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Freelance Web Design
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Berkeley, CA
Status:
Offline
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How much money does the typical (not bad, not amazing) freelance web designer make? I was thinking about possibly going that route, as I find web design and programming to be a lot of fun. Any opinions?
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"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." -Archimedes
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Live at the BBQ
Status:
Offline
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"Bill Gates can't guarantee Windows... how can you guarantee my safety?"
-John Crichton
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Senior User
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Austin, Texas
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It all depends.
The client, the intention, the project at hand - are all variables to consider. Do they want 2 or 200 pages of content? Do they want an intricate database to control their website? Do they want original designs for each section of the website? Depending on who it is or how much time it will require, I sometimes charge a flat rate or by the hour. My first "client" was a church who needed a new website back in 2002. I designed everything from scratch and even incorporated some flash into the design. I had no idea what to charge - but I didn't need to worry: they wrote me a check for $500 when the website was complete. I was blown away because it wasn' t more than 20 pages of content - and beyond the splash page (that they wanted - I'm not a fan of splash pages) the design was repeated for every page. I was a freshman in high school at the time.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Originally Posted by volcano
My first "client" was a church who needed a new website back in 2002. I designed everything from scratch and even incorporated some flash into the design.
Do you hate that church or what ?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Salt Lake City, UT USA
Status:
Offline
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I make between $100 and $300 a site.
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2008 iMac 3.06 Ghz, 2GB Memory, GeForce 8800, 500GB HD, SuperDrive
8gb iPhone on Tmobile
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Senior User
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Sydney
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by SirCastor
I make between $100 and $300 a site.
dude that should be per hour. Ok not the $300. Unless it's for my mum, charge proper money.
If there is any flash or cms double it.
MM
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Quetzlzacatenango
Status:
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Depending on your talent I think $50 an hour for design, $75 an hour for custom programming is fair. If they want flash, tell them to blow it out their ass and let you make the design decisions because you're the designer.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ------>
Status:
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^^^  That's good advice.
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Senior User
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Austin, Texas
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by what_the_heck
Do you hate that church or what ?
No, I wouldn't say that. After that initial payment, we had agreed that they would pay me $50/month for continuous updates to the page (basic text and images - nothing intricate). I kept giving them updates, and I saw the first months payment.. but that was the last payment I saw. I felt kind of bad that I had to leave the job (since it was a church, after all..) but they weren't paying me for my work.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Salt Lake City, UT USA
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by Ozmodiar
Depending on your talent I think $50 an hour for design, $75 an hour for custom programming is fair. If they want flash, tell them to blow it out their ass and let you make the design decisions because you're the designer.
Trick about customers is, sometimes they don't care about design, or good design. They care about Their design so you give them what they want. Unless it violates your ethical design code. I haven't done that one yet though. 
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2008 iMac 3.06 Ghz, 2GB Memory, GeForce 8800, 500GB HD, SuperDrive
8gb iPhone on Tmobile
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: In the South
Status:
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Quetzlzacatenango
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by SirCastor
Trick about customers is, sometimes they don't care about design, or good design. They care about Their design so you give them what they want. Unless it violates your ethical design code. I haven't done that one yet though.
I'm all for giving them what they want up until I don't want to put my name on the project any more. If their taste is so bad that I can't even put the project in my portfolio, both the client and I are doing something wrong.
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Senior User
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Austin, Texas
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by Ozmodiar
I'm all for giving them what they want up until I don't want to put my name on the project any more. If their taste is so bad that I can't even put the project in my portfolio, both the client and I are doing something wrong.
I agree. 
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Salt Lake City, UT USA
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by Ozmodiar
I'm all for giving them what they want up until I don't want to put my name on the project any more. If their taste is so bad that I can't even put the project in my portfolio, both the client and I are doing something wrong.
I agree with you. Hopefully we can all get to the point where when clients like that show up, we just say "I'm sorry, if you continue to insist on this kind of design, you will need to find someone else to do your design."
We can all dream, right?
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2008 iMac 3.06 Ghz, 2GB Memory, GeForce 8800, 500GB HD, SuperDrive
8gb iPhone on Tmobile
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Quetzlzacatenango
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by SirCastor
I agree with you. Hopefully we can all get to the point where when clients like that show up, we just say "I'm sorry, if you continue to insist on this kind of design, you will need to find someone else to do your design."
We can all dream, right?
Yeah, it would be nice to be able to tell a client where they can shove their design. In the mean time, carefully explaining to them what good design looks like and why their preferences don't qualify as "good design" is the best we can do. If it's put in a manner they can understand without feeling talked down to, compromise is a lot less painful.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Boston, MA
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by tavilach
How much money does the typical (not bad, not amazing) freelance web designer make? I was thinking about possibly going that route, as I find web design and programming to be a lot of fun. Any opinions?
If you are learning and want to have a resume. I could use your assistance. Can't really afford a professional. I'm just starting out. Good sites would look good on a resume. 
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"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." Winston Churchill
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 1999
Status:
Offline
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Some of us make in the neighborhood of $125–$200/hr. on a site, but it's usually bid on a per job fee, rather than hourly. That rate is usually for maintenance and the like.
What do you get? Standards-compliance, years of site design experience with Fortune 50 companies or better, design sensibility, usability, and hopefully a visual design that has some longevity. A schedule that is always on time (on our end; the clients are usually late— no wait, in my experience, always late. A budget that's reasonable based on experience, technology integrated where appropriate. Good communications. Future-proof for marketing; e.g., email campaigns, customer database capture, SEO (search engine optimization), content management. Smaller to mid sized companies should hire an experienced freelancer, while businesses that generate around less than $250K/yr. should hire a college student.
Note that design is not decoration.
Just a randomly structured FYI
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Chicago, IL
Status:
Offline
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Web design is good money, just make sure you know the right stuff.
(
Last edited by waxcrash; Feb 4, 2006 at 01:31 PM.
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