pricing

We believe, generally, you get what you pay for.

If a design company (or a solo designer) is pitching an unbelievably low price or it’s a no-money-upfront situation or a super fast turnaround (think less than 24 hours), chances are good that this is too good to be true. It could be a college student trying to build their portfolio, someone moonlighting or maybe a hobbyist, any number of reasons, but the quality for this segment of providers is inconsistent and ranges from good to awful with everything in between. Unfortunately, what sounds great seldom is. You’ve heard the phrase, Good, fast or cheap. Pick two. Anyway you shake it, it’s a gamble.

What about the other end? The guys and gals who’ll offer you fancy bottles of mineral water, who’ll draw you a pie in the sky, full of smiles and promises. ‘Sure,’ they say, ‘It’ll cost a pretty penny but you deserve it.’ It’s hard to resist, we know because we’ve been on both sides but is it what you need? The sweet talk and the slick sell?

Wait. Didn’t we say earlier that you get what you pay for? Yes, yes we did. And so if you pay more, it should be better quality, right? Not necessarily. Sometimes but not always.

The fact of the matter is that big budget agencies or firms will be overkill for most businesses and most people. Do you need an account executive to act as a liaison between you, as the client, and the creative team? What about market research? Media buys? If you don’t need it, we don’t think you should pay for it.

Here’s where we come in, with exactly what you need. With a small studio like scw creative, you get quality and a ton of experience without paying the big agency price. And you get to communicate directly with the creative team working on your project. And more importantly, the people who are on the team are the right people for the job. We only bring in the people that you need and so we’re nimble enough to deliver on time and on budget. Kind of like a team of superheroes, Green Lantern and Rima the Jungle Girl might be indispensable for that creative social network build but sometimes Batman, alone, is perfect for that logo design.

Specifically:

• All work starts at $75/hour — with a 10% discount for non-profits
• After an initial consultation, 20% down is required to start a job and includes a simple two-page statement of work — we sign it and you sign it, it establishes time lines, expectations and responsibilities. This way, you know what to expect from us and vice versa

In terms of specific types of projects, typical charges and time lines run as follows:

• Logo (three versions, two rounds of revisions): $700 (five working days)
• Stationary system (includes letterhead, envelope, business cards): $400 (three to four working days)
• Brochure/collateral pieces: $600 (four working days)
• Web site: $900 (depends on how the site will be built)

A host of other design and creative services are available (including advertising and promotional work) and range in price depending on complexity of and the amount of work. Copywriting, photography, illustration are also available as well as project management services.

If you refer business to scw creative, we offer a 5% referral fee, payable once a project has been completed. Anyone is eligible for this payout — previous clients, peer designers, even family members — and it can be applied in many ways, to a total bill or a future credit. We will also work within a set budget for clients that require it.

Oh. And a portion of all yearly profits will be donated to Austin’s Town Lake Animal Center. Other charities will be taken on as deemed necessary.

Please have a look around and get in touch if you believe we’d work well together.

The above photo was taken Sept 2009 at the Los Angeles downtown farmer’s market. See it here in my Flickr photostream.