Artwork and customers amendments how far do you go!

[Jill Marie Welsh]

When I bid on a job, in my proposal it says that I will offer up two sketches.
Of those two, usually someone will pick one or the other, or a combination of both (say they like the font in sketch A but the colors in sketch B)
I don’t charge for that revision, or any simple revision of either initial sketch.
But anything and I do mean ANYTHING after that (unless it is a typo on my part) is $75.
You’ll be amazed at how much $75 per revision makes them make up their mind.
Or, if I have to keep on revising, it makes it worth my while.
(I have a restaurant menu customer this same way, or should I say had. After the last job, when he calls again wanting something for nothing, I will be either too busy or too expensive to help him)
Love….Jill

[John Singh]

Menus can be a nightmare because there’s so much text and time is spent laying it out to look aesthetically pleasing to one’s eye
I have a printer now so that makes it easier

In general I normally send a couple of proofs with caption Draft 1, and then Draft 2 letting them know that after several designs we have to start charging per hour for Graphic Designer’s time
You have to let them know that you can’t just keep revising and revising

In some cases, not all, I now ask folk to search for a font they particularly like especially when they say ‘can you pick out a nice font for me’. Most people have a PC and can normally choose from, say, Microsoft fonts

[Phill Fenton]

I think we all experience this problem which is why I wrote about it in a blog recently.

Only last week a really nice regular customer called around to discuss layouts for his vehicle. I trust him enough to know he won’t go elsewhere but he is a nightmare to get a decision out of.

Anyway, having already gone through two completely different scenarios for his van he was in asking for a third alternative to be drawn up. I had agreed to do this and at that point another customer arrived so he made his exit, only to return a few minutes later to say I really like how you’ve done your van, can you also draft me a layout doing something similar? I was in the middle of a conversation with the other customer so had no time to consider my response and he went away merrily.

I therefore sent him the following email and he came back in again next day with a cheque for £150. Result 😀

Here’s the email I sent him:-

As a good and loyal customer, I have never charged you up front for artwork, however, as you have now requested a further two designs, (I have already drawn up two designs) I now need to ask for a deposit for artwork.

The charge for further artwork is £40 + VAT per hour. Your latest request is for two completely different designs to be created and I estimate this will take two hours to put together.

I hope you are not offended by this and would draw your attention to the following:-

Reasons Why Professional Sign Makers Cannot Work for Free

Dear potential sign buyer,

If you have been directed to this page, it is likely that you have requested a set of visuals and free suggestions for your signage requirement before committing to buy.

As professional sign makers, we receive requests for free artwork on a regular basis. In a perfect world, each of us would love to be able to respond in a positive manner and assist. It is fair to say that in many cases, we wish we had the time and resources to do more than just send a quotation.

Please take the following points in the constructive manner in which they are intended. We certainly hope that after you have had a chance to read this, we will be able to talk again and establish a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Sign Designs Are Our Livelihood:-
Creating compelling images is the way we make our living. If we give away our designs for free, or spend too much time responding to requests for a quotation by including free suggestions (which may not go ahead), we cannot make a living.

We Have Time Constraints:-
Providing free artwork with every quote we are asked for, is impractical, if for no other reason than the substantial amount of time required to respond to requests, exchange correspondence, prepare and send files. It takes a lot of time to respond to requests in such a detailed manner, and time is always in short supply. We have an obligation to ensure we give quality time to our paying customers. If we are busy churning out speculative designs, we are failing to provide our paying customers with the amount of attention they deserve.

We Have Real Budget Constraints:-
With some exceptions, Sign Making is not a highly remunerative profession. We have chosen this path in large part due to the passion we have for visual communication in which we specialise.

However, being a professional sign maker involves significant monetary investment.

Our profession is by nature equipment-intensive. We need to buy printers, cutters, computers, software, storage devices, and more on a regular basis. Things break and need to be repaired. We need back-ups of all our data, as one ill-placed cup of coffee could literally erase years of work. For all of us, investment in essential hardware and software entails thousands of pounds a year, as we need to stay current with new technology and best practices.

And of course, perhaps most importantly, there is a substantial sum associated with the time and experience we have invested to become proficient at what we do. Creating good quality designs for our signs requires skill, experience and judgement. We therefore require fair remuneration for any time spent actively working on designs regardless of whether or not these designs get used

“You Are The Only Sign Maker Being Unreasonable”:-
When we do have time to engage in correspondence with people and entities who request free designs, the dialogue sometimes degenerates into an agitated statement directed toward us, asserting in essence that all other Sign Makers the person or entity has contacted are more than delighted to provide designs for free, and that somehow, we are “the only signmaker being unreasonable”. We know that is not true.

We also know that no reasonable and competent Sign Maker should agree to spend an unreasonable amount of time producing visuals for a contract he or she has not yet won. We do allow for the fact that some inexperienced Signmakers may indeed agree to work for free, but as the folk wisdom goes: “You get what you pay for.”

Kind regards

Phill Fenton

[Adrian Hewson]

Two years ago we corrected artwork free of charge and produc vinyls overnight for £30, maybe feeling benvolent but.

The Girl worked for Sky Televsion the account is currently worth in excess of £50K per year

We spent many months quoting and doing free graphics for a local girl and kept losing the business to Glasgow, three years ago we did another favour and the account moved, the girl worked for Stagecoach, as you see the buses go past in Fife you can be sure we do at least 75% of them

Decide who you want to charge artwork as a seperate cost to, look at your customers and make your decisions, we almost never charge for artwork unless that is the only part ot e job.

Been in business 10+ years, first year we did £40K last year we did £500K