BRANDING AND GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDIOS
How to Price Branding Work So the Thinking Gets Paid
A founder messages at night asking for the logo in blue, then green, then "something in between". The project was quoted at a flat fee and is now in its ninth week. Your designer has stopped enjoying the account.
We advise on how the studio is run: pricing by deliverable and stage, revision limits, advance and milestone payments, who owns the client relationship, and which briefs you should turn down. We do not design, name or position brands for anyone, and we leave contract and trademark questions to a lawyer.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01The fee is quoted for the logo file, but the strategy workshop, naming research and brand guideline are done for free because they were in the first conversation.
- 02Clients ask for unlimited tweaks, and with no revision limit written down, the studio absorbs the cost of every round without anyone counting it.
- 03Final files are released before the last instalment arrives, so the studio loses its hold on payment and then waits for a payment that keeps slipping.
- 04Designers are busy with small jobs that pay little, while the larger brand projects wait for the founder, who is also pitching, invoicing and chasing.
- 05Each project is priced from scratch, so two similar briefs get very different quotes depending on how confident the owner felt that day.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A written stage list for each project: discovery, concepts, refinement, guideline and handover, each with its own fee line
- 02Rounds of revision included at each stage and the hourly rate charged after that
- 03Advance and milestone payments tied to a sign-off, with the date final files are released
- 04Hours per designer logged against each project, compared with the fee
- 05A menu of fixed-price packages, such as a logo only job or a full identity, so quotes stay consistent
- 06The brief form the studio asks every enquirer to fill before a quote
- 07Which clients came back for a second project, and what the studio earned on each
- 08Who handles client calls, who signs off concepts and when the founder steps in
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Pick your last three projects and list every task done beyond the logo, such as research, workshops and mock-ups. Estimate hours for each and see what your fee really paid per hour.
- Write a two-line revision rule: how many rounds each stage includes and what extra rounds cost. Attach it to the next quote you send.
- Hypothetical example: a flat fee of ₹60,000 covers three rounds. Eight rounds took 90 hours. At a studio cost of ₹700 an hour, the job cost ₹63,000 and earned nothing.
- Check every open project for an unpaid instalment and decide whether final files are held until it clears. Put the release rule in writing before you send the next file.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A stage-based quote template with deliverables, revision limits and payment dates in plain language
- A one-page project tracker with hours, fee, invoices raised and invoices received
- A brief-qualification checklist for deciding whether to quote, decline or suggest a smaller scope
- A weekly studio meeting format covering current stage, blockers, payments due and next week capacity
Not the right fit when: If a client is disputing ownership of a design or a trademark clash has come up, a lawyer comes first. We are also not much use if the studio has no steady enquiries to price.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
