Graphic designers are the ones who you should thank every time you come across a beautiful magazine cover or an interesting advertisement. But for the long hours they put into their designs, few are truly appreciated and most times are underpaid as well.
The problem lies in the supply and demand, there are too many bright-eyed fresh grads who are eager to start working and share their creativity to the world. This results in a highly competitive industry, as large companies prefer graphic designers with experience and strong talent – which leaves those with lesser experience (or none at all) no choice but to accept a job offer that pays a ridiculously low salary. The upside of being a graphic designer is that they can also make money on the side as freelancers, and with enough experience and portfolio, they can earn a better salary in no time.
Pricing Domino Effect
A graphic designer does not get paid as they should have because of many factors, and one of them is because of the pricing domino effect. Domino effect has happened when junior graphic designer put lower price for their artwork. This will give a lousy perception to the client about all graphic designer are easy to get and can be paid by a little cost. This will affect every senior designer price rate because most of the client will go for the cheapest one, and once this thing happens, all the price will slowly decrease, and that time domino effect occurs.
How to Stabilize Price Range?
Hourly Pricing
Firstly, pricing hourly for every work or an amendment. Hourly pricing can be incredibly advantageous in certain circumstances and can count every progress that you had made as a payment for your job. Hourly pricing, also known as rate-based pricing, is commonly used by consultants, freelancers, contractors, and other individuals or labourers who provide business services. Hourly pricing is essentially trading time for money. Some clients are hesitant to honour this pricing strategy as it can reward labour instead of efficiency.
Licensing & Rights Management
Secondly, we also can use licensing and rights-management between our client and us. Most designers take into account the hours they’ll put into a project when coming up with a price, but the seasoned professionals use it as part of the way they quote a plan, and not as the only defining factor. Once we feel comfortable with our hourly rate and can somewhat accurately predict how long it will take us to do something. We also have to consider a few other things that will boost your prices and turn this design hobby of ours into an actual sustainable career. We inherently own the rights to anything we create. This is why it’s incredibly important to read every contract for every job.
Budget & Returns
Thirdly, discover client’s budget and returns. We are finding out the client’s budget upfront, at least a ballpark figure so we can take a quick call whether the project is worth our time. If the client has a limited budget, that will be easy for us. We know straight away whether to make an effort to pitch to them because preparing an estimate and quote can take a few hours. If the client is unwilling to quote a specific budget or even a range, instead of badgering them for a number, you can request them to fill out a discovery worksheet and include queries about their goals at the same time can make our time worth with the payment given.
Malaysia vs Mexico
Graphic design is a university career in demand in Mexico. Designers create a brand’s face and identity, crucial for a business that wants to look competitive. However, few want to pay their worth. Moreover, despite the demand and the availability to study at several universities, there are fewer students each year. The reason isn’t a scarcity of talent, but the low salaries that graduates face.
“A graphic designer’s salary is lower than it should be. The main issue here is the competitive market that designers face, but also that platforms like Canvas — which cannot compare to what a graphic designer can do — make companies look down on our job. They must think, if we can do it, why pay a professional?” said Antonio Reyna Vela, who has worked in design and business branding for the last ten years. “Due to the low salaries, some designers work with the ‘minimum wage, minimum effort’ mentality. They do not deliver fonts, color palettes, or the identity manual. After all, if people do not pay for their best, they do not feel obligated to give it to them,” said Reyna Vela.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, there is anyways that we can practice to stabilize our price rate and make a positive domino effect do not happen in our career. There is a few ways that we can do such as pricing hourly for every work, we also can use licensing, and rights-management between our client and us and we also must discover client’s budget and returns to make sure we can get the payment that we deserve. If we practice this way we can stabilize the price rate our service in this industry and can make people respect the graphic designer more itself.
As a Malaysian graphic designer, you may find yourself underpaid for your work. This is an issue faced by many designers in Malaysia, as the industry is not well-regulated. There are a few things you can do to try to get fair pay for your work. First, do your research and know what the going rates are for your area and skill level. Second, be prepared to negotiate your pay with potential clients. Finally, be willing to walk away from a job if the pay is not fair. By taking these steps, you can help to ensure that you are paid fairly for your work.