Freelance Design Rates (2019)
We’re rethinking the way we pay our [a] team. That starts with questioning a few things.
Here's how we operate today—
Rates
We'll propose on a project-by-project base. The same way we do with our other design pals. Each project is different and we therefore don't have a fixed hourly rate.
You are your own business. When you take a brief it's up to you to ensure that it's profitable for you. That said we would like to think that you earn a fair amount for your skills.
We assume* that our budgets allow you to earn approximately—
- Artworking £25-35 hourly
- Design/layout £45-65 hourly
- Brand design - £55-75 hourly
*These are fuzzy numbers because we all know that it never works quite like that. In practise 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**.
**course that'll be less once you've generated an invoice, taken a coffee break etc
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 too.
Transparency
We're proud of the freelancers 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. 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 BD
Clearly you're not afraid of putting yourself out there. We would be happy to discuss joint pitches if that's still something you're keen on.
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 a joint pitch.
The real deal
Hourly rates are useless. But they can be good tools to judge your profitability.
Day rates are bullshit. Who works a 7.5 hour day every day right?
To accurately price you must cost on value. There are whole books on that.