Fresh hot design here. With icing on top!

If we connect and get on well, then I’m pretty much open to any design challenge you can throw at me. You know what you need? Let’s talk, I’ll figure out a custom project plan and price just for you.

However, if you need everything and want a starting place, or don’t know what you need and want ideas, here are a few pre-determined sorts of packagey things I came up with to help you out and give you a general idea of the kind of costs we’re talking about. I’ll add more as time goes on… but I’m going to start with just a few and then see what kind of work people are most interested in:

Packages (aka, Packagey Things)

Your Logo

$1000

Need a new or re-invented visual identity? Here are some good reasons to be needing a logo:

  • starting a business, non-profit, organization or another kind of group
  • developing a new product for or sub-brand of your existing concern
  • refreshing, reinvigorating, rebranding, or reinventing your existing concern
  • want to be more professional, make a stronger impression, build “brand equity”

Nah, I’m not one of those bores who will go on and on about marketing, in the traditional sense, and leave you glassy-eyed and drooling with my ranting and raving about branding (though, believe me, I could… one is indoctrinated in this talk in my industry). But there’s something to be said for a visual mark to represent you — it’s an idea older than the hills, and still has a lot of currency. It’s a lot easier to promote yourself with a visual hook, and over time, you can imbue it with meanings synonymous with your values and really have something of worth.

During the process, you’ll get 2-3 logo options to choose from — each on-target for your brand, audience and business challenges. After you choose one, you may request slight modifications (color tweaks, etc.). You’ll receive the final logo in a variety of useful file formats (including ones that are scaleable) along with a cheatsheet of which file format to use when and how. Most importantly with this package, as with all of my work, I want you to be happy. That’s the final “deliverable”.

Add business card design for $200. (You get the files to print either online or at a local printer. I can give you tips and help you with that process, too.)

Your Battery of Papery Stationery

$1800

Doin’ some business old school style? Love paper? You need a stationery package! It includes:

  • brand-spankin’ new logo (or, subtract $1000 if you already have one in good working order)
  • business cards (for you and up to 7 co-workers)
  • lettherhead with a template for printing on it and a template for sending it as a PDF
  • number ten envelopes that match your letterhead and have your return address
  • mailing labels for packages or stickers for folders

Again, the cost of printing is not included, but I will help you to source it in line with your budget and other requirements. We can go with something inexpensive like online printing, or something higher-end, with fancy papers and spot colors — way to make an amazing first (and second, and third) impression! Oh, and I’ll help you to go as green as possible with the printing, too.

Your Website

$3000+

Everyone needs a website these days, at least that’s what they say. I probably know more people without cell phones than without websites, and that’s saying something. “They” also say that people make a judgment about the credibiliity of your business (or you) within 1/20th of a second of arriving at your site — so making the right first impression has never been more important.

I am now developing sites in WordPress — which means you’ll get to control the content and keep it as fresh as you like (i.e., every site comes with a content management system or CMS). You have the option of having a blog (but you don’t have to). The design will be completely custom — a key part of your branding and your face to the world.

The site will include up to 15 pages, with or without a blog. The site will have one or two “templates” or page layouts. It will give you all the basic functionality that comes with WordPress, plus a big handful of useful bells and whistles that suit your purposes. More bells or more whistles, more templates or especially fancy functionality will entail more moola, but we can talk about that. But not to worry, you’ll get quite a bit of functionality and a mountain of beautiful for $3000.

I’m working on developing a smaller website package for those on more limited budgets. I’m still in the research and working-out-the-details phase, but stay tuned, I hope to have more news about this soon.

Additionally…

Some more stuff I can help you with (just drop me a line to talk about it and get a quote):

  • postcards or other mailings or handouts
  • email and print newsletters
  • brand style guides, standards and brand palettes
  • book and ebook design (or just book covers)
  • brochures, annual and CSR reports, other collateral/literature
  • communications strategies/marketing plans — what you need, how to prioritize, how to save money, how to be green about it
  • social media bits — consulting, Twitter backgrounds, avatars, encouragement…
  • consulting on printing — I have more experience in print than most self-respecting web-o-philes will readily admit. Need advice on print? Need to know the differences between RGB, CMYK and PMS? Need to know how to make a diecut or what “saddlestitch” means? I’m your man (well, woman).
  • writing (yes, I can write marketing copy, even of a reasonable length, not just the florid rambling that’s all over this website!)
  • what are your other design needs?

A note about pricing: I don’t know, do these numbers look really high to you, or really low? It’s all relative. Generally, what I’m charging here is about 1/5 of what of what it would have cost you for my work and strategy through a design firm. For the same thing. So, it’s cheap. However, this is the internet, and there’s an epidemic of low-ball design pricing. Way lower than my prices here. Some of that is because the designer’s with low prices are inexperienced and will take whatever they can get to build their portfolios, which is fine. Some of it is because there are more people that need work than there are people looking for design (at least in certain venues), so companies as for design work for peanuts and freelancers bid super-low prices just to get jobs, which, I’m afraid, tends to seriously devalue our whole profession (it’s not freelancers’ fault, so much as just unfortunate circumstances). That all makes me kind of sad. We all need to make a living, but thoughtful, strategically backed, compelling design isn’t a commodity. It’s the deliverable that comes from a consultative service. It takes education (be it formal or informal), time and dedication to build these skills — just like a it does to build the skills to be a lawyer or an accountant. And you don’t see those guys haggling desperately for $25 jobs on the internet. Point being, I hope that you can afford good design (from me or someone else), that it’s worth it to you. If it’s out of range, I totally understand — believe me, I empathize. I’ve tried to find a fair way to price, that gives you a pretty awesome value but also let’s me pay the rent and keep the coffee flowing.