July 5, 2020 Published by Maria De La Peña

Graphic Design Pricing: The Cost of Design Services

How much should you pay for graphic design services? In our article we give a breakdown of the various levels of graphic design pricing.

The Cost of Design Services

These days, businesses need to keep up with the need to beat the competition through social media and other channels. To achieve this feat, there is a need to hire the services of quality graphic designers. This means that business owners need to know about graphic design pricing.

Without this knowledge, there is a possibility of wasting funds while trying to get tasks done. In this post, we will show you how much it costs to hire graphic designers at different levels. This should give you an overview of how much you should spend depending on who you are hiring.

Graphic Design Pricing for Freelance Graphic Designers

There are several advantages of hiring freelance graphic designers. One of the standout advantages is the flexibility you’ll enjoy. There isn’t a fixed price most times and you’ll see a designer that suits your budget.

What is the average graphic design pricing for freelance graphic designers? On Upwork, the hourly rate is around $45. This doesn’t mean you can’t get someone cheaper. You can get a freelance graphic designer for less than $25/hour.

Here’s a basic truth you should know—there is always a tendency of getting substandard jobs and unprofessional designers on a low budget. That being said, how much to highly skilled designers charge?

The average charge is about 23% higher than what standard designers charge. It could be as high as $150 per hour. When you consider these rates, it seems impossible for small businesses to match up with the demands of quality graphic designers. The same goes for sole proprietors.

By the way, it is important to note that these prices are not inclusive of bonuses, revisions, or overtime. Many top designers charge a separate fee for extra revisions. Lest we forget, you’ll mostly be required to pay between 25% and 50% upfront for each project.

Under graphic design pricing, there is also something known as flat-fee pricing. In this case, the freelancer chargers a fixed price per project. On Fiverr, for instance, flat fees for visuals lie between $5 and $367. Basically, the more input and research goes into a project, the costlier it gets.

This sort of pricing covers a specific number of revisions. Once the customer exceeds this, it becomes a new project and payment needs to be made.

Pros of Using Freelance Graphic Designers

  • Payments are made per project or task.
  • Costs far less than other kinds of graphic designers.
  • Easier communication since a single freelancer handles most tasks.

Cons of Using Freelance Graphic Designers

  • Lack of dedication since the designer may have several other clients.
  • Slow pace of delivery.

Graphic Design Pricing for a Graphic Design Agency

Graphic design agencies are teams of graphic design professionals that focus on carrying out specific kinds of designs. Some of them are focused on designing logos, others deal with social media designs, while others focus on branding.

Some graphic design agencies are multi-faceted or multi-dimensional. These perform a range of services all relating to design but in different forms and for different industries.

Graphic design agencies are just about the best places to get highly skilled graphic designers. This is because their recruitment processes are very rigorous and they make sure that team members are efficient. The reason for this is that clients do not deal with designers directly except on demand.

Seeing that this is where you get the most-skilled graphic designers possible, they are very expensive. What is the graphic design pricing for graphic design agencies? We can encapsulate this in a simple phrase “high budget.” The beauty is that with the high budget comes top-notch designs.

Hourly rates vary from agency to agency but they are around $74 and can be as high as $350. Compare this to freelance graphic designers and it is clear that agencies are by far higher. This price mostly doesn’t cover revisions. As a result, you should discuss the price for revisions while negotiating the price for the project.

What then is the key to maintaining low costs when using graphic design agencies? First, you need to manage your expectations. Try hard not to go overboard, don’t forget, less is always more. You also need to define what your revision process should entail from the onset.

Pros of Using Graphic Design Agencies

  • Access to highly specialized graphic designers.
  • Lots of experience and versatility.
  • Add-on services are always available.

Cons of Using Graphic Design Agencies

  • Designer rotation.
  • Need to communicate your values to a new designer for each service.

Pros of Using Graphic Design Agencies

This is the final option when it comes to hiring graphic designers. Full-time graphic designers are individuals you hire to handle your graphic needs in-house. How much do you pay such individuals?

The salary for an in-house graphic designer depends largely on the location of your business. Each location has a salary expectation for graphic designers. We have put together the average annual salaries of graphic designers in different parts of the world in the table below.

Graphic Design Pricing
Graphic Design Pricing


Notice that the table is ordered from the least to the highest salaries.

Another major factor that affects graphic design pricing for full-time designers is the “level of experience.” Not all graphic designers are on the same skill level, some have more experience and proficiency.

A vivid example is the average salary of Senior Graphic Designers in the USA. With the experience of over 8 years, they earn 70% more than the average salary. That is about $77,000 per annum.

It is also important to remember other design costs. There is a fee known as the “hidden fee.” This is one of the design costs of hiring in-house designers. This fee covers the designer’s subscription to certain design software such as Adobe Creative Cloud. The subscription gives the design access to software like Illustrator and Photoshop and it costs about $34 each month.

Pros of Using Full-time Designers

  • They are always available.
  • No extra costs on revisions or last-minute changes.
  • Brand familiarity.

Cons of Using Full-time Designers

  • There may be laxity in carrying out tasks.
  • Lack of flexibility since the designer may have a single specialty.

Why Invest in Graphic Design for Your Business?

Now you know about graphic design pricing, that’s great. Many business owners still ask, why should I invest in graphic design for my business? Check out a few reasons below:

  • People will always remember quality design. When they do, they’ll remember your brand.
  • It communicates your brand values.
  • Puts you ahead of the competition.
  • Increases sales or conversions.

Round-Up

There you have it, all you need to know about graphic design pricing. We have also shown you why you should invest in the services of Delesign for the graphic design needs of your business.

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Maria De La PeñaMaria is a Content Writer with keen interest in eCommerce and Internet Marketing. She is a Communications graduate and understands what it takes to write persuasive copy and blog posts. Outside of work, you can find her mini-blogging about her life on social media.