Posts Tagged ‘rush fees’

Designers: You’re not a restaurant!

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Not unlike the views I shared about rush fees, today’s topic is likely to tick some people off.

A question came up in a discussion forum about whether designers should give clients their source files. For example, you do the layout of a magalog. The client approves it and you send it to the printer for printing. Then, the client asks for the files used to create the magalog. That might be your InDesign or Quark files, and any Photoshop or Illustrator files.

What do you say to that request?

Surprisingly, to me at least, some designers say no. I’ve tried to figure out why they say no, but I have yet to come up with anything other than fear.

Even worse, they use this “logic” as justification: Does a restaurant give you their recipes just because you bought the meals?

This has got to be one of the most baffling reasonings I’ve ever heard. Here’s a little secret for designers… you’re not a restaurant. You’re not a mechanic either. Or a bank teller. You’re a designer. So don’t buy into this notion that what is done in some other occupation is what you’re required to do.

If you’re going to compare yourself with another occupation, you’re obligated to take it all the way. Do you only offer some design services at certain times of the day like restaurants that have different menus for lunch and dinner? Do you offer Happy Hour pricing for your services if people hire you between at certain hours of the day?

Honestly, I think any excuse for not handing over your source files to a client is, bottom line, fear. Fear that the client will take those files and use them to do future jobs without you based on your work. Fear that they’ll take those files and mess something up.

One of the joys of freelancing is not having to work with people again if they do things you don’t like. So if they take your source files and mess things up before it gets to the printer, don’t work with them again or have a clear understanding that source files are just for their archiving purposes, not to make changes.

Even worse than the “no source file” policy is when designers actually hand over the files if the client pays more to get them. So much for standing by your beliefs that source files are sacred.

Let me give you some reasons that I think you should be willing to hand over your source files.

1. With some jobs, you’ll have to give the source files to the printer. You can’t always just provide a PDF. At that point, if you’ve given the files to the printer, what is your justification for not giving them to the person who paid you to create them? Plus, your client could just get the source files directly from the printer if you’re not going to provide them.

2. There are times when the client wants you to do about 98% of the work with the rest being handled internally. Are you going to turn down jobs like that? I’ve worked on a number of projects, totaling thousands of dollars, where I’m doing the majority of work with some details handled later by an in-house design team. Wouldn’t it be silly of me to refuse to hand over the files? And it’s not a valid argument to say that it’s a different situation if you’re hired to only do part of the work.

3. I’ve worked on many projects where the original designer is no longer available or has lost the files, yet the project needs to be updated. If I don’t have the source files, I have to start from scratch. If you were in that position, wouldn’t you hope that the original designer had made the files available to the client?

4. Sometimes, last minute changes need to be made to the layout once you’ve sent them off. This happens frequently in the financial arena. You’ve done the work for some project where the numbers being quoted in the copy are time-sensitive. Right before printing, the numbers need to be changed. These changes may need to be changed by the printer or the client. How often do you think the client is going to want to work with you if you have a “no source file” policy?

5. Your time is valuable. Let’s say you do the layout of a book. A year or so later, the book needs to be reprinted with a different printer. Wouldn’t it be nice if the client could forward those files to the printer instead of contacting you, making you stop whatever projects you’re working on, dig up those files and get them sent off. A surprising amount of time can be spent revisiting past projects. (A topic I hope to tackle here on the blog in the future.)

Now there is at least one area to be aware of when it comes to handing over source files: font copyrights.

It’s generally accepted that you can send the fonts with source files to a printer. It’s not so clear-cut when it comes to sending those fonts to a client. So if you’re going to provide source files, you’ll either need to exclude the fonts, or make sure the client has the fonts you used on their own computers. You might even buy the fonts for the client and add that to the cost of the project. If there are other parts of the project that are copyrighted by a third-party, don’t ignore those copyrights.

If you’re going to have a “no source file” policy, fine. Just do yourself a favor and have a legitimate reason to give the client if they ask for the files. Please don’t embarrass yourself by responding, “Do restaurants give you the recipe just because you bought the meal?” That kind of answer appears to make sense on the surface until you dig a bit deeper and realize that the two situations aren’t the same in any way.

And if you have a reason for not providing source files that don’t translate into fear, e-mail me. I’d be happy to include your thoughts in a future article here.

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How to take advantage of clients

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

The other day, I was looking at a freelancer’s site. He explained that if a project is a “rush job”, there will be a “rush fee” that will increase the client’s price by 50% to 100%.

Not bad money if you can get it, I suppose. After all, the work involved for the project is the same whether it’s a rush or not. But if it’s categorized as a rush job, you’re just having to do that same work faster.

So assuming that you’re going to do a great job whether it’s a rush or not, the end product will be the same. The difference is in how fast you get it done. (And if you argue that rush jobs generally result in layouts that aren’t as good because they’re rushed, you’d have a hard time justifying an extra fee for inferior work.)

This reminded me of my start in graphic design. I wrestled with this issue of whether or not to charge rush fees. I asked the few design pros I knew what their opinions were, then came up with my own policy, which is…

I don’t charge “rush fees” because I don’t accept “rush jobs.”

This policy requires a little explanation because there is a philosophy behind it as well as, perhaps, some semantics.

First off, I operate under the belief that most clients don’t intentionally set out to create rush jobs. It’s certainly no fun for them. Usually something outside of their control happens. My own personal experience running my business proves to me that “things happen.” So why punish a client for something that he would have preferred to avoid?

Second, if you do run into clients who are just bad planners and turn even the most simple projects into rush jobs, perhaps they’re not worth keeping as clients. Once you’ve trained a client that you’ll take every job as a rush, you’re certainly not helping him break out of a cycle that isn’t doing anyone any good. Plus, it just creates more stress in your life. As a freelancer no longer tied to a 9 to 5 job, I’d think you’d want to avoid stress and enjoy the control that freelancers have over their lives and career.

But I also look at this a little deeper…

As soon as I acknowledge the term “rush job” when a client calls, I’ve allowed their panic to become my panic. Yes, it’s a rush to him, but it’s not a rush to me unless I allow it to be. To him, getting a project complete in two days may be a rush while to me two days is normal.

In other words, I don’t let the client’s vocabulary and terminology affect how I look at and evaluate any project.

I look at this way… if the client calls and claims he has a rush job, either I can do it in the time specified or not. Him throwing more money at me in the form of a “rush fee” doesn’t magically create more minutes in the day if I don’t have time to do the project.

But someone who does require a rush fee is saying that he can make the time to do the work and, in my opinion, takes advantage of the client by doing so. If you can do it in the time specified, why charge an extra fee? Answer: Because you can get away with it… which I don’t think is a good reason to do something.

Sure, by accepting a rush job you might sacrifice your personal time or time with family. Maybe you get less sleep for a while. But that’s the designer’s choice. No one is forcing the designer to do it.

So when I get a call about a rush job, I never think in terms of how much extra I can squeeze out of a client. I only consider whether I have time to get the job done according to his schedule, and what my normal fee is.

Having said all that, I can respect that some freelancers feel a rush fee is their right even when I totally disagree with that stance.

I just don’t think it inspires a lot of loyalty on the part of the client. Personally, my goal is to be a partner with my clients. That doesn’t mean I allow them to walk all over me, but it also means I don’t try to gouge them with extra costs for something outside of their control.

I know my feelings that rush fees take advantage of clients will be a bit controversial. If you’re the “rush fees are OK” type, carry on and don’t mind me.

Just some food for thought if you haven’t made up your mind one way or the other.

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