i-tees

What can “United States Graphic Designers” do, to get back the jobs that are going outside the country?

A few days ago I posted a discussion on one of the groups on LinkedIn and the comments are flying back at me. I’ve heard from designers around the country and some abroad have responded as well, all telling their thoughts on this matter.

The original discussion was about an article I read and blogged about which said there were over a quarter of a million graphic designers in the United States alone.

There are two main topics right now, in this discussion:

1- Are there people out there who are just calling themselves graphic designers and when did the profession get so watered down?

I’ve heard comments such as, “I saw an ad posted looking for a locksmith (2 yrs exp. required) and a graphic designer (1 yr exp. required).” or there have been comments saying that a secretary was working as the company’s graphic designer as well as typing and filing.

When did being a graphic designer lose it’s respect and how can we gain that respect back? Of course, there will always be clients who value good design, if they didn’t, we’d all be out of business. Still, it’s hard to compete with online job sites that post opportunities and we’re competing around the world for these jobs. If someone bids $8-12 an hr, how can I compete with that? If you notice on these websites, a client can be looking around the globe and select that they want a “low price over quality.” (Why would someone choose low quality in the first place? This shouldn’t be an option.)

How about on these sites doing something for the designers? How about posting an area so clients know how many years you’ve been in business, or if you’ve won awards? How can a client tell the difference between someone who’s just graduated, is doing it as their side job or someone who’s been working for 25+ years and it’s their business?

2- Outsourcing from the United States.

There were so many comments about this and understandably. Someone posted that to keep costs down in book publishing, they’re hiring the work to be done in India or the Philippines and paying as low as $2-5 a page. And that’s got to be one of the reasons our economy is down. I don’t know how we’re going to compete on this playing field, because it sure isn’t a fair one. The cost of living in the U.S. commands our hourly wage being higher than $12 an hr. Aside from the costs being ridiculously low, there’s also the time involved. What used to allow for months to be created, now is done in a flash. People post assignments all the time saying for example: “I need an e-commerce website to sell my 150 products and it must launch in 48 hrs.” These people are obviously nuts.

I remember years ago when I was an art director/designer in book publishing, even then we had no time to design the covers for the current season. We’d be given a list of maybe 100-150 titles and roughly 6-7 weeks to produce covers for them all. Not only were there mysteries and novels to be read before we could even assign them to designers or illustrators, but we had cookbooks, gardening and sports books all needing photo shoots. It took a lot of over-time you can be sure.

Today, we also have the crazy situation of templates or themes. Everywhere we look we have web design, blog, brochure, and postcard themes. Anyone can jump onto a browser, call up one of these sites and just start “designing.” UGH! is all I can say about that!

Doesn’t anyone care about having something original anymore? Doesn’t anyone care about branding? Is it only the fortune 500 companies that understand this?

In this terrible economy, I may be outbid from designers outside the country, or people who’re bidding low and think they’re designers, but I’m sticking to my business plan and will make sure my clients know they’re getting my experience and a quality product!

I’m writing this because many clients don’t have an understanding or appreciation of what graphic and website design services are, what qualifications they should be looking for, or what projects cost.

First, pricing is going to vary quite a bit, based on whether a designer has just graduated from school and is just starting out or has been in the industry for 25+ years. Second, we have tons of competition from clients sending the assignments outside the U.S., because of the lower pricing per hour, and who can compete with $8 an hour? But in this economy, hopefully clients who are in the United States, will look to the U.S first!

Qualifications: Just because you have a computer, a few fonts, a few images, and Photoshop, doesn’t make you a graphic designer! Creativity is something that happens in the mind. To be a great graphic designer, it takes years of experience working with all sorts of clients and projects to get it done right. When I start a new project, the first thing I do is interview my client. The more my client can tell me about what they’re trying to do or sell, the better prepared I’ll be to design something perfect, just for them. I recommend doing research of their competitors, and you also need to have the experience of knowing what you’re doing is original, and is pleasing to both your client, the customers and yourself. The end result will be successful if these factors are considered. Being a good designer is knowing who you are designing for, and remember, it’s not just yourself!

Design details and costs: So let’s clear up this confusion. There are clients who think they cannot afford a graphic or website designer, when the price might be within their budget. Then there are those that once they receive your estimate, disappear.

Here’s a list of some projects and the details and budgets they might have:

1- Logo design – There are three basic types of logo projects.
Logo type A: A typographic solution is one that plays with the name of your company, and creates something unique, but only using text. The range could be anywhere from $500-$1,500+ depending on the type of company you are. Obviously if you are a start-up company, non-profit or individual, you should not be charged the same as a well established fortune 500 company. Also, depending on how many different concepts you’d like to see, and how many rounds or revisions will be included, that would also be reflected in the price. Formats: Always be sure to get the EPS format as this is always expandable in size, if it’s a photoshop file, that’ll be the largest it will ever be. This is true for all logos if possible.

Logo type B: This includes all of the above and in addition, you’d like a graphic or icon created. Depending on many of the variables mentioned above, and here, the price would range from $1,000-$2,500+.

Logo type C: You want something completely illustrated, typographic as well as artwork. For example, let’s say you’re going to sell milk, and your company name is “Moo”, you’ll need something designed for the “Moo” and you may want a particular type of cow drawing. Maybe you want the drawing/painting in a cartoonish style or maybe you want it drawn in a realistic way. Depending on the specific details, I’d put the range of this assignment at: $1,500-3,500+.

2- Website design and development:
First let’s start by clarifying the difference between design and development. Most do not understand the difference here. Just because someone can link pages together and load content, doesn’t make them a designer, they’re a developer. Also, just because someone can create stunning web design graphics in Photoshop or InDesign, doesn’t make them a developer. These two areas are quite different and many times it will take more than one person to get the job done. I am able to design and develop, but I still work with a development team to help with certain types of programming, which I don’t know, and don’t want to know.

Next, let’s discuss the different types of websites and what they are. Remember that to have a website you need a domain name and hosting. (What’s your website address going to be? and you’ve got to pay a hosting company to park it; picture buying a new cell phone, but until you pay a provider, it won’t work.)

A designer needs to know all the details about what you want your site to have, so they can organize how the navigation and pages will work. We also need to see other sites you like and the details about why. This helps us see into your feeling about style and creates a color palette for us and your layout/structure preferences.

A simple html/css manually built website is one that is built page by page by a developer. A site that has a backend “content management system” (CMS) such as Sunfox, or Concrete5, is one that does not have manual pages. It’s one that creates those pages in a database that is available thru a browser by logging in. It uses a template or two (depending on the design of your site, the homepage and interior pages might be a different look) and loads each page’s content into that same template shell. If you have a new site with a custom design, and you want this area built, it will raise the cost of your site. Also, if your site is going to have e-commerce, and what type, paypal, full credit card acceptance… and depending on how many products you want loaded before launching, and other factors you’re planning like, form pages, community areas, integrated music, video, Flash animation, member logins and more… all these can drive up the costs.

Costs for websites can start at $1,500 and go as high as $10,000 or 30,000+ depending on each particular case. Each company or individual should be as specific as possible about what their website needs are, so a designer and/or developer can estimate the website accurately.

3- Custom Blog design:
Lately, I’ve been designing custom blogs using “Wordpress” and they are a huge hit. More are coming in all the time. They are quite good for many, but there are some limitations, unless custom programming is added in. Wordpress gives clients most options they’ll need and since the content management system is already built, we’re just customizing the design and some of the specifics for each client’s needs. The pricing can range from around $500-$1,500+ depending on the details.

3A- Free blog: Now of course you could just go to Wordpress or Blogger and just start a blog for free. You can pick one the template designs, but you’ve got to realize that you’re site will look like many others. In order to stand out in a crowd, it’s important to establish your own identity. If you don’t, customers will not necessarily remember your name or anything distinctive about your company. It’s worth it to spend a bit more and have an original design created for your own blog or site, so that you’re proud to show it off.

4- Brochures:
Many times, clients say, “I need a brochure” and I always ask the same questions. What size, how many panels or pages? What type of content, text, charts, illustrations, photos? The pricing as with any other assignment will be based on how complex the assignment is. A simple tri-fold brochure (8.5″ x 11″ folded up) can range at $1,500+. If we’re talking about a 4, 8 or 12 page brochure, with text and photos, then the range is $1,500-5,000+. If there are other factors, such as photo research, illustrations, charts or diagrams needed, pricing will vary.

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The important thing to remember with all of this, is that each client has a different need, and all estimates have to be tailored to fit that specific client and specific project. So, look at other logos, websites, blogs, and brochures so you’ve done a bit of research and have a clear idea of what you want. Be sure to look at the designers portfolios, and sure that the style they have is what appeals to you, also look to see if they have testimonials, reviews, press, have they won awards, and how long have they been in business, so you know you’re selecting the right designer for your project. Someone with experience who can show examples of similar projects.

A great resource for pricing and guidelines on all kinds of projects, as well as having contracts and other important information is the “Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.” I refer to this book quite often for details, and it’s a book that should be in every designer’s studio.