The Letterville BullBoard: Sign Cost vs. Graphic Art Layout Cost

This is topic Sign Cost vs. Graphic Art Layout Cost in forum Old Archives at The Letterville BullBoard.

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Posted by Diane Malesky (Member # 687) on :

OK, here's one for ya. Do you charge seperate prices for the sign and then a layout?

Customers like to see a total layout - obviously for their business. I've gotten my proceedure down so that I give a price first and show them a picture of a similar sign we've done. This way I don't waste my time designing and then having them go off an price shop.

The question is should I include a layout price on the proposal? It takes at least a 1/2 hour to get a nice layout together for the customer to review. Should I list this on the proposal as artwork? I haven't been charging my layout time and think I'm loosing money because sometimes a layout will take up to 4 hours - when you are working with a custom shape, color, logos/graphics, etc... OR, is this part of the job?

If I'm reading correctly, the pricing guides I'm using list this as a seperate item. The advertising agencies charge so much for simple logos. A friend of mine who works at an agency said I am loosing big money!

Any thought?

Thank you.

Diane

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Summit Signs
Sellersville, PA
summitsigns@erols.com

Posted by Greg Gulliford (Member # 170) on :

Since I am a bit from the old school and a bit from the new school here is what I do...

All signs are priced with an initial design to fit the customers budget (or what I think their budget is) and from there I charge $50.00 per hour (15 minute minimum) charge to make changes. If the changes are just a couple of minor tweaks I usually let those slide...

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Greg Gulliford
aka MetroDude
Metro Signs and Banners
1403 N. Greene St. #1
Spokane, WA 99202
509-536-9452

mail@metrosignsandbanners.com

Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :

I would list the artwork as a seperate item on the invoice, but when you give a price, include that in the total.

If they want to walk away with your SKETCH, charge them for it before letting it out the door.

Dont do any real detailed artwork until you get a 50% deposit for the whole job. This way you know they're serious and hopefully wont waste your time. Make it clear that you will provide ONE round of artwork revisions at no cost, and any additional revisions will follow your artwork rates.
The reason I say one round is because the first time is OK since both parties have different ideas of what the sign should be. The "design review" meeting should clear up all the questions, design issues, etc. so any additional meetings or changes are billable.

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Mike Pipes
Digital Illusion Custom Graphics
Lake Havasu City, AZ
http://www.stickerpimp.com

Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but,check out www.ampweb.com/estimate either here or on suppliers page & download demo of Estimate.

One of its setup functions allows you to choose hourly rates for both design & production time.

If you have any further questions I'm sure Mark Smith could answer better than me.
(Sorry for the blatant plug Steve - but then again, they are merchants here)

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Bill Cosharek
Bill Cosharek Signs
1031 Whitehead Lane
N.Huntingdon,Pa 15642
bcosharek@juno.com

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