Updated 7 October 2026
Professional design is most useful when it solves a communication or production problem. Decide what the project must achieve before comparing prices.
Identify the costly friction
Can customers understand your offer? Is your label readable? Do suppliers keep rebuilding your logo? A good brief names the audience, the decision you want to support and the problem with the current material.
Compare the whole scope
Ask what the fee includes: concepts, revisions, copy preparation, image licensing, proofing and final files. Confirm who supplies content and who approves it. A cheap starting price can become expensive if essential production work sits outside the quote.
Build something you can reuse
Request the agreed master files and practical versions for your website, social media and print. Clarify ownership, usage rights and font or image licences. For repeat materials, ask for a template that your team can maintain without breaking the design.
Choose the level of help the job needs
A simple event reminder may work well in an established template. A new logo, product range, website or large print run deserves more planning because mistakes carry further. Put the budget where customers make decisions and where production errors would be costly.
Judge the work against the brief
Review whether the message is clear, the information is readable and the files work in their intended formats. Ask for a full-size print proof when size matters, and check digital layouts on a phone. Attractive work still has to be usable.
Your next move
Bring your current item and explain where it fails. ITG can help scope the smallest useful improvement or a broader design system when the business needs one.
About the Author
Tina Kempling, the Lean Green Team Leader at Imagine That with over 35 years of experience in the print industry, newspaper and magazine advertising.
As an industry-certified designer since 1991, Tina knows her stuff when it comes to marketing vision. But what sets her apart is her understanding of advertising and marketing in today’s digital and print market. She can help companies tap into the incredible marketing power in new and creative ways. Ready to take your marketing game to the next level? Give Tina a shout!