Hello everyone.

Last Monday I decided to advertise my services on craigslist.com and over the weekend I happened to get a bite from a more professional client than what i have been used to.

He owns a Promotions Company here in the San Antonio area and made it known to me that he really likes my work and thought my style would be a good fit for various graphics he's needing, which is logos, cd covers, flyers, business cards, etc.

you can get an idea of what I do here: www.myspace.com/tmaculate

here's my dilemma. i usually have an offer from someone needing a logo or a flyer or something specific. i usually can give them a price after brainstorming in my head what i think i should charge for their request. however, this guy wants to know my price list for everything i do. well i don't exactly have a price list, as i usually have a price "range".

is there anything out there that shows what graphic designers charge for this stuff? i don't want to undercharge but i certainly don't want to overcharge for something and scare off a potential longterm business opportunity.

thanks for all of the advice!

What you're looking for is the AIGA American Institute of Graphic Arts annual pricing guide. Available via Amazon or maybe your local bookstore. They update this annually and give specific pricing guidelines, plus provide a lot of additional help for the business of art.

Cyberhost at Idea CafeThe Fun Place for Serious Business(sm)

What the guy is looking for is a set price for your work so that when he is talking to a client who likes your work, he can tell his customer how much his customer will pay to use you as his designer.

We have a bank of designers who provide us with a set price for a label design. They range between $250 and $1250. And I have a portfolio of designers that I can show to my customers. They choose the designer, and the work is charged to us, we pay the designer.

In this guy's case, there are a variety of jobs that he'll want to use you for, so the other poster's suggestion of the pricing guide is a very good one.

You could say, I charge this for website design, this for a logo design, this for a corporate package and anything out of the ordinary would be negotiated on a project by project basis, based on the pricing guidelines of the latest of that book.

I like your work too... are you interested in adding your portfolio to our private label designers? We make hot sauces and various food products. If so, email me offlist at tbrooks at peppermaster.com. I can't guarantee anyone will hire you, but I'd like to be able to offer your work as a label designer, (you name your price, of course).

T

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Oh wow, how ironic Tina! I was just about to start on a label design for a co-worker's hot sauce bottle. :7

first of all, thanks to the both of you for the excellent replies. it's the reason i always find myself coming back to this place for the great advice from the pros.

Tina, i would love to try my hand at a larger forum. i'm very flexible when it comes to graphics and feel like i can do almost anything. i will send you an email to discuss further. thanks again!