Pricing
Rates
Hourly Design Rate: $50-60/hour
Programming: $60-75/hour
Estimates
Hot Designs will estimate your projects on an individual basis due to the nature of creative work. All work is estimated on an hourly basis, including all correspondence about the project, and administrative time to complete the job from start to finish. Initial consultations are at no charge up to .25 hours. Beyond that, consultation time is factored into the estimate as part of the project. Some of the work is done during estimating. All time spent is factored into the final estimate.
Websites
TIER 1: $700-$1100: A starter website. This may consist of a creative template and up to 4-5 linked pages, or a less creative template with 5-7 links. May include some dynamic elements (ie: rollover link buttons)
TIER 2: $1100-$2500: This is a bit more creative with the design and concept. It may consist of more linked pages (6-10), a bit more complex content such as drop-down menus, a flash intro or other flash items, slide shows with photos, etc. Many sites fall into this range.
TIER 3: $2500-$5000: Crank it up a level with even more linked pages (11-15), more add-ons such as PayPal shopping areas and products, forms, surveys, etc. Emphasis on creativity.
TIER 4: $5000 and up: Interactive sites that involve a lot of programming, a huge emphasis on the creative design, more of everything. More links, more content, more creative.. the sky is literally the limit.
Simple web presence: for around $500 you can be up and running with very little creative attention and limited content on your site. The look will be professional, however, this leaves no room for rework, copy writing help, or any extras. This could include consulting with you about your domain name, how to purchase it, how to set up hosting, referrals for completing those items, setting up ftp from my location to access your new site, and getting your basic site built. This will include a home page and a few links with simple content.
All websites are estimated after a Q&A session with you about your needs. You will be given an idea of which Tier your site will fall into, and the estimate will match the range of pricing you see above. An exact estimate is not given, the estimate is within the range. Budget for the upper end. If the work is done very efficiently and there is not a lot of creative rework, you may fall in the lower or middle price.
Websites can take from two weeks to several months to design. This time span relates to the above price tier, the smaller the site, the less time it will take.
Maintenance: Currently changes are billed at $50 per hour with a .25 hour minimum.
Logos
Logos are the most difficult to estimate. A logo says everything at once with a symbol or look. It should leave a positive, lasting impression. A great logo will withstand time, and leave the impression that you are professional and here to stay.
The minimum cost for the most basic, or even temporary logo (a one-time event logo for instance) will start at $120. Rarely does a logo get done this quickly. This kind of option allows for one or two very basic designs with one revision to complete the logo.
The price goes up with the amount of original ideas you want to be shown, the level of creativity, concepts and graphics needed, research, revisions, etc. Logos from Hot Designs are somewhere between $400-2500 usually where research is kept to a minimum.
You can help streamline the process – Collect samples of logos you like and don't like to use as a talking point. Provide the designer with as much information as you have about: your company, what your company makes, sells, wants to market, your competition, target audience, goals, tastes, expectations, budget, etc. If these things are communicated, the process can go more smoothly and efficiently. The more prepared you are, the less time the designer or agency has to spend in this research stage. If budget is key for you, these are things you can get a jump start on to speed up the process.