Apparel Design Rates?
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- billrodgers
I have found myself working with a fairly established record label and they are now asking more from me and would like me to do some apparel design for band t's. I have never worked with a record label to design apparel and was wondering what rate I should charge. Per hour? Per design? Anyone with any experience in this and could give me some ideas? ($USD)
THANKS!
- doesnotexist0
you're just making silkscreen designs to go on tshirts?
I would do per design, ja?
- billrodgers0
Silkscreen. They're an alternative / punk label so they'll want some pretty intricate design work...
Per design sounds good....but what should I charge? I dunno...
- doesnotexist0
iunno, maybe a few hrs per? think about how long each would take + tweaks from them. shouldn't be too complicated.
- billrodgers0
Right on...thats the direction I was leaning...
[hourly rate x (est. min hrs per + est. max hrs per)] / 2
yeah?
- are you a math major?doesnotexist
- shouldn't the number between the round brackets just be mean or median of the estimated hours?Jaline
- EricStralow0
Do 1 shirt design and charge an hourly rate. From that glean a rough number re: how long other similar designs should take. Then either do a rough time quote per shirt and keep charging hourly (to cover your ass when they change their minds...and to save them money when they have their act together), or generate a flat fee based off of the first gig if you're comfortable with a scenario like that.
- billrodgers0
I like the approach Eric...
Thanks for the advice guys...much appreciated!
- billrodgers0
Thanks Horton! That seems a little high for what I was thinking for this particular client (they're not the biggest company), but good to know for future reference.
- Llyod0
if you're in indonesia it's about $1 per day + bowl of rice if you're good
- horton0
and make sure you clarify usage right and that your artwork is limited for tshirt/apparel prints only. many companies like to make cheap tee prints their new logo.
- gron0
I did some shirt designs for an international surf/skate/snow company (not one of the biggest, but one you'd probably know) that paid flat rates of $100 per SELECTED design (3 years ago though). Not surprisingly they tend to end up with pretty simple graphics for the most part since no illustrator is willing to waste too much time on it. the thing to remember is that these are often some of the more fun jobs to do so work out what its worth to you.
Also base your hourly rate on what you would expect to earn for a year in a full time job. If you think you are worth $60,000 then hourly = 60 bucks- the scale goes up and down, be realistic.
- $100 you're crazy... they'd only have to sell 10 tees and your design fees are covered....horton
- don't sell yourself short just because tees are considered cool and fun projects, they can also be the most creatively draining.horton
- draining.horton
- Yep I agree, I'm not saying I think their pricing structure is justified in any way what they paid- but that was the flat rate and the work I did was good but its simplicity reflected the rate, thats all I'm saying. Good shirts can be designed in under an hour and $100 an hour is pretty decent for a freelancer. Ideally though anyone would prefer to spend a lot more time than just an hour on em!gron
- that's fucking LOW.
you'd do better on craigslist.
monNom
- e-pill0
i work for the Fashion/ Accessories Industry in NYC. Rates here are extremely competitive. a lot of the competitive rates run from $75 per hour to $100 per hour. Weekly Rates run from $3k and continue up.
im no sure what your skill set is or your taste level is but if you have a high level of each then im sure you can even "demand" more.
good luck.
:)
- billrodgers0
Thanks everyone...I gave them a rough estimate of about $200-300 per shirt...but that we would start w/ an hourly rate and set a base price after that for simple and more complex designs individually as they'll require different design time...
Thanks again everyone!
- doctor0
You should be aware that it can be tough to raise the price for a design, once you've given them one fixed price. If $300 works for you, then it's fine.
- well 200 for type based designs, and 300 for heavier illustrated designs, but thanks!billrodgers
- NewElpaso0
i think you mean
hourly rate x ([est. min hrs per + est. max hrs per]/2)
which is basically saying... Hourly rate X How many hours taken
which is how you tend to do it fir anything (unless you do it as a one off fee)