It’s common practice these days to have a graphic designer make a T-shirt for you or your event. For instance, ordering specially made shirts is a great way to mark important occasions like your kindergarten class graduation or family reunion. What, therefore, ought a graphic designer charge for t-shirts?

A quality T-shirt design should cost you between $100 and $400. There are two ways to bill graphic designers: hourly or in fixed amounts. Your selected designer might be inexperienced, less expensive, and require more time, whereas an experienced designer might bill a fixed rate and complete the work in one afternoon.

If you’re not willing to shell out a lot of money for a skilled graphic designer, Placeit offers thousands of t-shirt design templates for far less money.

Before you start looking for a graphic designer, there are a few things you should be aware of. If you don’t know where to look, it may take some time and effort to find them. So continue reading to find out all you need to know about how much a graphic designer should bill for a t-shirt!

Graphic designers are some of the most versatile workers in any industry. On top of creating top-tier graphics with cutting-edge software, they can create pieces of artwork involving computers and elements of physical art.

A few skills that graphic designers possess are:

• Color – If you are creating a new logo for your company or the newsletter that announces your new business venture having the right colors is not just a matter of taste but of science. Graphic designers know which colors to use and how colors work with each other.
• Shape – Shapes are critical for any designer worth their salt. Knowing how shapes will impact the design and the project is one of the main jobs of the designer. Shapes work to create art pieces or a collage that would work great on a T-shirt or your company logo.
• Effect – The total effect of the design is something that the graphic designer places as their primary goal. The combined effect of the shape and color can make a memory spring to mind of your event or product. Designers know what effects the decisions they make will have on your event.

They might sound like wizards with Wacom tablets, but graphic designers are trained in schools like accountants and doctors. They take classes that teach them about depth and color, which eventually makes them the superior computer operators that we all know and love.

The most considerable expense a designer has is their time. They must decide early in the project whether they want to charge the client by the hour or the job. This impacts how they work going forward and will significantly impact the project.

The criteria for a graphic designer when pricing jobs are:

• Time – The first thing they think about is how much time it will take to complete the project. They often could get a deadline with the request, making their time prime real estate. Unfortunately, time is the only finite resource a designer has, and they usually charge top-dollar for quick turnarounds.
• Request – Another thing they must think about when going over pricing is the job itself. Do the client’s demands give them enough time to complete the job and give it their 100% effort? Sometimes if there isn’t enough time to finish the job, a designer won’t consider the offer.
• Event – Depending on the occasion, the designer could charge less or do the job as a donation. For things like T-shirt design, donation works are used as a write-off for the designer, and if they are interested in the event, they could do it out of the goodness of their heart.

Designers’ best thing is their ability to make it work. Some designers, those starting, will pay less attention to the price and more attention to what they can create and who will see it. Older, more established designers could see projects as stepping stones that show their high-end designs while still taking time to work with small clients.

Because it takes time, creativity, and skill to get the design you need, graphic design is expensive. Most people believe that creating a logo simply involves putting an image on and adding a few letters here and there, especially those who are new to the design world.

It takes more than just plopping down in front of a computer to create something in graphic design. Years of study, research, and experience are required. Furthermore, it is difficult to find top-notch designers who produce designs that are successful.

How is Graphic Design Priced?

There is no definitive answer to the question as there are several factors involved. It can be as low as $5 or as high as thousands of dollars. The following are the main points considered when pricing graphic design:

• The client: the more significant the client, the higher the price for design goes.
• The designer: expect a higher fee from a seasoned designer as opposed to someone fresh out of design school. Their location is also a factor as those from developing countries tend to charge less.
• The complexity of the design: designing a brand new web design will entail more work than designing a business card.
• The hours it takes to complete the project: the longer a task will take to complete, the higher its price will be.

There are many more considerations, but mainly, it will depend on who is doing the calculations. A freelance graphic designer will price differently than a design agency.

Read Also: How do Graphic Designers Get Ideas?

Again, this is based on several factors. Below are the ways graphic design is priced:

• Hourly: this is where you pay a designer for the time they spent creating your design. So, if a designer charges $25 per hour and takes them 4 hours to do it, you’ll pay $100.
• Project-based: per-project work regardless of time spent on it.
• Retainer or contract: you agree on a pre-negotiated price for either a set amount of time or deliverables.

The following are the different types of designers that charge using the pricing above:

• Hourly: individual graphic designers
• Project-based: designers from Fiverr, 99designs, Upwork, and other online job portals
• Retainer or contract: design agencies that offer creative services for their clients

While these designers can do the work for you, there are also downsides to each. Here are a few pros and cons of each type:

Hourly: 

• Pros: a designer will dedicate his time solely to your project. You’ll be assured of quality because the design isn’t rushed. 
• Cons: this can be expensive and can take a longer time than most channels.

Project-based: 

• Pros: online marketplaces can offer a diverse range of talents. You can choose the most suitable designer with the best price.
• Cons: there is a chance that a freelancer will have more than one client, which can divide their attention, or worst, abandon your project. 

Retainer or contract: 

• Pros: with a design agency, you’re assured of quality and a wide array of talents. 
• Con: this is the most expensive route among all three.

‍Prices for different designs

Designs and designers come in different prices. Here are a few of the most common projects that require a graphic designer and their corresponding rates:

Logo Design

Hourly: Logo designs usually take about 13 to 15 hours to make. At approximately $25-30 per hour, depending on the designer’s skill level, a logo will cost around $350 up to $2,000.

Project-based: A typical freelancer will charge anywhere between $5 and over $800 for a single logo design.

Retainer or contract: A design agency can charge up to $2,500 per logo design.

Web Design 

Hourly: A skilled web designer can ask for a $75 per hour rate. This amount can reach anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000.

Project-based: While some freelancers can charge a $500 rate, the price can go anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 or more for a comprehensive web design.

Retainer or contract: Expect to pay a minimum of $10,000 to over $100,000 if you get an agency to design your website for you.

Email Design 

Hourly: Email templates take about 2 to 3 hours to make. So for a graphic designer with a $25 per hour rate to create one for you, you’ll pay about $50 to $75.

Project-based: For freelancers, the rate of an email design can range from $5 to over $1,000.

Retainer or contract: Agencies in the US typically charge $85 to $100, so an email design can cost $255 to $300.

Illustrations 

Hourly: Depending on the skill level of the illustrator, the cheapest being $25 to $50 per hour, the costliest is at $100 or more. The more complex your illustration is, the longer it will take to get it done.

Project-based: Illustration rates can vary, but usually, you’ll find a freelancer asking for a $10 rate while the highly skilled can ask for more than $200 per project.

Retainer or contract: There is no detailed list of agency prices when it comes to illustrations. Several factors are at play, but a reasonable estimate would be $250 to $500 for spot illustrations that can go up as high as $3,500 for a larger image.

Flyers: 

Hourly: A reasonably skilled graphic designer can finish a flyer design in 2 to 3 hours at an average rate of $25 per hour.

Project-based: Expect to pay a minimum of $10 which can go up to $100 per flyer design.

Retainer or contract: Agencies can charge anywhere between $300 to $900 per flyer design.

Ad Designs:

Hourly: An average rate of $25 per hour for an ad design depends on the complexity of the design and the designer’s skill level.

Project-based: Freelancers can ask for $300 to $900 rates for an ad design.

Retainer or contract: Charges for ad design vary depending on several factors. Expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $2,500 per ad design.

Product Packaging

Hourly: Designers specializing in product packaging may charge $30 to $50 per hour.

Project-based: Freelancer rates can start at $10 up to $1,000.

Retainer or contract: Cost can depend on the size and complexity, but typically, a small agency charges $10,000 while a larger one can ask for a $50,000 price.

Social Media Design

Hourly: On average, a graphic designer can charge $25 per hour for a social media design that can take around 1 to 2 hours to make.

Project-based: You will pay anywhere between $5 and $20 per social media design from a freelancer.

Retainer or contract: Agencies can charge packages for social media design that can cost from $50 to $650.

Landing Page Design

Hourly: Again, the average rate is at $25 per hour, but web designers charge more, the average being $75 per hour.

Project-based: Price starts at $15 and can go up to $350.

Retainer or contract: Expect to pay anywhere between $500 to $1,200 for a landing page design, up to $3,000 if development services are included.

Icon Design

Hourly: The median hourly rate for a graphic designer is $25. It can take an hour or more to finish a set, depending on how many icons it has.

Project-based: Get a complete set of icon designs for as low as $5 and can get as high as $800

Retainer or contract: A set of 12 icons can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,500.

Infographic Design

Hourly: Graphic designers who specialize in infographics can charge up to $40 per hour. The length of time to complete one depends on how complex the information is.

Project-based: Expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $250 per infographic design.

Retainer or contract: A lower-end agency can charge between $500 to $1500 for one infographic. A more prominent agency can ask for $4650 up to $7250.

Brochure Design

Hourly: Depending on the designer’s skill level, a tri-fold brochure can cost between $150 up to $900.

Project-based: Pay as low as $20 for the same tri-fold brochure, but high-end freelancers can charge up to $600.

Retainer or contract: Expect to pay between $500 to $1,600 for a tri-fold brochure design.

Merch Design

Hourly: Pay anywhere from $25 per hour up to $300 for the more experienced designer, taking one to two hours for one design.

Project-based: Merch design can go as cheap as $5 per design and reach up to $200.

Retainer or contract: Design studios can charge between $450 up to $750 per t-shirt design.

Expert graphic designers utilize software to produce vector graphics that may be used as T-shirt design templates. These shirts will have a unique design that is exclusive to you or your business, and they may be worn for any occasion.

You may have to pay anything from $100 to $400 for a T-shirt design created by a skilled graphic designer. They will create a masterpiece that will serve as a lasting memento of your event or bring attention to it.