For graphic designers
Half the work happens before anybody pays you a cent. Take half up front, agree two rounds of revisions before the first draft, and send the third round as a price.
What gets in the way
Half the project is done before anybody has paid you a cent.
“One more small change” is the most expensive sentence in your inbox.
A client asks for a quote, disappears for three weeks, then needs it Friday.
What’s different for graphic designers
Half up front, before you open a file
A project takes its deposit when your client accepts, and the project agreement your page starts with says half up front and half on delivery.
The third round is an offer, not an argument
Two rounds of revisions are in the agreement, and new work is a new agreement. When the third round arrives, you send a link with a price on it.
Questions graphic designers ask
How much deposit should a graphic designer take?
Half, before you start. It pays for the work you do before anybody sees a draft, and a client who has paid half answers your emails.
How many revisions should a design project include?
Two rounds, written into the agreement before you start. A third round is billed, and saying so in advance turns it into a price.
When should a designer charge a day rate?
For work already under way when the scope keeps moving. Quote a project for new work, and use the day rate for everything after it.
Who owns the design files when a project ends?
Your client owns the final work once it’s paid for; you keep the working files and can show the result in your portfolio. That’s what your project agreement says, and you can change it if you sell source files.
Should a designer offer a monthly retainer?
Once a client sends you small jobs every month. Monthly availability holds days for them, renews on their card, and turns ten small invoices into one.
How should a designer price a logo?
As a project with one price, scoped in writing: how many concepts, how many rounds, which files they get. Never by the hour, because the hours are the part your client can’t see.
Your page on the first day
This is the design or creative setup, and it’s what your page starts with. Change any of it where it appears.
- Clients can book from tomorrow onward.
- Moving or canceling is free up to 24 hours before.
- Before booking, your page asks: “What are we making, and by when?”
Your project agreement opens with this: Half of the project price is due up front and half on delivery. The scope is what we agreed in writing; new work is a new agreement.
What it doesn’t do for you
There’s no proofing, no file versions and no shared mood boards. The page sells the project and gets you paid; the design happens in your own tools.
Others who start from the same setup
Photographers · Copywriters · Web designers · Videographers · Translators · Interior designers · Illustrators · Ghostwriters · Brand designers · Proofreaders · Makeup artists · Voice-over artists · Personal stylists · Event musicians · Tattoo artists · Podcast producers · Wedding planners · Freelance developers · Social media managers · Landscape designers · Calligraphers · Music producers · Portrait artists · Technical writers · UX designers · Video editors · Animators