I must say, with all the fretting I have been experiencing as of late, I feel pretty good right now. Being a freelance graphic designer makes me, as the designer, hold myself accountable for everything! That is easier said than done. The rewarding feeling that lingers when I hand a client a finished product that they love makes the process very worthwhile. It also builds valuable knowledge, lessons, and skills that become stronger in the process.
With constant perseverance and a daily "I will finish" attitude I completed my most recent project. It is a logo for a plumbing company called "Doc Thompson Plumbing Co." The original logo drawing was created by talented local Columbus artist, and recent Ohio State University graduate, Jared Lindenau.
Important things that I learned in the process of creating this logo.
I always need to give myself as much time as possible.
As much as I think I can easily create a few sketches from start to finish, it takes time for the creative process to take hold and lead to complete idea formulation. Adding a look and a feel to any project is a challenge. I also need to make sure there is enough time to play around with different design strategies and techniques.
Incorporate the many roles you play into the base price.
Being a freelance designer takes practice. There is a whole lists of hats that it is necessary to wear, including salesperson, artist, designer, bookkeeper, billing agent, customer service representative, secretary, and so on. Those are all time consuming aspects that any one person doing any one of those activities would expect to be compensated for, so why not you? Starting off in my career I have been charging an hourly fee. I feel as though that is slightly off-putting for clients because and hourly fee to them is traveling into the unknown. Now that I have a few projects under my belt, I have familiarized myself with how long they take me while also taking into account all of the different roles I play. That is beginning to allow me to formulate a better hypothesis in how much the total charge is going to be for the clients. Therefore, it allows me to give clients a total price for the project in the very beginning of our working relationship.
Tie inevitable work into the initial price.
During the transfer of this project from the original artist to me, the graphic designer, there ended up being a small amount of confusion that led to a massive amount of work. The artist was personally paid by the client. Henceforth, the artist, Jared, hand transferred the design to me. I assumed that the design was 100% approved by the client. I continued on to scan, vectorize, color, export, and deliver the final product to the client. After completing my task and sending the client the final image, the client the said that a piece of the logo needed to look completely different. Therefore I had to start from scratch on that singular aspect of the logo. In this case, it was the wrench. I ended up redrawing the wrench myself, scanning, vectorizing and reformatting the entire logo to fit the client's needs. Had I met with the client prior to diving into my work, I could have potentially saved the client and myself time and confusion.
Charge a little more for inevitably more.
The opinion that these experiences are assisting in formulating are that it may be a good strategy to quote clients a price that includes one extra reformatting of work to the client's particular tastes and liking. It is very likely to happen. I mean, most drinks at restaurants already have the free refill built into the price whether the customer utilizes it or not. Why not save yourself as the designer the frustration of having to break it to the client that you need more money and look like the good guy when there is no extra fee for a reformatting? Plus, it almost makes up for playing every role in the book.
I fall more and more in love with graphic design every day. It is highly frustrating and challenging yet highly rewarding. I am very thankful for the skill and I would like to send Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for your support.
What are some ways you charge your clients and how do those work out for you?
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