Week 12: The Price is Right // 10.01.23

I have collated the morning workshop into a pdf on the right. The task was to watch a video about the strategies on ways that you can charge for your work, to hopefully give you more flexibility and power or awareness in how you are able to price creative work and how it can work effectively for you.

ACTIVITY:

Give a quick quote for:

A logo for a promising new business, set up by a student or recent graduate; £150
A redesign of an indie magazine that has already been published twice, but hasn't got much hype yet; £300
The identity of a new summer festival in Leeds, aimed at a student audience; £500
Branding and publication design for a new exhibition at the ICA; £1000

- returning to this activity, now bearing in mind your desired earnings, the timescale of the project and the different pricing structures that have been discussed.

What do we think is a day rate that's sustainable?

To accurately calculate our minimum day rate, we need to work out what our outgoings are.
So to start with, add up all of your monthly costs, like rent, phone bills, travel, food and drink.
Divide that by four to get your weekly overheads.
So if we know that figure, then we have an idea of what we need to make.
yourrate.co website that gives a quick reference point for how much should be charging.
You set your rate, no one else. A lot of it comes down to confidence

Example 1: Paula Scher's original logo design for the Citi Bank cost $1.5 million as part of a $10 million rebranding project.

Example 2: Carolyn Davidson designed the iconic Nike 'swoosh' in 1971, for $35 charging out 17.5hrs of work at $2 an hour.

So, confidence plays a big part in both of those deals, so too does the idea of value. Would it be fair to say that an hourly rate probably isn't ideal for jobs like these?

What are the advantages or disadvantages of charging by the hour?

Flexibility in project, if something takes longer you will still get paid
Don't have to be too specific in amount of time the project will take
Appealing to client, smaller
Doesnt scale well
Clients might put a time limit
Put clients off, open ended project fee

Project-based fee

You assess the job and quote based on the agreed work and deadlines
You sign a contract, then you deliver
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Appeal to a client, costs are set
Practical: good for planners sense of time, multiple projects at once.
Effective at pacing
If something takes longer than expected
Working with others
Working with specific software, can come out of your end rather than client
Good for finacial planning as you already have a degree of certainty you wouldn't otherwise have. Help wigh up whether to take the project or not

Value-based client

You assess the business, what the project stands to add in value and quote based on that
Upfront fee, discovery fee, inital discovery and put in place a plan. Asking questions and suggesting a quote
Creativity is a service
Buiold stronger relationship with client: whydo you need this? what are your goals/aiming for? Why do you think this is going to help transform your business?
Tell me why you think you need a logo, where is your business at right now, what are your goals, work together is it a logo or branding project?
Share the sucess, indexing them to understand how they can help their business. Consistent, well-thought out brand.
Chances of repeat business
Opportunity at how value can scale.

Ideally, the two things that you want for sustainable creative practice is repeat custom and work that you can license. That way if a piece of work you create is successful for the client and they want to use it out its intended context, it is only right that you are paid for extended use. This depends on nature of the client and business.

The right approach may depend on the project, your preferences, or the client. So there's not necessarily one method that is suitable as every solution, but it's vital that you understand the options. Knowing that there are different ways of framing your charge will help you to unlock value within your work.

Creativity is a service not a product.

Getting paid, especially as a freelancer. What do you think are the vital components in an invoice?

invoice-generator.com is an effective template for an invoice
Payment terms: reciept for your work, necessary for your book keeping and getting paid
Terms / Service Agreements: a contract that is written in approachable language (a single A4) will include work hours or days, schedule or timeline, client responsibilities, elect a client representative, limit client approvals, limit client changes samples and credits, samples need to be accounted for, do you want to be credited, payment parameters, delays or terminates, consequences of non-payment, usage, media, duration, location, electronic files, length of storage, retrieval fee, file requirements,
Ideally signed by both parties
Apps and software
Chasing payment; split through project, "the accountant" will stern a firm but polite email, usually in threatening red text to say "We are getting in touch from (Creator)'s finance department, you are now in x days overdue on your payment. Please refer to your signed terms agreement to check our policy of late payments and fees. Please inform us as soon as possible when the payment will be made.
Big, ugly watermarks in service agreement - final product

Unit: Professional Practices

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