go a little cheaper, but keep your eyes looking forward. Are you going to want to do this job, for this price, a year from now? I have found myself in this position for a couple of clients at this point. I am giving them a very sweet deal, but in my rush to secure the job and make a little income, I went too cheap.... now I am all but doing their work for free and renegotiating a price after the fact is much harder than before you start. (perhaps make it clear you are doing an introductory deal)
Billing for ad creation, logo design, and video editing is a little softer field than pricing your art. There seems to be a lot of "depends" in the equation. Solidify things as much as possible by estimating how many hours you will have in, how much overhead, and limit the number of revisions in the deal.
If you have unlimited revisions..... you will find a client to use the "unlimited" number up.
When doing logo design and other advertising, keep the old files on hand.
How simple is the Nike logo?
A client needs to understand that just because the end result is simple, it is not a simple process to get there. If you look at the Nike swoosh, or Adidas lines, yes someone could draw that in a few seconds....
You will find clients who expect you to bill them for how long it takes to draw that logo. In their mind, that's all there is to it.
Justify your price with your research, color choice, design, discarded designs.
Lack of communication between creator and buyer can make for some sour times.
I have made the mistake myself, and that is why I think it is important to share it with my creative followers here and on facebook, twitter, wherever.
I was under the impression that someone with experience in advertising, video and film wouldn't need an itemization of the work involved. I could not have been more wrong.
I am now working on revising my invoices to allow for itemization of billing so no one feels shorted, and no one feels over extended. While this isn't always common place, the "small guy" in a smaller creative operation needs to stand apart from the giants like Time Warner who turn out 30 second ads for thousands upon thousands of dollars... with invoices not itemized.
So like fine art, here is my personal equation (-ish) for commercial creative work.
# of hours working on the project -estimated (the clearer the client is and more samples they have of like / dislike can shorten this), + account for agreed number of revisions, overhead? (Will I need to print samples? + studio overhead), + Uncle Sam %, + additional 15% as a buffer.
This all seems quite soft and it is. Many ad houses also look at their clients. How much are they worth? what are they going to do with the product? are they a non-profit? is there potential connections in this job?
A constant monthly deal needs to be revisited yearly, and agree to that up front. This way if you are losing on the deal, you are only losing for a year. Those on-going jobs are great for consistency, but not if you are losing money on them.
(more to come later)
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