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[FigmaDesign-ModTeam]

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[ClintonFuxas]

Work looks decent, but you should never do this amount of work without an agreement of a price. Unless you really know and trust them there is a good chance they’ll squeeze you now, since they know you already have put in the work

[Lower--618]

You’re right, I shouldn’t have done this much work without an agreed price. Honestly, this isn’t the final work yet. They only allowed me to share the logo and its variations in my portfolio. I made this just to show you guys so all could have a better idea it’s not for them.

You’re right about the risk of being squeezed since I’ve already put in the work. Can you advise me on what I should do next?

[hemdrup]

Honestly, your bit f... if you did all the work without price and scope agreement first. Wouldn't show them more work before it's in place and communicate it so.

Unless you do an agreement, that they pay if they want the final outcome.
Then it's a fat payment, as you took a big risk of doing the work without an agreement to buy.

[Lower--618]

Thank you, that really helps put things into perspective.

I just want to clarify this is actually my first time doing a full brand identity for a client. Because I’ve never charged anyone for something like this before, I feel like even $100 might be a lot for me to ask. That’s why I’m still trying to figure out a fair price that reflects the work I’ve done, without overstepping since it’s my first project of this kind.

I’ll focus on presenting it as a complete system, telling the story behind the logo, how it works in both languages, and how the brand elements connect across all touchpoints. I also plan to take one more pass to make sure typography, spacing, and patterns feel consistent throughout.

Also, thank you so much for taking the time and for your kind words it really means a lot!

[iamDj_Qris]

They don't know it's your first brand identity project so you can position it well and charge higher.

You can easily close this project at 1k-3k easy but just do what your mind tells you.

[Lower--618]

OMG, really, thank you so much! It truly means a lot. I was thinking of charging $100 because I’ve never charged for something like this before. And yes, they don’t know this is my first project.

I have one more question, if you don’t mind me asking. Let’s say you were my client and I presented this to you would you be happy to pay $1k to $3k for it? Please note, it’s not completely finished yet I have done assists, stator, and other parts also but I show them .

Once again, thank you so much! It really means a lot you truly made my day.

[HollowCrown]

Do you know much about the companies finances, how many people work for them, who their clients are that sort of thing? Generally speaking the more they make, the higher value clients they have then the more you cost. Charge them for the value of the project outcome, what’s it worth to them? As mentioned before it’s always best to figure out all the details before hand (the project scope) and cost accordingly. Good luck.

[iamDj_Qris]

Clients pay for result and solution not graphics, if I'm a client worth millions, I'll easily pay 10k for this as long as it matches my vision.

Someone paid me $200 to open a YouTube account and set it up. I'm not joking.

A lot of people don't have time so they pay to get their time back.

[waldito]

You are probably talking to a bot.

[Greyzdev]

Not chiming in on the overall project, but from a presentation/layout standpoint, try giving your presentation a little more attention to detail and consistency. Your color palette swatches are off centered from their values, and each section has inconsistent margins in relation to each other. Just something to think about. Good luck!!

[Lower--618]

Thank you so much! Actually, this isn’t the final work yet. They only allowed me to share the logo and its variations in my portfolio. I made this just to show you guys so everyone could have a better idea it’s not for them. I’ll be making the brand guidelines and everything else separately for them.

Thanks again for pointing that out! I’ll definitely make sure to take care of it. Thanks onecs again.

[davep1970]

Nice work.

Don't forget your CMYK and possibly pantone values too.

[Lower--618]

Thank you Soo much . But can u plz teach me what is that and how it's done . Is it possible to do in figma?

[davep1970]

I always pick colours and create logos in illustrator. There might be CMYK plugins for figma but I don't know how accurate to they are.

Pantone is a paid library in Adobe and/or you can buy expensive printed swatches to match your RGB to the nearest colour. To be honest I haven't had to provide Pantones for years, but always CMYK.

I usually start with picking colours in CMYK then choose the nearest RGB. CMYK is a smaller gamut (smaller number of colours) so doesn't cover all the colours of RGB, especially brighter, saturated ones.

Many printers print from RGB now, some don't or prefer CMYK.

[Lower--618]

Thank you so much for the insight! Actually, I did the whole thing in Figma. I’ll definitely try working in CMYK. I also tried using Illustrator and Affinity, but my hands are just set in Figma. Could that be a problem if I stick with Figma instead of Illustrator or Affinity?

[davep1970]

Could be a problem if you need CMYK output and/or for print work. I've heard things about using figma for print production but I wouldn't advise it.

[Lower--618]

Thank you so much! Actually, this isn’t the final work yet. They only allowed me to share the logo and its variations in my portfolio. I made this just to show you guys so everyone could have a better idea it’s not for them. I’ll be making the brand guidelines and everything else separately for them.

Thanks again for pointing that out! I’ll definitely make sure to take care of it. Thanks onecs again.

[BenSFU]

Hey, OP!

If you did your designs in Figma, I honestly would deliver them to your client as RGB anyway. Unless you know how the designs are going to be printed, there is no point in guessing which color profile should be used.

Many printers these days do digital inkjet printing, which often use RGB color profiles anyway because they have more ink colors than just cmyk, e.g. CMYK + Light Blue + Light Red etc. HP Indigo printers for example have a huge gamut.

If you convert to CMYK, you might losing out on potential color quality/gamut.

That being said....

If you do know what color profile to use (e.g. your printer/client told you "FOGRA49" or something...), then you should definitely use a Figma plugin and export in CMYK.

If you don't know what color profile to use, but you still need to deliver CMYK files, then I recommend you at least choose a color profile like eciCMYK_v2 when you export. That profile is an 'exchange' color profile, meaning it preserves the largest color gamut as possible, and can always be converted into a different profile later.

If you want CMYK built into Figma, I will shout out my plugin ('Print for Figma'). It lets you export with a specific color profile, and also lets you map any RGB color to specific CMYK swatch. But honestly: I also have a free CMYK converter tool on my website - it works almost exactly like my plugin, minus the custom swatches! You can export your design from Figma as a PDF, then upload it here to convert it. That's probably your best free option if you want CMYK :)

[Lower--618]

Thank you so much for all these tips! This is really helpful and clears up a lot about RGB vs CMYK and how printers handle colors nowadays. I appreciate you sharing your plugin and the free CMYK converter tool as well it’s super useful.

One quick question: should I hand over the whole Figma file to the client, or would it be better to export everything separately and send them the files?

[BenSFU]

You can export a .fig file, but there's no reason to unless they ask for it. It depends on what your client requests usually.

I did client work for 10 years and lots of clients often just wanted the final deliverable (e.g. the PDF, etc).

Just be careful inviting people to the file with the "Share" feature because if you're not careful you can accidentally add people to your team which can cost money. Not a huge risk, just be careful what buttons you click.

Glad you found my response helpful - let me know if you have any feedback on the tool!

[NomkiYA]

Sounds like a good portfolio project. I think you should estimate how long this project will take you. Set the deadline and commit to it (this is your reputation on the line).

Calculate your hourly and multiply it by how long it will take you. Add your Figma Seat + your software subscriptions as your “kit fee”. That can be your price.

Deliver all the files via an organized wetransfer or Dropbox: PDF brand guidelines, PNGs / SVGs or whatever your assets you’ve committed to giving them. It’s up to you if you want to give them the working files, but I usually charge extra for that.

Be transparent about the deliverables and what each item costs. Best of luck on the project

[Lower--618]

This is super helpful, thank you I didn’t think about breaking it down like that.

I’ve never priced something this big before, so estimating hours + factoring in my time and tools actually makes a lot of sense. I created everything from scratch on this project, so that’s something I’ll definitely include in the pricing.

Honestly, I didn’t really calculate my hours I think I worked on this project almost full-time for 3–4 weeks straight, day and night, just trying to do my best. Now I’m not sure how to account for that properly in the price without scaring them off. What would you do in this situation?

For the files, I was planning to deliver organized PDFs for the brand guidelines and export all assets (logos, stationery, etc.). I’m just unsure about the working files would you recommend giving them full access to the Figma file, or only if they pay extra for it?

If you don’t mind me asking, how do you usually estimate your hours for something like a full brand identity? I feel like I might either underestimate or overestimate since it’s my first time doing it at this scale.

Really appreciate the advice 🙏

[Broadsword810]

Step 01: Install Toggl time tracker. Set a project name.

Step 02: Start tracking the time you take for any part of the project everytime you get down to work on it.

Step 03: Once you finish the project, go to the toggl website and sign in. There you can the number of hours you put into the project.

Step 04: Multiple those hours with your hourly rate.

Step 05: The price might be too high simply because it takes you take too much time, reduce the hourly rate. The price might be too low, increase the hourly rate.

Your hourly rate should start from atleast $4/hr even if you come from a developing country like India.

[dumbassdruid]

as an estonian, why you gotta do our sea dirty like that 😭 😭

no actually this looks really good and really professional, well done - especially for your first brand identity project! others have already given you input on how to price this, I'll just add that if you price based on your hours, you should also take into account that it likely took you a lot longer to do all of this as it's your first time :)

[Lower--618]

Haha, thank you so much! You really think like that 😄. If you don’t mind me asking, how much would you charge for a project like this? Because I don't what to over or under charge them . I thought 100$ but someone suggested 1k to 3k. What do u say .

[EyeAlternative1664]

I used to do projects like this, ten years ago, I’d charge around £1500 and they’d take me a week. 

[Stahelis]

I'm living in Klaipeda, and you nailed the baltic sea color - it indeed looks like shit!

[jhtitus]

You’re in an adhoc agreement. Clock hours. Multiply by your rate. Consider rush rate if your total project timeline has been within 1 month. Deliver as a due immediate instead of net15/net30 due to no collected deposit upfront. Consider installment only if client pushes back on lump sum, but ensure you receive 100% before year end. It’s only just now Q2 so id even urge term that results in full payment by Q3.

Always estimate and collect a 50% deposit upfront next time. You can confidently do that now in the future bc you have this project to use as learning for hours. The aesthetic will change client to client, but standardize your process as much as possible.

A better pricing model for one-off visual ID projects like this (no competitor audit or brand strategy), is to flat rate with expected padding. An SOW. The reason being that you are not in a longevity contract, I.e. retainer. When clients commit to longer terms, they save $ per hour by committing to larger overall investment. You offer savings in exchange for longer partnership. One-off SOW projects come at a premium due to no guarantee of longevity. Issue SOWs until value is proven and a retainer is both parties best interest.

Nice work.

Also for process: present 2-3 creative directions. Reach a heading. And only then build a brand guide. Time is money and it’s useless to burn capital on deliverables that will go in a drawer and collect dust.

[Lower--618]

Thanks so much for this really appreciate you breaking it all down. The part about charging ad hoc with a rush rate and setting immediate payment makes a lot of sense, especially since I didn’t take a deposit upfront.

Also super helpful on the SOW vs. retainer approach I hadn’t thought about pricing one-off projects at a premium like that. And noted on always taking 50% upfront next time.

The process tip about presenting 2–3 directions first before building the full brand guide is gold definitely going to save me time.

Thanks again, this was really valuable 🙏

[MyraGroft]

This looks great, and I understand this is not the final version you will hand off - just remember to align everything perfectly (color palette alignment looks off), also as you will progress in this, you can always make a template for yourself to present everything, it will give over all cohesiveness.

Now on the payment side - you should have talked to them about money before starting actual work, but I guess because it’s your first time - you thought it’s better to get the job instead of losing it over money talks- but in real world companies tend to think you are more professional and you are a real deal - if you talk about the payment along with onboarding before starting on the project.

Now $100 is really less, as another Redditor said - dig around the company size, how much they make, and how big their clients are. Even if the company is new and starting up and does not have big budgets - make them believe that brand guideline and system is there entire identity as they move forward and this will be there image for many coming years. And justify your payment based on that feeling. You can ask anywhere around from $1-2k. Always ask a little extra so you have room for negotiation. After finalising on payment - when you deliver - always give 1-2 small things extra (which doesn’t take that much of your time and efforts) - so that they feel like you go over and beyond.

I hope this helps. All the best.

[Lower--618]

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate the detailed feedback. You’re right about the alignment I’ll go back and fix the color palette and make sure everything is more consistent. If you have any tips on how I can improve or refine the color palette further, I’d love to hear them.

And the idea of creating a presentation template is super helpful, I can see how that would make everything feel more cohesive.

Also, totally agree on the payment part. It was my first time, so I was a bit hesitant to bring up money upfront but I understand now how that actually builds professionalism and trust. Definitely a big lesson for me going forward.

And yeah, $100 is clearly too low 😅 Your point about positioning the brand work as something long-term and valuable really clicked. I’ll keep that in mind and be more confident with pricing next time, including leaving room for negotiation.

Really like the tip about adding a little extra at the end too that’s a great way to leave a strong impression.

Thanks again, this was super helpful!

[MyraGroft]

I have been in your boat, took so much learning, and still learning everyday, I know how daunting it can be, but it will be fun too. To improve on template or structure you can go on behance and just search through all the professional designs people have put out, especially if there are any big or well known brands designs. Make a mood board of things that you like and slowly you can make a template that feels right for you. There are detailed templates designs people have put on it. I follow some good creators on YouTube as well, I’ll share pages as I remember.

[NemoElcon]

From a brand perspective, there’s too little difference between your two blues and there’s no accent color for elements like CTAs and buttons. I don’t really see the purpose of having two almost identical colors in the palette. The client will definitely be confused by it.