More businesses and individuals embrace the creative industry and show their impressive designs. Design work in these areas is increasingly in demand from logo design and website design to photography and branding.
Branding is an essential aspect for businesses, so clients easily identify with what the company is about. Creativity in this space pays the bills. This means that as a designer, the work you do will contribute significantly to a business’s overall branding strategy.
However, as a creative, one of the most puzzling things to figure out is where your pricing point should range. The price points will differ depending on your respective design fields and the factors you need to consider when working.
Website Design
Websites are a very crucial element when it comes to the success of a business. However, that does not mean that any website will do.
Some will perform better compared to others. This is why businesses prefer working with website designers who know what they are doing and can deliver results.
As a website designer, you have to ensure that you price yourself right to ensure that you fully appreciate the work you put in. Here are a few factors you should consider when determining your prices.
Initial Investment
You need to ensure that you purchase a domain, plugins, and possibly a website theme that will be used. Some businesses will take care of this and let you come in after.
However, most businesses have no idea where to start, so you need to ensure you factor this in. Include all the cash you’ll spend out of pocket on this project and charge your client accordingly.
Time Spent
The time you spend on a website design project will differ depending on your client’s requirements. With this, you need to ensure that you factor in all the time you spend on the project. Factor in the time spent looking for plugins, images, liaising with your client, and time spent designing the website.
Additional Features and Perks
As a designer, your client may need additional features on their website, depending on your level of expertise. For instance, adding a functional e-commerce shop on the website. If this is something you can pull off, then be sure to factor it into your pricing decisions.
Pricing Model for Website Design
Depending on the factors you choose to pay attention to, pricing your designs should be a bit easier. With this, you have the option of either getting paid with an hourly rate or have a fixed price on the project.
Typically, a website designer’s hourly rate ranges from $50 to $200. This big price difference results from the duties you are willing to take on.
$50 an hour works for the design process only while $200 an hour will include web development and design work.
At a fixed price, a web designer can earn anywhere from $5000 to $10000. This again depends on the duties you take up as the designer. You need to consider what type of website you are designing. If the website has low pages and is for a local business, you will want to charge conservatively. If the website is a 20,000 page eCommerce website, you have room to negotiate a high-rate.
If you want to appeal more to prospective clients and fetch the higher rates though, having a website design portfolio that stands out is essential.
Photography
Photography is essential when it comes to business branding, personal branding, and other visual aspects of life. As a photographer, having quality clients promotes your work and helps you grow further.
However, if your pricing is unfavorably too high, you risk losing your clients. On the other hand, if you price your work too low, you end up devaluing your work and getting less than you deserve. Here are a few factors you should consider when pricing to avoid any of these.
Costs Incurred When Running a Photography Business
Like any other craft, photography is a business that requires an initial investment and features recurring payments. You need to ensure that you note down all the costs you incur when running your business. Consider your equipment, office space, marketing fees, and other additional business areas.
Time Taken to Complete Your Work
Time is one of the essential aspects you need to consider when determining your prices. You need to clearly understand how much time you’ll spend on a particular project.
Factor in any meetings with clients, time spent taking quality shots, and the post-production process. Additionally, remember to consider any delays and mishaps that could derail your progress and cushion yourself.
Quality of Work and Expertise
For this, you need to evaluate your work and be brutally honest with yourself. Consider the results you present to your clients and determine their quality. Additionally, pay attention to your choice of equipment.
For instance, a professional photographer with top-notch photography equipment and the best editing software will always produce better results. With this, you find that such a photographer can easily manage to charge a premium price for their services.
Pricing Models in Photography
When it comes to pricing your photography business, you need to think of the kind of clients you’ll be working with. Working on a branding project with a company will require you to charge differently from covering a wedding. Here a few pricing tiers for you to consider.
$100 Photography Sessions
This pricing is best suited for entry-level photographers who are skilled but just starting in the industry. It is a great price that allows them to work with direct clients and build their portfolio in the process. Once they are at a better point with their experience, they can then charge higher.
$200+ Photography Sessions
Charging over $200 per image or hour is a step up from the entry-level photographers. This pricing caters to professional photographers who now have a portfolio they can use to sell their services.
$500+ Photography Sessions
Getting to a point where you charge over $500 to $1000 in one photography session is an excellent achievement. This pricing tier is best suitable for top professional photographers who have steadily built their experience. Having an impressive portfolio will help you land such high pay clients.
$1000+ Photography Sessions
Charging $1000 or more in one photography session is the ultimate goal. This pricing range caters to an elite photographer who has made a name for themselves. For this, you need to ensure that you have worked and delivered on big projects before. You’ll also need to target clients who can afford this.
Logo Design
Logo design is essential for businesses, given that it contributes significantly to their branding. This is why companies are increasingly becoming more aware of their logos and investing more towards their branding. For instance, many businesses are turning to online logo maker tools to create professional and memorable logos for their brands.
As a designer who wants to take advantage of this shift and provides amazing logos, setting the ideal logo design cost may be a bit daunting. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Here are a few factors you should consider when pricing your designs.
Level of Expertise
The first thing to consider is your level of expertise and the quality of work you bring to the table. If you are an expert in the field, you should be charging more compared to beginners. To facilitate this, you should consider having a portfolio that clearly shows your experience.
Time Spent
If you want to work on an hourly rate and have agreed with your clients, tracking the time you spend on the project is crucial. This will help determine how much you’ll make once you are done with the project.
Additionally, if you are working on the project with a fixed price, you should consider the time you’ll spend and any delays that may come in the way. This will ensure that you don’t charge too little for your designs.
Deliverables
Before starting any project, you need to ensure that you get clear with your client on what is expected of you. Figure out the work scope and what you are expected to deliver after you are done with the project. This will help you ensure that you are working with numbers that are in your favor.
Pricing Model for Logo Designs
Pricing your logo designs can be done in different tiers. Each of these will require a different set of experience, expertise, and will also attract different clients.
$ 100+ Logo Designs
If you are a beginner in the logo design business, this is a great pricing point to start with. This is a fair price for both you and your client provided you produce quality results. Working on your logos will give you the desired experience and portfolio to charge higher.
$1000+ Logo Designs
This pricing tier caters to designers who have worked on their crafts and gained great experience. For this, you need to ensure that you target the right clients who have such a budget to work with.
$10,000+ Logo Designs
These logo designs will most likely feature a team of experts working to provide the best to their clients. At most times, such a price point will attract big businesses and companies that have the budget to work with.
Conclusion
When it comes to pricing your design work, you should consider a few factors and determine how they affect your prices. Obviously, as a designer, you don’t have to charge too low even as a beginner.
Aiming to get to the higher-paying tiers is always the goal. However, this can only happen if you dedicate your time to producing fantastic work, improving your skill, and getting the right clients.
