Well, what is design, anyway? We could discuss that for hours and get nowhere, but whatever your definition, I assume that everyone would agree that it is in some way tied to culture. By definition, culture is social in nature. It is defined by other people in the world and how you interact with them; circularly, it also comes to define those people and interactions. It’s the foundation of human existence: we take things that people have done, we perceive them however we do, and we send them back into the world for others to do the same.

Originality happens constantly. When we take these things that other people have done and we think about them, that’s originality right there. It’s basically a measure of the perceptions that happen at this moment, not so much of the output that it generates. It’s all a matter of relative perception. One can only perceive somebody else’s output as “original” so long as they experience it, and feel that it illustrates a perception that is somehow different from their own.

Im just glad the commercials have toned down. I remember when I was watching a TV show and every commercial break had at least some sue-someone commercial for it be it the ambulance-chasers or the class-action-chasers.

So I didn’t really have all the perks of being a “freelancer” asides having really loonggg holidays. And I always had long gigs, they’d call me in for one thing and keep me there for 2 others and then I’d have to run because I get so bored. Until I moved back to Nigeria in december. Now I work from my studio at the back of the house and am a “real” freelancer, more often these days I draw and paint because clients either can’t afford me (here) or take forever to feedback on comps!

Ebi, do you ever think about going it alone? From the comments you’ve left it seems you have the experience.

I think that is the reason why these large agencies wants so much money.

It was a very flat and open agency so I got to see quite a lot of invoices/quotes etc. Some figures would make your head spin. In particular one website that cost about £50k – £100k which I know I could have put together for less than half (the funny thing though is the size of a budget is inversely proportional to how difficult/fussy the client becomes).

The rate card then had some costs like, burn CD £150, burn DVD £200, email digital file £100. Designer day rate £800. Director day rate £1400. So when you have numbers like that it does start to add up even for a small flash banner.

But pricing’s a funny thing. How many times have we given an estimate for a job and heard the client’s sigh of relief under his breath when he says, “OK, great!” and we’re thinking “I wonder how much more I should have asked for”?

I’ve learned a lot about my pricing structure via Billings for Mac. I setup timers for projects, and it shows me, damningly in some cases, exactly how long some projects take. In future, I may take the Douglas-approach and see where it leads :D I’m not talking about over-pricing, but rather rational pricing.