Formal design education provides a supportive learning environment that motivates and inspires all the while refining the art of effective use of type and image. Think about your design education for a moment. Do you recall discussing the business of design? Chances are you’re going to take on consulting/freelance design work at some point in your professional career. You’re an excellent designer and have the creativity side of design down. What good is being an effective visual communicator if you don’t have the skills to work with others, effectively promote your business or build your client/designer relationships? Is your design business savvy up to snuff? I’ve blogged about the importance of client relations before and this post is somewhat branching off from that discussion. For me, one of the most confusing aspects of design is the actual process of specing out and quoting a design job. Am I alone in this experience?
Below is a basic breakdown outlining how I quote a design job.
Project Orientation
The first step when beginning a new project is meeting with the client to gain a clear understanding of what the project entails. The purpose of this “brain dump” is to determine what the client needs and what you are being asked to do. (1)
Key issues addressed in the project orientation phase:
• A briefing on the project
• Project goals and objectives
• Client’s business goals
• Role of the project in the client’s broader plan
• Identification of the audience
• Competitive analysis
• Market research
• Budget
• Schedule and deadline
• Other parameters
The purpose of the initial brain dump is to gather as much insight as possible. You need to clearly understand parameters of the project so you can properly spec out the pay rate, time and amount of work that needs to be completed.
Use a Contract
Education.yahoo.com defines a contract as an agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law. The purpose of a contract is to clarify all aspects of the job and clearly set expectations for both parties. In this case, I’m talking specifically about the designer (you) and the client.
So what should go into a contract? Good question! Below are basics you should consider including in a design contract:
• Clear breakdown of the project details
• Pay rate
• Payment schedule
• Project timeline (concept presentation date, revision dates, final presentation date and printing time)
• Exact number of initial concepts to be presented
• Exact number of rounds of revisions after initial concept presentation
• Delivery date of final designs
Let’s go through some of the bullet points listed above in greater detail:
• Clear breakdown of the project details
This is a basic breakdown of what was discussed during the project orientation meeting. Including this section in the contract offers the client a chance to review what was discussed during the brain dump and affords them the opportunity to make edits/revisions to the project scope at the onset of the project as opposed to during the middle of it. You want to ensure a project doesn’t change course (scope) in the middle of development.
• Pay rate
Admittedly, this one is a tricky one to nail down. Before discussing pay rate have a clear understanding of two items:
1. Know your worth.
1. Know your worth.
How much experience do you have? Have you been working in the field for ten years or are you right out of school? What do you bring to the creative table? Have a clear understanding of your abilities and experience. If you value what you do, your client will too. The client wants to get the best work at the best price. You want to do the best work at the best price. You both need to determine an agreeable amount.
Are there benefits to taking a lesser amount for the work? Concepting and developing an advertising campaign resulting in the campaign running nationally and winning design awards might be worth taking a pay cut for. The exposure and resulting additional work from the initial job might be a good payoff in the end. Perhaps you’re a new designer and gaining the experience is more important than higher pay. The more industry work you get, the more experience you gain and the more you can charge.
2. Know your market.
2. Know your market.
Understand the price range your geographic market will bear. You can charge more for a job in New York City than in Monroe, Louisiana. The cost of living in New York City warrants the extra payment for the job. A designer earning $30,000 in Monroe, Louisiana would need to earn $70,000 to maintain the same standard of living in New York, New York. Housing will cost 366% more (Yes, 366% more, that was not a typo!), groceries will cost 61% more, utilities will cost 90% more, transportation will cost 23% more, healthcare will cost 36% more. (2) See my point?
Hourly rate or a one lump sum?
If going the route of hourly, try your best to estimate the total hours it’ll take to complete the job at the onset of the project. State this time amount in the contract for this will establish expectation on the client’s part. They’ll have a clear idea of how much the design services will cost at the beginning as opposed to falling on the floor after they receive a large bill at the end.
There is nothing more stressful than trying to determine how long your creative process is going to take prior to even doing any of it! Break down the different aspects of the job into subsections and calculate from there. How long will it take to do your research? How long for concepting and thumbnails? Final development? Don’t forget about prepping files for the printer. All of the different portions of the design process need to be factored in to give you an idea of how long (in hours) the job will take. Chances are you’ll be off the first few times you attempt to do this. In fact, I still haven’t worked out all of the kinks myself. The more you understand how you create and the time it takes to create the easier this will become. I often put a clause in my contracts that state if I'm getting close to the projected hourly amount I’ll notify the client so they are aware of this.
Sometimes the client is uncomfortable with an hourly rate and prefers a single dollar amount. This is calculated pretty much the same way as the hourly is above. The only difference is you determine the rate and project time and formulate a dollar amount.
• Payment schedule
I’ve learned my lesson on this one! Too many times I’ve done work, delivered as promised and payment is either delayed or never sent.
I state in my contracts: “One half of the total project cost is requested upon project start as a non-refundable down payment. The balance is required within 30 days of project completion.”
This works out to 50% up front and 50% upon delivery. You can feel confident going into the project that you’ll at least get paid for half of the job if the client flakes and doesn’t pay at the end.
• Project timeline
Provide actual dates for your concept presentation, revisions, final presentation and delivery to the printer in the contract. Listing dates keeps the project on schedule and sets up clear expectations for the client. Every day a part of the process is delayed, the final delivery date is delayed. This of course, forces you to be proactive about hitting those dates, but also forces the client to make decisions in a timely manner.
In a previous blog post, (http://dezignrogue.blogspot.com/2011/10/good-design-is-in-details.html) I wrote this industry is focused on deadlines and you’re expected to execute and present extremely high-level concepts/designs in a very short amount of time. When designing, I tell myself jobs are due the day before the agreed due date with the client. It’s a mental deadline trick I play on myself that not only ensures I won't miss a deadline but also makes me look like a design super star by delivering designs prior to the expected delivery date.
• List the exact number of initial concepts that will be presented
Clearly specify how many design versions/concepts will be presented to the client in the contract. If developing a logo, I state I’ll present three distinct versions for client review. That being said, I often walk into that presentation with no less than six distinct symbols. The client is clearly expecting to see three as per the contract and I offer six. This helps to exceed client expectations set by the contract making me look like a design superstar!
• List the exact number of rounds of revisions the client receives after the initial concept presentation
Expect and anticipate edits from your client. If you listened to their needs, did your research, developed solutions that fulfill their communication needs there won’t be too many edits and revisions. I include the exact number of revisions the client receives for the quoted price in all of my contracts. A client can nickel and dime you to death with constant revisions. The more edits you are asked to make, the more time you are working on the project and less amount you are paid in the end. Listing an exact number of revisions in the original quote forces the client to be more organized in compiling their edits and getting them to you. It also prevents them from making needless changes.
This is what I state in my contracts about revisions: “The final project estimate is strictly based on the scope of work outlined in the contract. Additional design edits/revisions beyond the two revisions outlined in the contract will be billed at an hourly rate of $XX.”
The client is free to make as many adjustments/edits as they wish with the understanding that the first two rounds are included in the quote and any additional revisions are added to the final price.
• Delivery date of final designs
You formulated a timeline at the onset of the project. If you and your client stick to the deadlines outlined in the contract hitting the delivery date should not be a problem. Clearly state any missed date in the original timeline will result in an extension of the deadline. This goes for both you and the client and should be enough to keep all involved parties on point throughout the project process.
If additional adjustments come from the client, hear them out and formulate a response that supports what the contract states. In a previous blog post (http://dezignrogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/things-ive-learned-about-visual.html), I mention no one likes being told “NO.” I often say I’m in the business of saying, “YES.” While I may have said yes, this positive response comes with consequences:
Yes, I can turn the design around in one day, but another aspect of your project will be pushed back.
Yes, I can add the additional content, however the design was created around the original copy you supplied. The design must be reformatted to accommodate the additional text and this will push the delivery date back.
Saying yes offers a sense that you’re a team player but it also forces the client to think twice about making unnecessary requests. By saying yes with consequences, you come off looking like a team player and the person making the request has to make some tough prioritizing decisions to ensure their request is accommodated:
Perhaps the other parts of the project can’t be pushed back and hitting those deadlines is more important than the requested one-day turnaround time.
Perhaps the additional content isn’t worth the delivery date being pushed back.
Let’s wrap this one up!
I’m a firm believer three over arching criteria factor into every design solution: time, cost and quality. The first criterion is time, which you measure by tracking estimated time at the beginning of the project with final, completion dates. The second is cost, which you measure by calculating the amount of effort applied and money expended. The third is quality, which you measure by developing high-level design solutions and fulfilling the goals outlined at the onset of the project. (3)
You can achieve high quality work, but doing so will cost time and money. You can turn a design around quickly but it’ll sacrifice high quality and cost money to do so. The client needs to determine which of the three is most important.
We’re here because we love what we do. We’re artists who create with purpose. There is no limit to our creativity but why is it soon as we add math and numbers into the equation we get all confused and flustered?! In visual communication, creativity often partners with business and the business of design often means working with people. No one likes feeling uncertain or unclear. As far as I know, there is no official rulebook explaining how you should work with clients. Set clear expectations at the onset of the project. Doing so ensures you and your client clearly understand the parameters of the project. Trust me on this; the business of design will run much smoother enabling you to focus on the creative, fun side of things.
Blog Resources:
(1) http://www.robinlanda.com/Books_Advertising_By_Design__Content.htm
(2) http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html
(3) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/define-your-project-goals-and-success-criteria-HA001211137.aspx
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