Nice Branding Agency is a
graphic design company with offices in
Nashville, Tennessee and
Lakeland, Florida. When prospective clients inquire with Nice Branding Agency, often times they ask for a price quote for a job. Vice President Samantha Bamaca, is breaking down why it's not always as simple as it may seem to pull together a quote for a graphic design project.
At the beginning of any graphic design project, clients are often concerned about cost before committing to working with a graphic design company. While we totally get that you need to have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into, there are several factors that may prohibit a graphic design company from quoting a project at the initial stages. We want you to know that we aren’t withholding information from you, it’s just not always possible to foresee the scope of work that will be necessary, until we get further into the project.
Do We Ever Quote Projects?
Of course, we send a ton of proposals out to prospective clients each week. Sometimes tons of times each day. And there’s a good bit of 'quoting' going on to get a proposal together and over to a potential client. So, yes, we can provide quotes on projects.
However, when we provide an estimate on a proposal-based project, we, the graphic design company, know that we will be driving the bus on said project. We are estimating the cost on a certain type of project that we work on regularly, have a set process for, and will be able to plan and schedule for accordingly.
For example, we know just how a logo development project will go down for our graphic design company. We’ve created hundreds upon hundreds of logos, and when you decide to have your logo created by Nice Branding Agency, the wheels of the agency will start turning and the process for logo development will be initiated. We know exactly what will go into creating a logo you will love, and we know just what team members will need to work on the project, and for how long.
This, my friends, allows us to quote the project. It’s years and years of data that we’ve analyzed and trends that we’ve noted that allow us to say with certainty that your logo will use x amount of our resources.
HINT: Want to know what x amount really adds up to? Contact Samantha at s.bamaca@nice-branding.com and she’ll hook you up with a proposal for logo development.
So, Why Can’t A Graphic Design Company Quote My Brochure Design?
When you come to our graphic design company with an idea for a brochure, it’s not that we don’t want to ballpark it for you. It’s just that we can’t. There are so many factors that go into creating a design piece that are difficult to envision at the beginning of the project.
First of all, who knows how long it will take to nail down the perfect version of your design? You might say to us, “I already have the idea and I’ve sketched it out here, so it shouldn’t take too long!” And to that we have to tell you that we respectfully beg to differ. Have you ever tried jumping into a project and having to work with what’s existing? It’s not any easier. No offense to the ideas you’ve come up with, but it’s tricky for a client to dictate the design process. More on that topic over on the blog we wrote about
trusting your branding company.
But in all seriousness, design is a strategic, creative process that involves not only extensive discussion with the client about their expectations, but also research and then the actual time the designer will spend to sit down and bring your design to life (usually in a dozen or so different versions before the final project is formed).
Then we’ve got to go through approvals. Internal approvals within our graphic design company, and then the piece has got to go to you for approval. We aren’t able to estimate how extensive your changes will be, which is another reason we really can’t quote time needed on a project.
Side Note: On the proposal projects we mentioned above, we set a limit on the number of revisions included in the cost. For a graphic design project, such as a brochure, we don’t technically limit revisions, however, more revisions means more time spent on the projects, which impacts the final cost.
You might say to yourself, “Well, if you listen to my needs, there shouldn’t be many changes.” That’s not exactly a true statement. Often, even when we address a client’s needs and desires for the project precisely, we are met with changes. Sometimes a client needs to see his vision come to life to realize that that is not what will really work for his business.
Again, if you can convey your goal for the piece and then trust the branding company you hired (that’s us) to create something that will serve your goal well, you’re less likely to run into this type of roadblock.
And Another Thing About Working With A Graphic Design Company
You might be wondering if there’s any way we can help explain how extensive or simple your project will be to help you gauge cost. Let’s just say that it’s hard for a graphic design company to dictate the vision of a project to a client. Keep in mind that as hard as it is for you to get across all that you need in your new brochure, for example, it’s just as hard for the designer to explain everything that has to come together for the project to be completed.
Time spent, complexity of the design, materials that go into shipping or printing designs, number of native files and mockups that go into the final design, and how fast you need the design completed all impact pricing, and it’s impossible to see all of that coming when a client contacts you and just asks, “Hey, how much for a new brochure?”
So, What Can A Graphic Design Company Do?
There are some things that can be done to speed up the process. And time is literally money, so these tips might save you a little of both as you work with a graphic design company. As a client, the more information you can give your graphic design company the better. So, offer all the details and opinions you have and then leave the pricing and the design work to the pros.
Just as you trust the graphic design company you hired with the design work of your project, you can trust them with the pricing, too. In the end, we want you to know that completing your project within your budget is a success for us, too. Our goal is for you to love what we’ve created, and come back to us time and time again. We are in the relationship business, and we want our interactions with you to be more than transactional. Delivering a project on time and within your budget makes you happy, which makes us happy.
Ask your graphic design company about what the process is like for pricing instead of what the pricing is. We can point you toward a package that might work well for you or give you more details about the project that might help you budget appropriately.
We love assisting our clients and potential clients in navigating the relationship with a graphic design company. If you are trying to get going on a graphic design project,
give us a call. We'd love to get the conversation started.
