[a] freelance process + rates for 2024
[Last significant update: June 2024]
How we collaborate with freelance associates
By which we mean other self-employed creative types (and) freelancers.
We’re determined that our collaborators are paid fairly, in full and on time.
We consider how freelancers get paid and what we can afford to pay them. We attempt to communicate rates between January-April and publish them by January of the same year. This page is rarely the most up to date source and is intended as a guide only.
It’s important to us that our parters are credited for their work.
This might simply mean freedom to celebrate their involvement themselves or through [a] shoutout. Usually it means credit on projects when they are promoted by us, on social media, on this website and through word of mouth.
How we operate
Rates
We'll typically propose on a project-by-project basis. The same way we do with our other design pals. Each project is different and we therefore don't have a fixed hourly rate for ourselves or the people who work with us.
Freelance rates
Self-employed people are their own businesses.
When a freelancer takes on a brief it's up to them to ensure that it's profitable. That said, we would like to think that our associates earn a fair amount for their skills.
We intend* that our budgets allow approximate** earnings of—
• Artworking or ‘painting by numbers’ - £35+ (hour)
• Design or creative £50+ (hour)
• Brand design £80 (hour)
*These are fuzzy numbers because we all know that it never works quite like that. In practice we would propose a brief and a budget. If you can turn work around in an hour but the budget is £300 then you would get a £300 hour rate**.
**Of course, we can’t account for time spent on generating an invoice, taking a coffee break and creating a folio piece.
Our concern is that designers are prone to overdeliver. We're the same. So if you ever think you need more time or money we would rather hear that sooner rather than later. We can often revisit our budget or negotiate with the client and work around something.
We can pay freelancers deposits upfront but don't have a flat percentage for this. Happy to discuss stage invoicing etc on a case-by-case basis.
TAX/VAT/Contracts:
We’ll discuss that separately. We work with creative associates from around the world. And we’re not financial advisors!
Transparency
We're proud of the talented partners who choose to work with us. What that means is that we don't hide who you are, and in many cases will introduce you directly to our clients. We’re also keen to highlight the freelancers who work with us on this website if that suits them.
There's a perceived risk there, in that a freelancer might poach a client...
We've been lucky so far. But sooner or later we might well lose a client to one of the freelancers we work with. It goes without saying that we would not continue to work with that freelancer if they 'poached' the client.
Collaborative pitching and recommendations
Clearly, you're not afraid of putting yourself out there. We would be happy to discuss joint pitches.
When we see a project that isn’t right for us, we are glad to refer freelancers or recommend our competitors!
Hire us
Collaboration is a two-way street. If you ever wanted to bring us in on one of your projects we would be happy to support you with strategy and project management or as part of a joint pitch.
We don’t typically base our proposals on time spent (or time sheets).
Hourly rates are little use to us. Though they can be good tools to judge profitability and judge capacity.
Day rates are a joke.
Who works for 7.5 productive hours every day?
We imagine an eight hour day might include six hours ‘on the tools’ (be that using software, pencils or a spreadsheet).
To accurately price, we base our fees on value and budget. There are entire books on that.
Whilst we work with freelancers who choose to bill for time we’ll always consider what that means to them.
Brand consultant, facilitator and glorified project manager.
This won’t work: £120 day rates.
Somewhere out there is an odd idea. It’s about money.
I keep hearing a particular figure. It must mean something to somebody—I think I hate it.
£120.00 day rates
It sounds like a lot doesn’t it?
Here are a few things that I could spend £120 pounds on—
maybe half of a games console
some really nice trainers
a month or two of design software subscriptions
an annual website plan
Prepare yourself for some dodgy numbers…
If you charge £30 an hour and work 7 hours a day you’ll charge £210 a day.
We’ll work from there. So you’ve hit a living wage income right? Only kind of.
Assuming you work for 250 working day’s in one year (nice one), and every client pays you on time then you have turned over £52,000.
But all you have done is worked.
You have fixed monthly expenses that come out of this fantastical income. Let’s say those expenses total an annual cost of £1200 (£100 month).
Then you have annual renewal fees which also come off. These include your marketing costs, accountancy fees, plus insurances and any professional bodies you’re a member of. You’ll also be putting some money away for captiat expenditure (I’m still saving for a fancy computer moniter).
Say you pay yourself £30,000 and pay the tax man 20% of that.
Around £10k might stay in the bank. We all need a rainy day fund and that’s no different for a business account.
If your take home after tax is around £24,000 then—
Can you afford to thrive?
How will you grow?
How will you find time to promote your work or attract new business?
What if you are sick, or need to support a loved one?
Obviously some people will make do on this kind of income. But those figures assume that you don’t end up coming down on price due to one client buying your time in bulk.
If you start at £30 an hour or £200 a day then you surely have no room to discount further?
None of us set out to work for ourselves expecting to work harder and for less money than in traditional employment.
So, what should you charge?
Probabably a little more than £200 a day.
How much more?
I probably can’t legally say that!
It’s a tough world out there. Don’t make it tougher!
Stew
Out of 'Office' Summer 2020 Update
Ah holidays, remember them?
Well Stew’s on one and where he’s going, there isn’t any signal.
If you have a project which is ongoing don’t worry.
In a rush?
If you have an urgent requirement for work please do not hesitate to contact your regular designer (you know who they are). If that just won’t do please email holidays@a-design.agency and we’ll see what we can do to help.