Ez Street Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Ok, here is the deal. After having my desings picked for a professional hockey team out of nowhere, i have decided to try doing some hockey jersey on the side. I might be able to get some business through a few contacts i have. My question is, how should i figure out what to charge a team if they decide to use one of my designs? I'm just doing strictly Jersey design, not logos. Does anyone out there have any advice they can lend me?BTW, i secured a web domain... www.ezstreetdesigns.com @DavidStreeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeenVol Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Personally I would charge them by the hour. You need to figure out what freelance design is going for in your area...call some local studios/agencies and see what they typically charge per hour, most will be nice enough to help you...and from there decide what you want to charge. I typically charge less than an agency would charge, but not by much. My office charges $65/hour, but for freelance work I charge $45/hour. It is really up to you in how comfortable you feel about what you are asking for.If you do start to do some work make sure you are charging for everything including emailing, phone calls, comps, etc. If you decide to do it for a flat fee per project make sure you set up a limit of changes that can be made, and from there you may want to go back to billing per hour. I would also make sure that they provide you with a finished product so you have an example of what you have created and not just a photo. And the most important part...make a contract with everything spelled out, and have both parties sign it. Trust me it makes everything so much easier, and then things run much smoother cause there are no questions. Go as professional as possible...create a letterhead that also works as a design for your contract and invoice.Let me know if I can help you out in any other way...brian@suburbstudios.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paynomind Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 well said, brian.My thoughts exactly. NCFA Sunset Beach Tech - Octopi ΓΔΒ! Going to college gets you closer to the real world, kind of like climbing a tree gets you closer to the moon. "...a nice illustration of what you get when skill, talent, and precedent are deducted from 'creativity.' " - James Howard Kunstler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 That's some good info FeenVol Brian... EZ's not the only guy with these kind of questions.Could you post an example of such a contract? Is it one of those really long lawyer-prepared documents? I get a few paying jobs every once in a while, and I'd like to know how to best handle them.Also, how does charging by the hour work? Do they just have to trust you that you're being honest when you say it did take you 6 hours to come up with what seems like a relatively simple idea? I don't want the reputation of my company tarnished by some guy accusing me of gouging him or lying.Thanks for any tips you can provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeenVol Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 SyPhi and others...I don't have any copies of my contract handy and have not had to use one in a while so I am not sure where they would be. But saying that I don't think that you need anything too official unless you are willing to go out and have someone write it up for you. As long as you state your purpose, protect yourself from them taking your idea and letting someone else work on it (you create it you have copyright protection by the way, as long as you can prove when it was created...the best way to be able to prove that is to print out a copy and mail it to yourself, but do not open it...then you have documentation, or you can actually file for a copyright with the government (which is a bitch by the way)), list the pricing you will be charging (whether it be by the hour or flat pricing), and what is included in that price (emailing, comps, meetings, phone calls, EVERYTHING!). I have not done work for anyone that has given me any big troubles so I have not had the need for an official contract, but I am pretty sure that if you state your purpose clearly and have both parties sign, then you are protected. It is pretty cut and dry. If I can find my contract I will be sure to make it available.As for working by the hour I have had both sides of the situation happen. I have had clients say they thought it would be a lot more and some that were blown away by what the final cost was. That is why I started using a "contract" and stating in that document what exacally will be charging for. If a client does not know you will be charging for everything that you do in reguards to their project then more likely than not they will be very surprized by their bill. I don't mind working on a project by a flat fee, but I make sure that there are limits on how many changes I will make before we need to settle up and start over with a new price. It is very easy for a client to take avantage of you if you aren't honest from the beginning. I know these things because I have made those mistakes and lost a good bit of money that should have some my way. If your client knows exacally what to expect from the beginning then your project will run a whole lot smoother. My best advice to every designer who does freelance is to not sell yourself short on what you think is the fair price for your services. If they are not willing to pay for you work and talent then the project is not worth it. There are exceptions, but I try and stick to my guns as often as possible...except when Mom wants me to do something for her Don't be afraid to say no to work...it will make your time as a designer much more enjoyable. I am just starting to learn that after 10 years in this business.Hope that helps a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Hope that helps a bit. It certainly does, FeenVol Brian! Thanks for taking the time to do that, it's very much appreciated.Of course, if anybody else has some additional insight into the biz that they'd like to share, I think we'd all be better for having heard it, so speak up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez Street Posted July 8, 2004 Author Share Posted July 8, 2004 Thanks for the great insight FeenVol! @DavidStreeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeenVol Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 My pleasure...anything I can do to help fellow design nerds like myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapshot Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 I bought one book that I used as a basis to create my own invoices and contracts..."Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers" by Tad Crawford and Eva Doman BruckIt's exactly as the title sounds, plus each page comes with a little essay on how to use the forms. It's available through Amazon.com. When I searched for it, another interesting book came up:"Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating & Budgeting" by Theo Stephan Williams.I'd guess that any local Barnes & Noble or Borders would have these as well. Back-to-Back Fatal Forty Champion 2015 & 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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