Why Pricing Design Can Be Tricky

Design work can be difficult to price. Clients can become confused and even think you are trying to add lots of little fees to jack up the price of the website or branding project.

To help clear up why designers charge the prices they do, think of a website or branding project as a car. A car won't build itself. Someone has to plan, design, build, test, rework, retool, test again, then complete the car. This is the same for a website or brand. One major difference between a website or brand and a car is that a website or brand is custom (or at least should be). In the car world, most automobiles are mass produced. Very few automobiles are custom. Similarly in the design world, most websites or brands are custom, and some are based off of templates (mass production). Of course, custom work is usually more costly than mass production, because the time and work to manufacture a custom car is more substantial than building a car based off of one design (or template).

Why then should one do custom work if it is more expensive?

First of all, websites and brands are not cars. A car has a specific purpose, and that is to transport people or things from point A to point B (yes, with modern comforts). A website or brand has a specific purpose, and that is to communicate ideas, concepts, information, help the viewer to make a decision, uphold an identity, or visually unify a company/organization. If a website or brand are based off of a template, they lose their identity and power of communication. Therefore, websites and brands must be unique and custom to work successfully in their function.

Why does my website or brand project cost so much?

You may hear a client ask, "Why does this cost so much?" Not only is the project custom, which will only raise the price slightly compared with a mass produced design, but for designers, we get paid for our time more so than for the actual product we create. Years of obtaining knowledge by studying user experience, style, aesthetics, usability, standards, good practices, learning new and better methods, adapting to changes in technology, etc. all contribute to the value of a designer's time --  not to mention the thousands of dollars in equipment and software we use on a daily basis. Even though we can execute brands and build websites faster than in previous decades, there are so many parts which take up lots of time to implement and test properly and accurately for functionality and usability.

How can I accurately communicate this to someone?

One way to avoid such confusion and irritation is to be specific -- not overly technical, but speak in laymen's words. In the design estimate, be specific about each element of work. Even include some tools, parts, or extra purchases which you know the project will require. Write out a brief, yet understandable description explaining why each item is useful and necessary to the project and future use. Always think through the estimate from the other person's perspective, and answer any possible questions they might have right then and there. Be as clear as possible. If they do have a question after the estimate, calmly answer it and be specific.