Is Your Designer Pricing Your Project Fairly?

In the last blog article I wrote, I mentioned that I was starting a bookalog project, and answered the question, What is a Bookalog?

But there’s an aspect to that project that I wanted to talk about today. And as someone who might need the services of a designer (or copywriter, for that matter) it’s important you be aware of this.

I’ve said in the past that projects that end with log can be more of an investment… magalog, issuelog, catalog, bookalog. These types of projects are typically more complex, especially from a design point of view. Naturally, that will cost more.

Having said that, a common rookie designer mistake (or, unfortunately, an intentional money grab by a more experienced designer) is to price a project based on what it’s called rather than the content.

This bookalog project I’m working on is a perfect example.

When the client contacted me and said he wanted a bookalog, I immediately thought of other bookalogs I’ve been involved with or seen. Many are quite complex.

However, in this case, the copy was very simple and the layout would be very simple. In fact, it wouldn’t be much different than a sales letter. It’s just that the size of the layout would be different. To top it off, there would be no graphics involved, and it was a single color.

So while the project is a bookalog, the layout work on my end is more like a sales letter. And based on that, the price I quoted the client was over 50% lower than the average price of a more complex bookalog. I priced the project more like my average sales letter work.

The point here is that the project price was based on the content and what needed to be done, not based on the format name.

If that seems obvious to you that it should be that way, I can assure you not all creative folks work like that.

Granted, it can be hard for you to know what a fair price is if you don’t have much experience working with designers or copywriters.

That’s why I always encourage you to talk directly with any designer or copywriter you might choose. Or ask business colleagues who they would recommend. In other words, do as much research as you can so you’re as confident as possible that you’re picking the right person.

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