HOw much do you earn from designing?

I m an amature graphics designer. I see many good designers in this forum.IO don't know how much you guys earn per month from designing. Lets have a survey.I think some have very good designing skills but they get little as they don't know how to utilize theor skill or how worth they are.On the otherhand i know some who are amature but they are doing well in the freelancing world as they know how to represent their works to the service provider. we can discuss about it also. How to deal with our clients. I hope this thread will be helpfull for the designers, service buyers and service providers.

 

zero last year

 

I make anywhere from $50 - $400 a month, usually around $200 or so.

 

Depends on the client but usually averages out to $60 an hour + time of work put in

 

I used to make up around $800 - $1k, now make around $200 because of all the people that offer 2 minute, $3 logos, ahh well

 

yeah, the internet is saturated with a bunch of poor quality designers willing to work for chicken feed. But i'd say at the moment my freelance graphics design work is where the majority of my income comes from.

I'd say I average $50-$100 an hour depending how quick I get a job finished

 

My income based on design work is about $120K a year or higher, but I do a little more than just design headers for websites. Depends on what kind of design you do. I do everything from business cards, flyers, to full websites, and government jobs.

 

My income does vary considerably from month to month. Sometimes I will get $2500-3000 jobs that take a week to design (usually just a PSD design before passing to my coder) and oftentimes I find myself entering template and logo contests because I haven't earned much that particular week or whatever. I make enough to live confortably though which is nice since my company is pretty new.

 

freelance on internet are yesss... overwork underpaid. i got 300-600/month on internet. but can get double on real live jobs.

 

Designers would make much more in a day-to-day job. Designers are underpaid on the internet due to the competition. There are people who are willing to work or design for less.

 

I am a person who is suffering from the competition. Many people are going to design templates for $10 and $20. Something that should be worth $100-$200. And this forces you to lower your prices to compete. A very saturated market indeed. But listen, If you are creative, you can charge what you want, you will not be undepaid.

leader is right though. Designers are underpaid for what they actually do. I do not know why.

 

Welcome to the Overly saturated world of Creative Design.

The designers that you will meet that make upwards of $1,000+ per week have been in this industry 2+ years or more. Myself, I'm just over the 2+ year hump & working on my 30 Month mark in the virtual creative design industry.

Your first year will more than likely show as a lose (as with most business just starting out). This is where one focuses on Portfolio building as their primary, with it comes small clients. Once you embark on your 2nd year you'll start noticing more repeat/referral business from previous customers, as well as a higher standard client list with larger projects.

Don't let anyone fool you, ANYONE can learn how to us a design software, however creativity comes from within, without it, this is not the right industry for you. Those that lack creativity start to gravitate on stealing other designers work & eventually get caught (E.G. Law suits / Large Fines / Loss of hosting services / Prison time).

My suggestion to you is to prepare for the worst & expect your first year to be Hard. If you aren't sure, Don't do it.

Good luck!

 

I'm experienced, but am in a rural area. I charge $30 an hour, but I generally make less than that because I spend too much time tweaking stuff. My own fault. So I don't make much overall, but I enjoy it, and that's worth something.

 

As a freelance in internet I only made $300-600 a month, but I could made $2000-5000 as freelance graphic designer for several International Advertising/Communication Companies. Now my focus is more to offline jobs.

 

I no longer do webdesign for public but I get $300-500/project in the past.

 

Hey, take a look at my site and show me what kind of good logos, including banner ads, you could come up with and I may have some work for you, now or in the future.

Triathlon Training Products

I imagine most, if not all of you, have websites with your portfolio of logos and other graphics, correct? That's what I'd like to see. Otherwise, create a mockup of some possible ones.

Anyway, I know that good designers can make in to the $100's or $1000 per month just from DP alone. Spread yourself out to other sites and you could have a very nice, steady income. Don't forget the Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal forums. There's good work to be had at those places, I'm sure.

 

I'm Just a newbie myself, Only been doing Logo's / Illustrations / Web interfaces for a little over 2+ years now. You're more than welcome to check my portfolio as well (As per your Request). There are also Free quote forms set up for your convenience if needed. My design site is the last sig link "Dark Design" - Once you arrive at the site either click "Dark Portfolio" or the "View Portfolio" banner (lower left).

Once the portfolio Loads you have 3 sections to choose from. By Default it will open up in the Logo portfolio section. You can also select "Website or illustrations" just above the portfolio display screen.

My portfolio is in need of updating & contains maybe 2% of my work, I just haven't got around to uploading the newer stuff. Once I hit my 5th year, I'm sure I'll have a more undisputed portfolio to look at, I'm already in deliberation of my next portfolio design for 2009.

 

Very interesting to read as a frequent customer of graphic artists.

 

Yeah keeping your portfolio up-to-date is one of the most important things a designer can do. If you look at your portfolio if it is a few years old, you will probably find yourself embarrased at what you have in it, as your skills improve over the months and years.

Try to make a point of updating it with fresh designs (don't include EVERY design you make, just some of your best ones) and switch them around a lot so there is something new to see for return visitors. Perhaps set aside a day once a month to update your portfolio, so that as you improve, so does your folio of designs.

Otherwise, people will think you are a mediocre designer with out-of-date styles and techniques.

I am going to update mine this coming weekend because it needs it!

 

I would say over the past six months I have been making roughly $30-40 dollars an hour. As a designer with my own business it is a necessity that I turn out quality work. There is an overly saturated market with piss poor designers and customers will to pay just about anyone to make them a half ass logo. However, if you acquire enough good clients you will usually see a greater return. Just remember the greatest form of advertising is word of mouth, so if you treat customers well and give them an excellent quality product you are a shoe in for future businesses as well as new clients.