Logo design: how much to charge?

[Craig R]

I've been asked to create a logo design which will be copyrighted/trademarked and be used for branding outdoor gear/sports clothing/merchandise. This isn't for a big established company, but someone I know who is trying to start something up.

The design process will involve creating several sketches and ideas, developing some further with input from the client and then creating a final polished version. Not just a quick 10 minute job mucking about with fonts in illustrator with little thought process.

I have no idea what sort of price range I should be aiming at though. Any thoughts?

 

[Russinating]

If you don't have a set fee then it's basically how much would make it worth your time/would you want out of it.

How many hours will it take you? Times that by the hourly rate you'd want and start from there.

 

[Irish_Tom]

The way to think about it how much time will you spend creating it.

The price isn't really for the end result or 'product' it's for the time it takes you to get to that result. Technically, your client is paying for your knowledge, expertise and skill, not for a logo.

As such, work out how long you think it will take you and then decide on what you consider your time is worth per-hour.

I work for an agency and our rate is £70 per hour. However, a freelancer won't have the overheads of an agency and so the usual rate is between £20 and £40 per hour depending on your experience and reputation.

We usually spend about two days (16 hours) developing a logo which costs ~£1150.

We produce three concept ideas which are presented to the client. They pick one of the three and we then hone it until it's perfect. The client then signs the design off and we produce a logo pack with the logo in all of the various file formats and colour modes that they will require.

Depending on the client we would then probably spend the same again, if not longer, developing a full set of brand guidelines including brand colours, fonts, use of logo and tone of voice for communications etc.

If you went for an 'average' freelancer rate of £35 per hour and spend two days on the logo you would be charging £560. Personally I would start there and gauge his reaction.

 

[Craig R]

The way to think about it how much time will you spend creating it.

The price isn't really for the end result or 'product' it's for the time it takes you to get to that result. Technically, your client is paying for your knowledge, expertise and skill, not for a logo.

As such, work out how long you think it will take you and then decide on what you consider your time is worth per-hour.

I work for an agency and our rate is £70 per hour. However, a freelancer won't have the overheads of an agency and so the usual rate is between £20 and £40 per hour depending on your experience and reputation.

We usually spend about two days (16 hours) developing a logo which costs ~£1150.

We produce three concept ideas which are presented to the client. They pick one of the three and we then hone it until it's perfect. The client then signs the design off and we produce a logo pack with the logo in all of the various file formats and colour modes that they will require.

Depending on the client we would then probably spend the same again, if not longer, developing a full set of brand guidelines including brand colours, fonts, use of logo and tone of voice for communications etc.

If you went for an 'average' freelancer rate of £35 per hour and spend two days on the logo you would be charging £560. Personally I would start there and gauge his reaction.

Very helpful indeed, thanks for the input.

 

[Russinating]

To add onto what Panzerbjorn said, it's also worth taking into account what the value of the work is to you. Do you have a decent portfolio already? If so you should be charging more (or at least if you don't you should be charging less) as having a trademarked logo out there being used is of value to you.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Very helpful indeed, thanks for the input.

No Worries.

To add onto what Panzerbjorn said, it's also worth taking into account what the value of the work is to you. Do you have a decent portfolio already? If so you should be charging more (or at least if you don't you should be charging less) as having a trademarked logo out there being used is of value to you.

This is a good point as well as Russ' original post about making sure you get a figure you are happy with as well as your client.

If you're just doing it for pin money and you don't have a portfolio yet then doing this job (and maybe the next couple) at a reduced rate might not be a bad thing.

 

[Craig R]

Yeah I will give the client a bit of a reduced rate as he is a former colleague and my portfolio (work in progress) could do with some additional logo work for when I finally get one online, so it would be good to have in there.

Thanks guys.