How much to charge for freelance graphic design

Just starting out as a freelance graphic designer? One of the first things you’ll need to know is how to price your work - ensuring you remain competitive and able to win clients, while also paying yourself a fair wage. 

In this guide, we’ll run through the latest UK industry rates for freelance graphic designers, including tips on calculating and finalising your rate card. We’ll also show you a cost-effective way to get paid by clients all over the world - by opening a Wise Business account. 

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Hourly Rate vs. Per-Logo Pricing

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether to set a per-hour price or even a daily rate, or whether to bill clients on a per-project basis. You may want to use a combination of these, depending on the client and the project. 

Hourly or daily pricing is common in the graphic design world. With experience, you’ll get to know roughly how long a logo or other design will typically take to complete. This is the estimate you can give to the client. 

When setting your pricing model, it’s also important to factor in:

Your living expenses - we’ll look at how to use this data to calculate an hourly rate later in this guide

A minimum rate that you’ll always charge (for example, a minimum half day - to compensate you fairly for those ‘quick’ jobs clients sometimes ask for)

The usage of the design - clients will usually expect to pay more for a permanent piece of branding such as a website header, compared to a single-use graphic for social media

Your experience - the more experienced you are, the higher the rate you can normally command

Client expectations - if the client is a prestigious and well-known brand, they may have a larger budget, or you may know that they’ve paid a certain price for design work in the past. For larger projects though, you may want to set a price for the whole project - bearing in mind how much time it’s likely to take to complete. Per-project pricing is often used by more experienced designers. 

What's the Average Going Rate for Graphic Designers?

When setting your prices, you need to know that you’re striking the right balance between competitiveness and fair compensation. 

To put it simply, you want to win the work and not price yourself out of contention, but also ensure that your time, skills and experience are fairly compensated. This is how you earn your living, after all. 

One of the best ways to do this is to follow the data. Look at what other graphic designers working in your geographical market and niche are charging, at your level of experience. 

In the UK, the average hourly rate for a freelance graphic designer is between £20 and £75,¹ although it can be higher for a very experienced designer. 

Calculating Your Graphic Design Rate

When coming up with rates for your graphic design work, it can sometimes feel like simply plucking figures out of the air. The good news is that there is a slightly more scientific way to calculate it. 

There are a few different ways to do it. You can keep it really simple and base your rate on the average for a designer of your experience, or go for the rate you’d like to earn - and see if clients go for it.

As you build experience in the industry, you can start to increase your rate. It’s also a good idea to increase this annually or in line with inflation, so you can be sure your earnings aren’t lagging behind rising costs of living. 

Alternatively, you can calculate it using your monthly living expenses, so you can work out what you need to earn an hour, day, week or month to cover your bills.

Here’s how to do it in 6 simple steps:²

1. Add up all of your main expenses in a typical month - this includes rent or mortgage payments, energy and utility bills, insurance, council tax, food, clothing, transport, entertainment and any other regular costs.
2. Factor in savings - set a figure for how much you’d like to save up after expenses are paid, so you’re able to build a savings pot
3. Multiply the total monthly cost by 12, to give you a figure for your average annual expenses.
4. Divide this by 52, which is the number of weeks in the year.
5. Divide it again, this time by 40 - for the number of hours in an average working week (if you’re a full time freelancer).
6. This should give you your hourly rate, which you can then tweak according to other factors such as the prestige of the client or complexity of the project.

Here’s a quick example to illustrate how the calculation works:

Say your regular expenses add up to £3,500 a month and you’d like to have £500 for savings and to cover other miscellaneous costs. This gives you a total cost of £4,000.
£4,000 x 12 = £48,000 (this is your annual salary goal)
£48,000 / 52 weeks in the year = £923.07 per week
£923 / 40 hours in the working week = an hourly rate of around £23 per hour.
Note: This hourly rate doesn't take tax or national insurance payments into consideration.

If you'd rather not do the maths yourself, you can use an online freelance graphic design rate calculator from a site like Upwork³.

Finalising Your Graphic Design Rate Card

An alternative way to price your graphic design work is by project, or by individual asset.

But how much do freelance graphic designers charge for logos, and how does it compare to full brand identity packages? 

Below, we’ll take a look at average prices for UK graphic design assets and projects. This should help you to finalise your freelance graphic design rate card, ready to start finding and winning clients.

Or if you’re already a designer with some experience, to adjust your prices to increase your income or be more competitive in your niche. 

Flyers and brochures

For a relatively simple flyer or brochure design, the typical price range in the UK is around £100 to £500.¹ You may want to price this kind of work by project, and then have an hourly rate for any amends (unless included in your original quote). 

Logo design

A logo design may sound simple - and sometimes it can be relatively straightforward - but this kind of work can have significant value to the client.

This could be their logo and brand image for years to come, helping them to build customer trust and potentially bring in thousands of pounds in revenue. 

So with this in mind, you can charge a bit more for a truly impactful logo. The average rate for logo design in the UK is around £200 to £1,500.¹ 

Website graphics/layouts 

If you’re creating graphics or layouts for a client’s website, this can be as valuable as a great logo design. It could represent the brand’s online presence for years, affecting everything from brand reputation to online sales. 

Your price for this kind of project should reflect this. Depending on the nature and complexity of the work, you can charge anywhere between £500 and £5,000 for website graphics and layout designs.¹ 

Packaging design

Designing packaging for a client’s project? The average going rate for this kind of graphic design project is between £500 and £2,500,¹ depending on the scope of the work. 

Full brand identity packages 

Lastly, we have the full works - a complete brand identity package, featuring a full set of assets. The sky’s the limit when pricing this kind of work, as it can be a substantial project. 

But on average, you can expect to charge anywhere between £2,000 and £10,000¹ - or more if you’re an experienced designer or there’s extra work required. 

Maximise your freelance graphic design earnings with Wise Business

If you’re working with clients all over the world, you’ll need a convenient and cost-effective way to get paid. 

Open a Wise Business account online and you can get local account details in 8+ currencies, so that clients can pay you in their own currency. 

You can manage 40+ currencies all in one place, converting between them whenever you need to for low fees and mid-market exchange rates. 

You can even get paid by sending an invoice with your Wise Business account, or send your client a QR code or payment link. It’s easy, quick and secure. 

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

FAQs

Are graphic design hourly rates negotiable? 

Yes, in most cases it’s absolutely fine to negotiate with your client on the price. 

It’s important to set yourself a minimum rate, which is what you need in order to cover your expenses and earn a living. But above this, you can discuss rates with the client and find an acceptable compromise. 

Should I charge more as a graphic designer in London? 

Location will play a part in how much to charge for freelance graphic design, simply because prices and the general cost of living are higher in some parts of the UK - London being a prime example. 

Just bear in mind that clients may not necessarily want to pay London prices if they themselves are based in a cheaper part of the country. 

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