Are you thinking of having a professional graphic designer create images for your business but were frightened off due to the cost? Having high-quality graphics is essential for any website, and there are other options to hiring a designer. But why is it so expensive to have designs created for your business?
Graphics made for a business carry a heavy cost of $150-$5000+ per design because it takes designers time to plan, sketch, and execute design concepts. Professional graphic design services also charge according to client demand and experience level. The cost of materials used also affects the price.
However, you’ll need to pay a professional for their hard work and time. Graphic designers also are in high demand, so they choose to work with online businesses that will pay them the most.
Find out what you need to know about getting graphics for your business website, whether it be from a paid freelance designer or an alternative method (watch the videos below).
First, check out this price list to get a general idea of the cost of each type of design:
| Graphic Design | Cost |
| Logo Design | $250+ |
| Business Cards | $99+ (+ cost to print) |
| Banner | $75+ |
| Book Cover | $200+ |
| Facebook Graphic | $75+ |
| YouTube Thumbnail | $75+ |
| Pinterest Pin | $150+ (for a bundle) |
| Infographic | $99+ |
| Motion Graphic | $99+ |
| Mockup | $99+ |
| Blog Graphic | $75+ |
| Advertisement of Marketing Materials | $250+ |
| Customized Character or Illustration | $800+ |
| Landing Page Design | $900+ |
| Web Design | $800-$5000+ |
| Powerpoint Slide | $250+ |
| Miscellaneous buttons, banners, or badges | $25+ per graphic |
Why Online Graphics Are So Expensive
Online graphics are expensive because pros need to research your brand and sketch out ideas. They also need time to prepare multiple drawings. Most people don’t realize how much work goes into the design process—and professionals need to receive payment for their efforts.
A lot goes into making logos and other images for online stores. Of course, you expect the highest quality graphics when paying for them. You’ll want to communicate with your freelance designer to make sure they understand your vision. You don’t want to spend additional money and extra time waiting for revisions.
I’ll break down all the factors into a design’s cost below.
Project Completion Time Costs for Graphic Design
One of the first questions that a designer will want to know is, “How much time will this take?” They’ll estimate how long it will take them to complete the design process after discussing the project with you in detail.
Project completion time is crucial to design work. On average, freelance graphic designers charge nearly $30 per hour. However, you should expect to pay between $15 to $60 per hour. If you have a large project you want to complete, it’s no wonder your business’s designs become so expensive. A design firm may have large creative teams of designers and charge by the design, increasing the cost of a logo designed by the team to a few thousand dollars.
Professionals spend a lot of time on their projects to make them look nice and polished. They take their art seriously and are not about giving you the cheapest option. So, although you don’t want to rush them, you will end up with a higher design cost. Many freelancers also tend to charge more because they need to cover other expenses since they aren’t working for a company offering benefits.
Overall, the most significant cause of an expensive graphic is the amount of time to create it. Suppose you have an extremely complicated or detailed design idea. In that case, you can expect it to take several hours to finish just a logo or one other design.
When paying $30 or more per hour, the cost adds up very fast, especially when needing multiple designs (such as several logo design variations, a business card, a couple of virtual book covers, and a full week’s worth of social media designs).
Research and Planning Expenses for Online Graphics
A freelance graphic designer won’t just slap an image together; instead, they’ll spend time on researching and planning their design. Even a logo designer almost always starts a project by sketching out ideas, studying your brand and competitors, and planning out different elements in the final logo design.
That way, they can offer their clients a high-quality product. Many people don’t realize how much effort designers put into creating images. The computer doesn’t do it for them. Unfortunately, that means businesses will also need to pay for the amount of time and effort the freelance designer puts into preparing to make the graphics.
Many designers also create multiple images at one time. They’ll work through a few different ideas to see what looks the best for your unique business. The final design you see is rarely the first image the designer came up with.
The Cost of Talent and Expertise of Graphic Designers
Next, you should expect to pay professionals more for their talent and expertise in the field. A beginner graphic designer won’t cost as much as an expert—so this is a case of you getting what you pay for in terms of quality.
If you want a higher-quality design for your business, you will need to pay more (possibly hundreds more). Plus, if a particular designer is in high demand, you’ll be competing with other businesses to get them to work for you. You’d need to offer more money to ensure they’re more willing to spend time on your designs.
Professional artists are experts who have spent a lot of time building experience. For this reason, how much experience they have will determine the cost of a logo design or a complete web design.
Level of Demand Expenses for Graphic Designer Services
Additionally, the level of demand for different designers will change the cost drastically. You’ll pay hundreds (possibly thousands) more for a design from a well-known creator in the field.
Why does an artist’s demand change the cost of graphics so much? Well, a designer usually will only handle a few projects at a time, so they can dedicate themselves to the work they take on. They’ll want to go with the companies that pay the most, to make the most of their own time required and effort.
Of course, that means you’ll need to pay more than the competition to make your design project more attractive to the designer. If you don’t have enough for an hourly rate designer, you’ll need to work with someone else or choose an alternative method of design (see below).
Overall, the level of demand for different designers can significantly impact the design cost. You’ll pay a lot more for a well-known professional to create customized designs than you will for someone just entering this career field. However, this will usually show in the final project that you receive.
Cost of Materials Required To Create Online Graphics
Lastly, the best graphic design uses equipment that may cost you extra. They might need art materials, a camera, or to use design software, for which they have to pay a subscription. If you’re hiring from a firm, they also must afford the office space they use.
The more materials they need to use to create your design, the more they’ll need to charge to cover the expenses.
Online graphics are essential for all businesses, regardless of your field. They give good first impressions on potential customers, offer consistent design across your site, allow you to communicate efficiently, and make your brand identity stand out.
So, of course, you can’t skip out on graphics for your business! However, what options are there if you can’t afford a professional graphic designer right now?
Watch this video to see how you can create your own designs:
Alternatives to Graphic Design Services
When you can’t afford to hire a designer for your site, there are alternatives online that you can use! You’ll still get all the benefits of having a solid design without the heavy cost of hiring a designer.
Online graphics creators allow you to make incredible designs for blogs, businesses, and more. You can create logos, ebook covers, and banners. The Graphics Creator offers all this and more, so you can take your business website to the next level.
When you use these online creators, you won’t need to pay for a graphic designer. You also won’t need access to expensive software products like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.
In short, just because you can’t afford to hire a professional designer right now doesn’t mean that you need to miss out. You can still have excellent images and content for your site. Instead, you can make them on your own using simple-to-use creators, such as The Graphics Creator.
Benefits to Creating Your Own Graphics
There are many benefits to creating your own graphics with an online graphics maker instead of hiring graphic design businesses:
- Save money- You’ll only need a very low budget, if much at all
- Save time- No waiting for days to get your graphic from a designer; no waiting for several more days to get revisions when you don’t get what you want
- Start and finish your own graphic design using an online tool in a matter of minutes
- Unlimited revisions- Any time you need them
- Unlimited modifications- Change the background color, text, or fonts on your design whenever you want to
- Keeping your own design preferences in mind, create a logo design, business card, book cover, YouTube banner, social media graphics, marketing materials, and more.
- Enjoy being creative
Find out how to create your own ad designs from Marc at Laughingbird Software in this video:
How Much Do Online Graphics Cost?
Online graphics can cost between $15 and $15,000. Not every graphic design will incur high costs, depending on your company’s requirements. Alternatively, you may create quality online graphics with graphics software for a reasonable price.
While graphics can quickly become very expensive, you don’t always need to use the most costly options. For instance, if your business is just starting, you’ll do fine with images you get through online graphics makers.
You won’t want to drain your entire budget on graphics, especially not immediately. Your business should take some time to build up capital. You can afford more expensive designers without taking out such a large portion of your budget once you are well-established.
Another good option is to easily create graphics for social media on your own but work with a pro for more complicated designs.
Are Expensive Graphics Worth It?
Expensive graphics are typically worth it if you have a large budget. Professionals know how to make images that lead to more business, allowing the design to pay for itself over time. However, you can create your own quality graphics with excellent software available for a fraction of the cost.
A professional graphic can help your online business’s brand grow. Your brand becomes more recognizable with consistent design elements, attracting a larger audience. You’re more likely to find those who will spend more on your business with a larger audience.
Ultimately, expensive graphics may be worth it, as long as your business has the budget for it. Online graphics can become extremely expensive very fast. While you’ll receive an outstanding design, it’s not worth it if your business can’t afford the heavy hit on its budget.
If you do spend too much, you’ll struggle to keep your business afloat until the design can pay for itself. Because of this, you need to find a balance with what you’re willing to pay for online designs.
Overall, you’ll need to have designs on your site, but it needn’t break the bank. Instead, consider your budget first. You may find using graphic design software is the best way forward.
Why Shouldn’t I Skip on Online Graphics?
You shouldn’t skip on online graphics—especially for a business website. Visitors to the site will leave if the design isn’t cohesive enough. They also won’t return to your site because they’ll forget about it. Proper design ensures a great brand identity and makes your page memorable.
It’s never a good idea to miss out on using online graphics. Your website won’t look unique enough, making it forgettable among the millions of websites. You need to take your website’s design seriously, no matter the budget you have to spend on it.
So, if your budget can’t fit the expense of hiring a top designer, you’ll still want to use graphics on your business website. You can make them yourself using an online creator tool in those cases.
In short, never skip out on adding online graphics to your site. Your business will suffer if you only offer customers a boring page of text to read through. Quality images will help your business grow and are essential to any website, no matter what you’re selling.
Always Get a Quote First
Instead of instantly going with the first graphic designer that you find, you’ll want to make sure you get a quote from them. The designer will consider several aspects of your project, then give you a quote on the cost.
At this stage, you don’t have to accept the quote if it’s too high. You can change aspects of your design project to make it cost less or go with a different designer. You could also choose to use an online creator yourself at this point, as there is design software available that allows you to create your own high-quality graphics.
Many people feel uncomfortable discussing money. However, a freelance designer will always be willing to give you a quote and let you see samples of their work. If they refuse, then that’s someone you should avoid hiring.
In short, you should get a quote from a designer before hiring them. Since Graphic design can be costly—you’ll need to know that you can handle the high cost before starting the creative process.
Final Thoughts
Several factors go into the heavy cost of graphics for an online business. You’ll always want to get a quote from a graphic designer or web designer before you agree to work with them. That way, there are no surprises after they finish the work.
Overall, you’ll want to consider design elements as part of your budget. You can always create them yourself using online creators and tools when you can’t afford an expert designer. However, you should never skip out on using images on your website—consider them an essential expense in your business budget.
