How To Set A Graphic Design Budget For Your Business?
Ok! So, you have come to terms with the fact that designing professional graphics for your online business operations is not something you can do effectively by yourself. In that case, the first smart thing to do is to hire a professional graphic designer or an agency.
But, that would require setting a separate graphic design budget for your business.
Now, if we go back a couple of decades and think of how budgets were set up for different business operations, graphic designing would nowhere be in the picture.
However, that’s not the case anymore!
The visual elements, today, play a key role in establishing a name for a brand and determining the success of a company on the digital platform. And, that is why it is important to set a graphic design budget for your business.
But, the question that arises first, when setting a budget for your graphic design projects, is that, “How much is too much?” or “What should be the ideal budget for graphic designing?”
The answer to such questions largely relies on a few important determinants. Let’s take a look at those determinants and see how you can go about setting the right budget for your graphic design needs.
The objective of creating graphic designs
The first thing that you need to understand – in order to decide a realistic graphic design budget – is the objective behind it. Why exactly do you need graphic design?
Well, yes! We have already highlighted that graphic design is an important element for making a brand a success in today’s time. But, there has to be a particular purpose for which you want to go ahead with outsourcing your graphic design requirements.
For example, let’s say you have decided to take your brick-and-mortar business online to increase your audience outreach.
Now, as a startup, there will be a lot to do for you with regards to your visual communications. And, therefore, you’d need to have a professional and highly skilled designer (or agency) working on your graphic design projects. You cannot simply compromise with the quality of your designs.
Whether you are just starting out a new online venture or are an established brand looking to revamp your brand’s look to attract a new segment of the audience, outline the objective to get the first level idea of how much would you be willing to spend to achieve that objective efficiently.
Type of graphics you want to get designed
After answering ‘Why’ you need graphic design for your business, it’s time to answer ‘What’ designs you need for your business.
It could be a;
- Social media page design
A thorough analysis of your business requirements, as well as analysis of your competitors from the industry, can help you big time in determining the kind of graphics you should get designed.
Know the current market value
This determinant is very important to set the right graphic design budget for your business but, is equally challenging at the same time.
It can get tricky to find the right balance for your graphic design outsourcing plan in a way that, there’s always a resource who would charge less for the same design project. But, that would not guarantee you quality work for your graphic designs.
However, paying more than what is ideal for a graphic design project is also something that can hamper your budget.
Therefore, it is always a good practice to do some market research and find out the ideal price that professional designers or agencies charge.
Mostly, designing agencies or freelancers may charge;
- By the hour (depending upon experience, expertise, and demand),
- By the project (based on the actual scope of the work)
- By the value (what the finished design represents in terms of reach, revenue, and duration).
There is also the issue of transfer of rights, meetings with the client, and correspondence that are taken into consideration by professional agencies – such as GraphicsZoo – to outline their fee.
You can check out the price list of design services offered by GraphicsZoo here.
Estimate the length of your project
Well, quality work takes time to complete! And, that is why you need to establish the timeline of your project in the very beginning.
If it is a design that you need on an urgent basis – such as a logo, or a business card design – you need to take that into consideration while negotiating with the other party whom you are outsourcing your design services to.
Experienced designers will have a good sense of how much time a project will require, and will communicate it upfront.
And, as explained in the previous point, designers charge on an hourly basis as well. So, consider the hourly rate for the type of designer you need and then multiply that by the estimated number of hours you expect the job to take.
Remember that the timeline is just an estimation and could go slightly beyond; which is understood given the fact that there would be revisions in the design.
Apart from these common determinants, some of the more uncommon yet substantial factors that could play a role in setting a graphic design budget for your business include;
- List of your fixed as well as variable designs.
- ROI of your designs.
- Extension or variation of the scope of work.
- Complexity involved in the design project.
To conclude…
As an experienced business professional, you’d know that nothing goes as planned and, things tend to deviate at times. A professional graphic design agency or freelancer you’d be hiring would know it too.
So, if you seek a fixed budget amount written on a stone for your graphic design projects then, that would not be possible.
However, considering all the determinants discussed above, you can surely get a fair idea of what could be an ideal budget that you can set for your graphic design needs.
To know just how much to spend, start by analyzing what designs you need, estimating the costs, looking at your budget, and assigning the needed percentage of the marketing budget to have them made.
If you are looking to outsource your graphic design projects, get in touch with us at support@graphicszoo.com