How much to charge for a t-shirt design project?

December 28, 2016 10:09 PM

I need help with pricing out a design project. I'm a printmaker / illustrator with a growing Instagram / Etsy audience and have been asked to create a t-shirt design by a seemingly successful small business (from the research I've done!) More below the fold...

My cluelessness will be clear here, but I've always been challenged by pricing artwork / design work. I'd like to give an informed reply to this request, or at least know what to ask. I'm fairly new to this whole world of selling art (I've read "Art Inc." by Lisa Congdon, and other similar books, but putting this stuff into practice is a whole other ball game!) It sounds like the design will be printed on t-shirts and launched for sale in about 6 weeks. It will likely be a somewhat simple, probably one-color illustration.

I assume I need to ask about licensing / who will have rights to the image. I need to decide about charging hourly vs. a flat rate, but when it comes to actual numbers I get stuck. (I wrote a previous Ask about a design project that was never used, and I ended up charging $35 an hour for that and working about 20 hours; it ended up seeming like a lot of $ for a design they didn't use, and this project would likely take a fraction of that time, maybe 5-8 hours).

Like, if they sell each shirt for $40 (made up number) and sell a huge boatload of shirts, should I factor that into my fee or just base it on my own skills / time / materials without worrying about future sales?

I don't want to aim too high or too low; I'm having trouble just coming to a general number. This does not come naturally!

Thanks in advance for any tips on what to ask the business owner and how to get more comfortable / knowledgable with pricing.

posted by sucre to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Best answer: It can come down to who has rights to the image and what they can do with it later on, but really, everything is negotiable.

If this is a work for hire situation where they came up with what they want for the design and are simply hiring you to produce it, you can charge a flat rate for your time and skill ($35/hr, 8 hour minimum), ask for some form of attribution, and be done with it. If they sell a boat load of shirts, well, great for them. If they don't? Good thing you got your money up front.

On the other hand, if this is one of your designs they approached you over, then definitely look for a cut of each sale in case the thing goes big. Charge a flat fee, say $200, and ask for 1-2 bucks per sale. You can negotiate if that per sale amount goes against the initial fee (so if you get a buck a shirt, they have to sell 200 shirts before you get any more). Definitely clearly state who can do what with the image.

I too am a printer on Etsy and I've had a few other Etsy shops contact me over using my stuff on their shirts. I tend to turn them down for a few reasons - usually because my sketch meter goes off. My thinking is that someone else sees profit in my work, I could maximize that profit by selling myself. Though this means more work, investment, and unknowing on my part if I go through a printer and ship the stuff out myself, it does mean more of a return. Alternately, I could go thru a site like TeePublic and get far less per shirt, but have 0 initial investment, shipping hassle, or stock sitting around the spare room.

That said, I'm currently hashing out a shirt design for a podcast I enjoy and want to support. I can sell the design in my preferred mode (pressed to wood), they can put it up on their TeePublic site, and I think everyone will be happy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:18 AM on December 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I design (in Australia) and my minimum rate is $50 an hour. I am often surprised how much money people have to throw at a project. Nobody (except for me) seems to think about copyright (probably because the academics (ok, not t-shirts, but I wouldn't be surprised, I've done tote bags for a conference, a cake, graphics for boojs and electronic media). For my own sake, I think of the designs as being work for hire, which means my client gets copyright, but I have no compunction at all, in reusing components as I'm certain nobody will recognise enough to even consider suing me.

Because clients are ornery critters, hourly rate is safer, and if you have to quote in advance, double the time you expect to spend because things, your muse, whatever... also make it clear how many revisions and how you will charge for them, or you will be nibbled to death by ducks.

Finally, as exciting and scary as this feels, it is only the beginning. Many jobs will give you an extra rule to add to your pricing practices, because clients, even the best are #%&@! But it's okay. Bottom line - get paid for every design (nothing for the experience or portfolio) and if it goes off without wrinkles, it's a winner - unheard of. It's okay if you fuck your pricing up this time - your circumstances are unique to you, and only experience will give you the rules of thumb you need.
posted by b33j at 5:35 AM on December 29, 2016

Best answer: I agree with the work-for-hire vs. wanting to license an image you've already created distinction. I'd also bear in mind that if you go for a fee based on sales and it's a small business, getting the reporting from them about their sales can be a real hassle. It may also be worth it! But it's something to keep in mind.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:53 AM on December 29, 2016

Best answer: Graphic Designer here. A few tricks I've learned:

+ Estimating time: sit down and add up how much time you really think the project should take you. Be completely honest with yourself, try to think of every thing that could go wrong, and put together a realistic number of hours. Then double it. The doubled number turns out to be right most of the time. You can then use that number to work out a fee, whether its hourly, daily, or a flat fee.

+ Clearly spell out what you are going to do, and not going to do for your client. Clearly spell out what you fee includes and doesn't include. (An example here might be that it doesn't include rights for an image or printing or packaging or shipping.) This is negotiable, of course, but it sets expectations for both of you.

+ When you say what your work or fee include, it isn't limiting you: it's opening the possibility to earn more. You may do additional work related to the project for an additional fee.

+ Get it in writing. A signed contract is ideal, but an email from the agreeing to terms outlined also works.

+ A deposit. I like to ask for 25% up front. 10% or 20% also works. If someone balks at a small deposit, they are far more likely to stiff you on the full fee later.

+ Payment on delivery. Otherwise you can easily wait 30, 60, 90 days to be paid.

+ I recommend against tying your payment to shirt sales. They are buying your design skills. Marketing, promotion, delivery, etc., is up to them. Plus earning a percentage of sales depends on them honestly reporting sales to you.
posted by Cranialtorque at 6:57 AM on December 29, 2016

Best answer: The Graphic Artists Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook is super useful for questions like this.
posted by the_blizz at 3:47 PM on December 29, 2016

Response by poster: A delayed thank you to everyone! I ended up quoting $35-45 / hour and they suggested $45. Yahoo! I agree that pricing is something that gets easier with practice.

Thanks again!
posted by sucre at 7:59 AM on January 11, 2017