Ask any established entrepreneur for tips on boosting business, and they’ll readily tell you to get a good graphic designer. Sadly, many small business owners think of graphic design as an expensive luxury. While it is truly frustrating, it is something you need to prioritize. To give you a better understanding, here are the reasons why graphic design is expensive. We’ll also throw in ways to get excellent graphic design without breaking the bank.

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The Top Reasons Why Graphic Design is So Expensive

“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.” -Ralf Speth

The following are the primary reasons graphic design can cost so much:

Graphic Design is Time Intensive

Graphic design is a meticulous process that involves careful planning before any drawing begins. It’s not just about combining images and icons but a series of steps that consume a significant amount of time. Here’s a breakdown of where those hours go:

Research: A graphic designer isn’t just doodling something for you. They’re crafting for your audience. This means they will familiarize themselves with your brand identity and your target market and go as far as studying your competition. To create designs for you, they need to know what resonates with your audience and what makes you stand out.

Design Process: The design process is a long, winding road, not a straight path from idea to finished product. It involves brainstorming concepts, developing these into visuals, and then incorporating your feedback through rounds of revisions. When you see a concept, you only see the tip of the iceberg, representing the hours of experimentation, exploration, and refinement.

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You’re Paying for Experience and Expertise

When you hire a skilled graphic designer, you pay for more than just their technical proficiency. Their experience and expertise go into the equation, bringing to the table the following:

Knowledge of Design Principles: Understanding and executing the core principles of color theory, typography, layout, and composition takes time and hours of study. Without these principles, you will end up with visual assets that lack appeal and functionality. Experienced designers will leverage these to create designs that look great while achieving your goals.

Awareness of Trends: An updated designer knows the latest in the design landscape. They stay current with the top trends and use them to make your brand relevant and fresh. 

Aside from their expertise, graphic designers with ample experience will provide you with the following values:

Creative Problem-Solving Abilities: Experienced graphic designers have encountered and found solutions to the most common (and even uncommon) design challenges. They will know how to find creative solutions that may not be instantly obvious to a newbie designer or someone from your team who DIYs your designs.

Efficiency: Experience equates to efficiency, meaning a seasoned designer will know how to navigate the design process smoothly. This will save you precious time and reduce your project’s cost significantly.

Graphic Design Delivers Value

Great design goes beyond beautifying your website or social media platforms. Getting a professional to design your visual assets adds value to your business in the following ways:

Brand Identity: Your brand is more than just your logo. It is the identity and personality you project to the world. An experienced designer can create a cohesive visual language that strengthens your branding identity across all platforms.

User Experience (UX): While an effective design is one that grabs attention, it is more than that. It’s about guiding the viewers through your website, app, or marketing materials to lead them in your desired direction. A skilled designer can do it clearly and intuitively, leading to higher engagement, conversions, and, ultimately, sales.

Quality Design Comes at a Cost

Another factor that adds to the high price of graphic design is the costs that go beyond the designer’s hourly or per-project fees. These are the following:

The Design Arsenal

Industry-Standard Software: Design software such as the Adobe Creative Suite can be expensive with ongoing subscription fees. 

High-Performance Hardware: To operate these complex design software, a graphic designer will need a powerful computer with enough power and memory. 

Premium Resources: To complete your design, these professionals will require the use of fonts, icons, stock images, and other visual assets that add to the cost. While you can find these for free, designers must invest in high-quality resources to add class to your designs and ensure legal use.

The Continuous Journey of Learning

The design landscape is constantly evolving. Graphic designers need to stay at the forefront, which means they should undergo continuous learning:

Industry Workshops and Conferences: Graphic designers need to attend industry events that allow networking with peers, learning from industry experts, and discovering new technologies and trends.

Online Tutorials and Courses: The graphic design world is dynamic, and online resources allow designers to learn new skills and be updated on the latest software development and other technological advancements.

Finding the Right Design Partner

To get the design expertise that fits your business, you need to know how to navigate the range of costs and find the right designer. Here are a few things you need to be aware of:

Design Costs

Hourly Rates: This pricing model bases its charges on the time spent on the project. It is suitable for smaller projects with undefined scopes.

Project Fees: This pricing approach sets a fixed rate for the whole project. It’s suitable for well-defined projects with clear deliverables.

Revisions: Revisions can incur additional costs when you need to refine a project.

Finding the Right Design Partner

Set Your Budget: To find out what you can and cannot afford, create realistic plans with your budget. Top-tier designers will charge higher, so give them your more complex tasks. If your project is a simple logo design, you may want to hire an entry-level designer to keep the cost down.

The Scope of your Projects: A well-defined project scope helps filter your designer search and select one who has the right skill set.

The Power of Portfolios: Browse through portfolios to find the designer with the right experience and style that matches your requirements. 

Online Marketplaces: Sites such as Upwork, Toptal, and Fiverr are excellent sources of creative freelancers you can hire for your design projects. 

Why You Should Work with Penji

To get the perfect mix of quality and affordability, Penji is your best bet. Our unlimited graphic design service lets you get the best designs at flat, monthly rates. We only hire the best designers, so you won’t need to search, interview, or vet. Watch our quick demo video here to learn what we do. You can also start working with our designers by clicking this link today.

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