As mentioned, I am self-taught with no formal design education. I started learning to design in my first proper job back in 2000! At that time I was working in London for the International Herald Tribune [IHT] newspaper – now called the International New York Times. I was a member of the support team for the advertising sales department. The IHT was a hard paper to sell – up against huge business publications like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Consequently, the sales team welcomed any ideas or tools to help them win the business.

To obtain experience I started by creating their sales decks in Powerpoint. I then moved on to producing ad mock-ups in Photoshop. The designs were placed within pages of the actual newspaper to help their client visualise the potential impact of the proposal, as upon turning the page the client was face to face with their own brand. This approach was effective and in constant demand, so I seized the opportunity to start learning how to be a graphic designer.

The head office was in Paris, so in London, there was only one in-house graphic design position in the marketing department. Despite being offered a sales manager role, when the design post became vacant I immediately applied. To my great shock, I got the job.

I was playing catch-up and had a lot to learn. So in my spare time – evenings and weekends – I was designing for friends and starting to nurture my own clients. After the IHT, despite my educational background and lack of experience, I managed to land a new design role within a financial PR firm. Whilst there I continued to maintain my own out-of-hours clients. A year and a half later in 2005 I left and went solo. I have worked for myself ever since.

This can vary dramatically depending on the complexity of the design project and the volume of deliverables required. Generally, I have found that branding projects range from around 4 – 12 weeks. Another key factor is the availability of the client.

When asking new clients what the deadline is for their design project, the most common response is ASAP. Yet, once the work begins customers are often too busy to connect and maintain project momentum. Consequently, if your design requirement is time-sensitive, try to allocate diary slots in advance to ensure it will proceed at an optimal rate.

Please also bear in mind that, unlike other sectors, with graphic design, it is not possible to only conduct one project at a time and stay in business. Graphic designers and creative agencies will usually be working with multiple companies at any given moment. Some take on too much, which means both the clients and the results suffer. Saying no is hard, as the opportunities are exciting and the creative sector is very competitive. But through experience, I have found it is essential to maintain a healthy business, happy customers, and my sanity. 

This is always a tricky aspect to get right. When I used to work with media agencies a day-rate approach worked perfectly, since design projects were unpredictable and regularly took far longer than stated. If this happened, the agency would simply bill the client for the extra time. But with direct customers, this approach is simply not feasible as their design budget is usually capped.

Based on this experience I create bespoke price options for each project. Usually, three routes are proposed that vary in price from the essentials required through to every potential design deliverable you may need. At this point, if required, you can pick and mix deliverables to create a perfect, bespoke package.

This approach is great for you as the client, since it places all of the risk with Superfried. Regardless of how quickly the design project proceeds, within reason, you know how much it will cost. If I can create a design solution quickly, I earn more. If I take longer, I make less. Either way, you will have no hidden surprises.

For larger organisations, it may be necessary to provide design support regularly after the brand identity has been launched. In scenarios like this, I can establish a retainer package, or if the requirements are irregular, price additional design work on an ad-hoc basis. Although the latter option will be less cost-effective for the client.

With regards to billing, generally, I will request a 50% deposit before we start. Then upon completion, an invoice for the remaining 50% will be raised. However, having worked with numerous start-ups I also appreciate that it is a serious expense, particularly at the beginning for smaller companies when cashflow is challenging and can be key to survival. 

Consequently, I have always adopted a flexible approach to billing. With many clients rather than the standard 50% deposit, I break the projects down into 3-4 stages to reduce the initial burden and invoice for the remainder as the design project progresses. 

For other clients, I have actually broken the design project up into separate phases, introduced as their requirements increase and budgets permit. The discovery and logo stages are the most time consuming and costly, but required first, so this flexible approach helps to spread the costs evenly, whilst ensuring I can deliver a complete design strategy and solution. 

Some design agencies can be very specific and authoritarian about this to avoid scope creep. I can totally understand why, as I have had design projects in the past that have far outstayed their welcome. Having said that, I see design as a very organic process so I am quite flexible with regard to design iterations. It is difficult to be so specific about what is a change vs general progression and refinement. As long as the requests are reasonable it should not be a problem. However, if we are about to go live and you suddenly request a major change such as the company name – yes, that has actually happened! – we will need to have a little chat.

When you receive the final design files and all payments have been completed, the copyright for the design work will now reside with you, the client. I only ask that I am granted permission to use the project design visuals for promotional purposes via my portfolio and social media. Be reassured I will always run any copy or case studies by you before going live.

This can be a concern for clients because there is a misconception about how a design project is billed. If I am charging a creative agency on a day rate, then it is fair for them to claim ownership of the design work created on their time. For that duration, I am effectively just another member of their staff.

But for a project rate, the price is based on value and the delivery of a design solution rather than time. Since you are paying for one solution, all unused ideas and design work will be retained by Superfried. If design agencies did not adopt this approach we would all have run out of creative ideas years ago!

Ok, so what do you do with the unused design work then?

Most unused ideas and designs are recycled as the starting point to generate new ideas for subsequent design projects. But don’t be alarmed, through the development process the final creative execution will never resemble the original source. The recycled ideas are merely used as a seed to set the design process in motion.