NOW how much would you pay?

How much do you think you are worth? Seriously! I ask myself this question a lot, not because I'm trying to be philosophical but because I am in a business where I charge a rate for my services. Sometimes I charge more, sometimes less, but always an amount I feel is fair for the work I am doing. Just like I won't take a job designing a 12 page catalog for $25 (Don't laugh...this has happened!), I also won't turn around and charge someone $300 to design a one page flyer that took me an hour to produce. One of the reasons why I end up with customers use me time and time again is that I treat everyone fairly, don't rip people off, and provide them a quality design that they (and I) can be proud of. Or at least that's the goal. Could I make more if I charged more? Maybe. But thus far, I've been very fortunate, and in the year that I have been making a serious, true blue effort to find more freelance clients, I've amassed quite a nice base of "regular" customers and generated a lot of referrals and other work based on word of mouth. I'm always so flattered when someone emails me and says "Hey, my friend so and so says you do nice work, etc and I should call you..." So starting from basically nothing, I would say whatever I am doing must be right.

It's times like these when I think...after almost 10 years of doing graphics and working for other people, making THEM money...why the hell didn't get up off my tookus sooner and get some more of my OWN clients? Hmm. Not sure. Working a full time job in addition to freelancing takes a lot out of you. I should know...I do it every single day. I suppose all that matters now is that I'm doing it...and doing it well.

But I digress. The purpose of this post was actually something different. I read a lot of blogs and message boards every day...some design related, some not. About a week ago, I was reading a message board at a very well known design publication's web site. There was a discussion going on about rates and cheap clients who only want to pay $50 for a logo design. I think everyone pretty much agreed that this is not the kind of client you want, because honestly...that's not a fair price for something that takes as much work and thought as a logo. But someone brought up a very valid point here and they got sort of flamed for it...and I hated to admit it, but I though they were right. The point was this: one person brought up that a fee or rate might depend on the level of experience of the designer doing the work, and did people think it was really fair for someone who is just out of school with no real experience to demand $300 for a logo design and get mad when the client didn't want to pay that. One person chimed in that they felt that YES, that student should get that rate, and several others agreed, one even being sort of nasty to the person who had asked. I didn't comment, just lurked.

I hate to say it...that person who thinks $300 for a student's work is too much...has a valid point. The truth is, when you are first starting out...your lack of experience can put you at a serious disadvantage from someone who has been there, done that and designed a t-shirt for it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen work done for my clients by designers of all kinds or even some big agencies which screams AMATEUR. Sloppy work, work that isn't formatted for printing, complicated "design" elements that interfere with the client's message...I've seen it all.

I'm sorry but if you are just out of school and have never prepped a job for print, I'm willing to bet you are going to make mistakes. I know I certainly made my share. You can be the best student in your class, but there is no degree hanging on the wall that can take the place of real, in the trenches experience. Does this mean you don't deserve to get paid? Of course not. But how large is your ego really that you think you can charge an outrageous amount of money for your work, when you know that's not really what it's worth? You might get the client this time, but you can bet that person won't return to you for future jobs. Nobody wants to feel taken advantage of. Charging unrealistic rates only makes the price of someone with reality check look all the better. And let's face it...I know how long it takes to design a piece of advertising, or a logo, or a brochure. I base my rate on that. If you are slow and it takes you 6 hours to do these, then you need to learn to work faster. Don't punish your client for that. It will only come back to haunt you in the end.

On the flip side of that arguement, I don't think that anybody, student or not, should get paid $50 for a logo design. When you are hiring someone to do a creative job for you (non designers...I'm talking to you) then demand to see a portfolio. Even someone who is a savant can tell you that in simple terms, something looks good or it doesn't. Plain and simple. You can tell if a person is creative or not by looking at their work. Even if you claim to "know nothing about art or advertising" or "Don't know what good design looks like". You do. You just don't realize it yet.

Don't insult someone by offering them what even you know is a bargain basement rate. If you they are charging you what you feel is too much, do a little cost comparison. That ought to give you a guideline on what the service you are looking to have done should cost. Be willing to work with people on the rate - designers this means you too. Employers: most people will negotiate because they would rather have the job for $20 less than planned in contrast to not having the job at all.

See what a simple world this would be if people would just listen to me? :) I'm totally kidding...but somewhere deep inside, overpriced designer who might be reading this...you know I have a point.

OK off the soap box now. Happy 4th of July everybody!