Is my deposit refundable?
In general, project deposits are not refundable because they’ve reserved space for your project to the exclusion of others and I’ve already undertaken preliminary work. If you, as a client, cancel your job, you will not get a deposit refund and, if the project was in advanced stages, may need to pay additional fees for the cancellation and to cover any work that’s not yet paid for.
That said, in the extremely unlikely scenario that I as the designer have to cancel your project due to extenuating circumstances and at no client fault, I’ll refund your deposit minus any outstanding fees for completed work.
I think you’re too expensive.
Investment 101: You have to spend money to make money. If you think I’m too expensive, I recommend re-examining your budget and, if you still think your desired pricing is fair, seeking another designer. I would also ask you to consider whether a budget-oriented approach is right for your business at this time or if a result-oriented approach may provide a better return on investment.
My prices rose to $100 per hour in February 2024, after more than 2 years of being consistently booked out more than a month in advance – and not having enough downtime for my own life and creative recovery. My pricing is at this level for a reason. Also, all my prices include GST, which you may be able to claim back at tax time – alongside my fees, which are business expenses you’ll probably be able to claim as a tax deduction.
In general, you should expect to pay at least the price equivalent of your own most expensive service for branding and web design, as your brand design and website will attract customers who buy from you over and over again.
Finally, I recently wrote an article about how much graphic design costs, and you might like to take a read to learn more about it!
I think you’re too cheap.
If you feel your quote is too low and it’s left you with questions about my dedication to your project and its ability to succeed, please reach out and we can re-evaluate the scope, output requirements, availability requirements, and investment, and adjust accordingly.
Feeling Unsure
I don’t know if we’re right for each other.
No service is for everyone!
You’re right for me if…
You’re ambitious, creative, willing to invest money in your dreams, and good at communicating – OR, a government organisation or not-for-profit needing custom work from an individual because your in-house designer is overloaded or doesn’t exist.
I’m right for you if…
You want quality, a personal touch to your design, and a well-thought out solution that takes a few weeks and drafts to truly nail.
We’re not right for each other if…
You’re after a quick fix, a very cheap solution, or a designer you don’t need to talk to clearly. We’re also not right for each other if:
- You need to closely monitor your designer and their work – space and trust is incredibly important to me to be able to work properly and creatively, so after our initial consultations and strategy sessions, I will e-mail you when drafts are ready for feedback and should otherwise be left to get my work done. I’m a tertiary-qualified specialist with multiple Bachelor’s degrees, and I expect to be trusted.
- Your deadlines are so rigid that the possibility of 1-2 weeks breathing room, or a hold on the job, in the case of an unexpected event or emergency is not possible.
- You feel you should be the exception to the rule: for example, you don’t stick to the conditions of the brief you agreed to, you repeatedly miss deadlines, or you expect your job to be prioritised over my other clients when you haven’t paid the express rate. This includes expecting unpaid travel or other stipulations which would normally be considered unreasonable.
*Please be respectful*One of the reasons I run my own business is to have full control over the way I operate and how it aligns with my values. If you are disrespectful to me or others, discriminatory based on gender, weight or LGBTQI status, or engaging in illegal activity, your project will be cancelled and you may be reported. I don’t enjoy having to do this, but it has been done before.
I’m scared this is going to be wrong for me after I commit, and I won’t be able to back out.
I accept cancellations anytime during your booked timeslot with a 15% cancellation fee to cover the lost booking, as long as you pay for any work I’ve done which wasn’t already covered by the amount of your deposit. If you have external circumstances that have caused your cancellation and I feel these were materially out of your control and extremely impactful, I may even decide to waive some or all of your fees. Just communicate with me and let me know what’s going on! You can find more info in my Terms and Conditions.
I’m worried I’m not going to be taken care of properly and I’ll be wasting my money.
I got into graphic design to help people’s business dreams come true and use my exceptional creative skills to inject flair and excitement into the world. I also take care of my clients like my friends, because they’re helping me live my own dreams. You may discover that we’re not the right mix, and that’s fine, you can move on to someone else next time – but one thing you shouldn’t be worried about is being taken care of.
In fact, many of my existing clients feel I go above and beyond for them.
Logos and Branding
Why can’t I just make my own logo using AI or Canva?
We’re privileged to live in a world where art is accessible at our fingertips, and AI is a fun and useful tool. Unfortunately, the second and more important part of design is using it to market effectively towards your target customer and AI has not yet met this goal.
AI works by using data collected from crawling the internet, then integrating that information together to provide responses and generate artwork that it feels suits the prompt you’ve given. It’s not yet at the level where it can do this seamlessly, and AI art almost always features errors; most obvious in incorrectly-spelled words, smudged or distorted graphics, and nonsense letters. By using AI you may also be inadvertently stealing aspects of someone else’s design that it’s picked up during its learning phase, and a huge backlash against AI happened in 2023 for this reason. This could get you into serious legal trouble if you are found to have accidentally plagiarised another person’s intellectual property.
Canva provides more ability to create a design from scratch, but your artwork is still likely to have a “homemade” feel and you will be locked out of the vector artwork you need unless you pay for a premium subscription. Meanwhile, many designers who use Canva work from existing templates and you may find your finished product is a duplicate of other people’s and not able to be protected by trademark.
Branding from scratch is critical because it’s how you set yourself apart from the noise and communicate your brand values to your ideal client. It’s the first step in your customer’s process of recognising you, trusting you, and then buying from you (hopefully repeatedly!). One day, your brand might be as well-known and sought-after as Nike’s or Tesla’s… if you do the process properly.
Do I have to get the whole logo package? I don’t think I need the branding sheet or mockups.
You can get “”just the logo” in my Basic package for $399, but this is aimed at very small businesses who are just starting out and are super limited by their budget.
You’re going to disadvantage yourself by not building a full brand for your business, because that’s how you’re going to properly connect to your audience, build a loyal client base, and start making serious money. Tone of voice, colour palette, use of shape, and font choice are part of this, and are so important to nail down to get your business recognised and respected. On a practical note, it’s also going to be really difficult for you to build a nice-looking and professional website, business card, or set of print ads if you’ve just got a logo with no business colours or fonts to use.
This is why I only offer the Basic package to super tiny, absolute beginner startups (or home offices, or family campgrounds, etc).
Websites
I can just make a website myself somewhere like Wix or Shopify. Why would I hire a designer to do this?
Go for it – if you need help, I can help you out with tweaks and changes for $100 per hour.
But websites are a super niche job, and it’s generally just easier to employ someone who knows what they’re doing so that you don’t have to spend time learning it yourself. Fun fact – it took me 3 years learning on and off before I was finally confident using WordPress, and I’m a designer with university web design experience. Time is money and your time could be better spent actually running your business, not trying to figure out Squarespace’s editor or where Shopify’s postage settings have gone.
Please also be advised that I’m no longer offering websites on Wix due to the Israeli Government’s genocide in Gaza – more info here.
It’s not the right time to get a professional website – money is too tight.
First of all – I offer payment plans! I understand that, especially for small business owners, investing in graphic design work can be much easier when broken up into more manageable payment portions. If you’re interested in a payment plan, simply tick that box during your questionnaire phase and I’ll send through a proposal.
Secondly – holding back on investing in your business because you’re uncomfortable with the spend is a circular trap. If money is too tight to invest in a website and online marketing, then you will get fewer paying clients and remain stuck. While lowering our design and marketing expenses (“spending less money”) is our first instinct when things are looking a little uncomfortable, it might have the opposite effect to what you want because it will choke your positive cash flow and slow your growth. Not to mention that your start-up period is always going to be expensive – because you’re building the foundation for your operations and all your future success!
If you find yourself seriously budget-worried, I would re-evaluate whether now is the right time to be starting or growing a business, and perhaps wait until you’ve got more money set aside and feel a bit more comfortable making more thorough brand and website investments. You might like to take a professional development course or do a deep-dive into business planning so that when you are financially ready, all the key groundwork is done and you’re set up for success.
I also recommend jumping on my e-mail list (see the footer) so you stay in touch for future opportunities or in case any deals come up. We can also discuss a payment plan so that you can pay in smaller and more spread-out instalments. Or – hey – I’ve got other colleagues who might be more suitable for you, and am always happy to refer.
Books and Reports
I don’t need a professional designer to design and set up my book up for me – I can do it myself.
You always have the right to do things yourself, and that’s a valid choice.
But – before you make this decision, ensure you read up (haha) about book design theory.
Seemingly small factors like line spacing, font style, and the space between the text and the edge of the pages can make a huge difference to the reading experience. For example: did you know that the inside margins generally have to be bigger than the outside ones to make sure no content is sucked into the spine during binding? Plus, the outside margins have to be wide enough for a reader to put their thumb while holding the book, without covering any text!
Also, when designing a book, I recommend using Adobe InDesign rather than something like Notes or Word, as it will give you a much more professional look and it’s way easier to export for eReaders like the Kindle.
Why are your books and reports so expensive?
Book and report design frequently runs into the thousands of dollars. There are several reasons for this:
- It takes an incredible amount of time to design a long, custom publication like a novel or annual report. It’s the design equivalent of running a marathon.
- You’re more likely to see a good financial return from your work if you invest into your reader’s visual experience properly.
- I generally don’t take royalties from client book sales unless I’ve worked under a publisher, so it’s likely that your design fees will be the only payment I ever see from designing or illustrating your novel or picture book. Fees are quite high to make sure I receive some compensation for this.
- In the case of annual reports, these documents directly influence shareholder perception of your company – so you need to be spending several thousands of dollars because it could secure you way more than that in funding and/or support next financial year.
If you’ve got any other questions, just send me an e-mail and let’s have a chat!
