August 2006 Weddings
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NER: Graphic Designers - Pay Question

So, my bff can apparently do graphic design (who knew?  I'm apparently a bad friend...moving on...)

Anyway, she submitted some work to a local magazine, and they like her work.  So, they asked for her rates and she's not really sure what those would be.

She's in Tennessee, which is very LCOL and has no state income tax (so salaries in general tend to be on the lower side).  She's just starting out and doesn't want to ask too much, but she also doesn't want to sell herself short.

Do you have any suggestions?  Specific figure ranges would be great.  If you'd like to give ranges for emerging graphic designers in your areas (ttt if you're checking, I imagine Tennessee and Georgia would be similar...), that would at least provide a basis to go from.

Also, how should she set out her rates?  Per hour?  Per project?  Per project of a certain size?

Thanks!!

Re: NER: Graphic Designers - Pay Question

  • See how they do it on monster.com.  It might be easiest to give an estimate per job at first. 
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  • I dunno the print world as well - maybe caden can help when she gets here.

    I typically don't price per project unless its something that for one reason or another is silly to bill hourly. Like if it involves a lot of emailing back and forth or phone conversations or meeting. BUT, even when I calculate a flat fee for a project, I usually estimate the # of hours i'll need to use.

    I wouldn't go lower than 20/hr, imo. If its really competitive there I would try to stick to a lower rate - but if its not than she could maybe do 25/hr or 30/hr. If shes just starting and needs pieces for her portfolio than I would stick to lower #'s just to ensure that she gets the gig and can pad that portfolio fast, kwim?

    I wouldn't go too high just yet.I knew a girl who charged $60/hr for these horrid websites and her clients just got mad at her when they got the bill and saw all her hours, lol.


  • Great, thanks!  Pricing freelance work is always pretty tricky starting out because your work could be just as good as your competition but you don't have that reputation and huge portfolio to back yourself up.
  • hey MD--

     My sister lives in the Twin Cities and her freelance rate is around $60/hour, I think.

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  • I have a friend who works for a publishing house in Nashville. ?I could ask what they pay.

    She could check out the Nashville Scene classifieds to see what people are advertising to give her a baseline. Or Craigslist.

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  • I charge per project for print stuff. For web I charge hourly.

    I think MI is probably medium COL and I think $25-30/hr is very reasonable. I emailed a friend of mine that works for a MI magazine but she hasn't emailed back. I'll post again if she tells me something different than what was posted here : )

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