It is a well-known fact that people prefer visuals over text-based media. 41% of marketers admit that original graphics like infographics and illustrations performed great for them. In the meantime, creating visual content is a rather time-consuming process, requiring about 10 hours of work. Plus, over 31% of marketers struggle to produce it consistently.
Luckily, a diverse spectrum of illustration services are available today, ranging from logo design and digital campaign illustrations to business cards, custom letterheads, and more. Also, partnership options are wide, from hiring in-house designers to collaborating with freelancers, contractors, and design agencies. For example, TodayMade is a design agency specializing in creating marketing designs only, including illustrations, eBooks, websites, presentations – you name it.
While there are many partnership options available, the only tricky questions are: how much do illustrations cost, and how do illustrators price their services? We’ll answer them later on. But first, let’s quickly overview the average illustrator cost.
Illustration pricing overview
Marketers spend about 30% of their budget on creating visual content, with 28% directly spent on design. So, it will be helpful to get a broader picture of the relevant illustrator pay rate.
To make a quick overview, we looked through job search websites and freelance work marketplaces like Upwork, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Here are some common types of illustration services with their average costs:
Custom Illustrations: the cost can vary depending on the level of detail required: – Simple illustrations: $100 - $500 – Medium complexity illustrations: $500 - $1,500 – Highly detailed illustrations: $1,500 - $10,000+
Stock Illustrations: the cost depends on the quality and exclusivity of the illustration: – Low-quality stock illustrations: $1 - $10 – High-quality stock illustrations: $50 - $500+
Infographics: the cost depends on the complexity of the data and the level of detail required: – Simple infographics: $500 - $1,500 – Medium complexity infographics: $1,500 - $5,000 – Highly detailed infographics: $5,000 - $10,000+
Brand identity design (for example, logos, icons, graphic illustrations): prices typically range from $200 to $1,000.
Corporate identity kit (including business cards, stationery, and such): costs start at $250 and may vary based on customization.
Newsletter design (covering news, events, updates, and so on): prices usually start at $1,000, depending on complexity and content.
Promotional illustration (brochures, flyers, posters, and so forth): costs generally begin at $1,500, depending on the project's scope.
As you see, it's important to consider many factors like the level of detail required, the number of illustrations needed, and the experience of the illustrator when you budget illustration. Let’s discuss them in more detail now.
Key factors influencing the cost of illustrator
Rates can vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions. Here are some of the most important factors that can influence the cost of illustration services:
Illustration complexity. The complexity of the illustration is one of the most important factors that can influence the cost. Highly detailed illustrations requiring much time and skill to create will generally cost more than simpler ones.
Experience. Clearly, more experienced illustrators expect more for their services than less experienced ones. Even though the latter may command higher fees, they also work faster, specialize in niche areas, and produce higher-quality work. Contractors may still be in the process of creating a client base and may charge more competitively for their illustrator services. On Upwork, the typical rates are: – Beginner: $15/hour – Intermediate: $23/hour – Expert: $30/hour
Pricing methods. The pricing methods can also vary, from hourly rates (ranging from $25 to $150 per hour) to project-based pricing (typically from $25 to $1,000 per illustration or project) or even a subscription-based model.
Number of illustrations. The scope of work to be done can also influence the cost. Projects requiring many illustrations will generally cost more than those requiring only a few illustrations.
Deadline. The illustrator may charge more for their services if the project requires a quick turnaround time.
Usage rights. If the illustrations will be used for commercial purposes, the illustrator may charge more for their services.
Style. Some styles may require more time and skill to create, which can increase the project's cost.
Revisions. The number of revisions affects project costs. As a rule, additional revisions incur extra charges.
In most cases, the actual price is negotiable and depends on the specific project requirements. Primarily, the collaboration method is the first crucial aspect impacting the project's budgeting:
Illustrator hourly rate is ideal for open-ended projects requiring ongoing work or projects with well-defined scopes and short-term deliverables. This method is also a good option for projects that require a lot of flexibility, changes, or revisions along the way, communication and collaboration between the illustrator and the client. But it may be challenging to fit within tight budgets.
Project-based pricing is suitable for projects where the number of illustrations or complexity varies, offering more predictability in terms of cost, projects with a clear scope and timeline, as well as the ones with a set number of illustrations or a specific deliverable that needs completion. Clients with a fixed budget who want to know the exact project cost upfront choose this model.
Retainer is good for clients with ongoing illustration needs and for clients who want to ensure that they have priority access to the illustrator's services.
Licensing is an option for those who need to use the illustrations for a specific purpose or for a limited time, for a specific marketing campaign. This method is used when clients want to save money using pre-existing illustrations.
Subscription-based model TodayMade follows. It is a top choice for marketing leaders at technology companies when they need to get more work done in less time. With one unlimited design subscription, our clients can rely on a team of creative design experts for timely, high-volume, high-quality, affordable work within 24 to 48 hours.
Overall, creating a precise budget for illustrations in advance can be difficult due to the reasons we’ve discussed above. To get started, working closely with the illustrator, communicating and discussing the budget you can afford with the illustrator, and then selecting the right collaboration method for both parties are all good ideas.
Conclusion
Illustrations are a proven tool that helps any company deliver messages and lets customers get the idea behind the product. In this regard, partnering with a talented illustrator can become your best business investment.
TodayMade has brought together creative minds to free up marketing teams from design-related bottlenecks at reasonable prices. Our clients partner with us on a subscription basis when they need to get their marketing design done super fast at an unlimited scale. Our team of illustrators, graphic designers, and animators can handle multiple projects simultaneously and design any type of creative asset with minimal management effort on your side.
