Rate:  $49 Per Hour
(Pre-paid discounts available.)
        
The minimum charge is only a half-hour.  So if you have a small project, that's fine.  Just give us a try!
    
Invoices are sent weekly by e-mail.  Payments are due within three business days after invoicing and can be made online by debit or credit — through PayPal or Google Checkout — or by mailing a check, whichever you prefer.

Please read this page carefully... 
    
In just 10-15 minutes, you'll know everything you need to know in order for us to get started on your project.

Hourly charges/billing details
     
The hourly rate of $49 is charged for all design, revisions, and writing, as well as all planning, discussion, and consultation — by phone, e-mail or fax.
   
Some design companies pad their hours to account for things like project planning and discussion.  We prefer to let you know up front that we're charging for all time spent on your project.
 
Certain projects require extensive planning and discussion (a time-consuming back-and-forth process), and while not as productive as the actual design work, it is often an unavoidable part of the process.
  
We bill in quarter-hour increments, with a half-hour minimum each time any work or changes are done on your project. 
 
For most design work, you'll receive an invoice each week for all hours completed.

Makin' it look good... can take some time
  
Please be aware that design work submitted to you is usually the result of multiple revisions — done as part of the 'creative process'  before work is ever shown to the customer. 
   
So design work that might not look very labor-intensive may have actually taken hours of trial and error, before the work you see took its final shape.
 
Finding the right colors, fonts, images, style, etc., and then trying a few ways of arranging it all to look good... can take a while :)
               
When design work is submitted to you, we understand you may not like it at all :) ...or you may want to make some changes... or see some different options...  And even when it looks like the job is finished, there are usually a few more changes and tweaks needed before the project is complete. 
 
Of course, this depends on what (you) the customer wants.  Work is only done upon approval, or at the request of the customer. 
 
(During projects, I sometimes think of an idea and spend time designing 'an element or two' that hasn't been discussed.  If so, I'll e-mail to let you know...  If you decide to use it, great.  If not, there's NO charge for the time spent, and absolutely NO hard feelings :) ...It's good practice, if nothing else.)  

Time estimates for design projects:
(not including revisions) 
     
SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE......... 6 - 20+ HOURS
 
FLASH STREAMING VIDEO............ 2 - 4+ HOURS
 
LOGO............................................ 2 - 6 HOURS
 
BUSINESS CARD............................ 1 - 2 HOURS
 
LETTERHEAD / ENVELOPE............. 1/2 - 2 HOURS
 
BROCHURE................................... 6 - 20 HOURS
 
FLYER / SALES SHEET.................... 3 - 10 HOURS
 
POST CARD.................................... 3 - 8 HOURS

Turnaround time...
 
After we receive your request for a design project, we do our best to start working on the project within 3 days, but ask that you allow up to 7 business days to send you the first draft. 
    
If you need a project started within 24 hours, a $55 rush charge will be added.  Just request this when you make contact.

How it evolves...
     
The design process is kept as simple as possible.  You can e-mail, upload, or fax text, content, logos, and images whenever you like, and/or we can collaborate by phone or e-mail to write your content and come up with a design plan.  (We'll setup an e-mail folder for you, where any images or text you send will be stored until they are added to your website or print design project.) 
   
Many customers find the collaborative process preferable, since the prospect of having to come up with a large amount of content all at once — for something like a website or brochure — can be daunting, and can easily delay a project by weeks or months. 
 
If your budget allows for this type of collaboration, we can work through the project little by little, via e-mail and/or phone discussions.  It could add a few (or several) hours to the process, but it usually helps to get the site finished and online faster...

What's your style?
 
Getting 'the look you want' for your design project usually involves finding similar websites, brochures, etc., that you like, and 'copying' certain aspects or elements of those designs into your project (using similar colors, fonts, photos, styles, and formatting).
   
For web design projects, most customers will send us a list of websites they like — letting us know what design elements of each site they'd like to include in their project.  This makes the design process much easier and can save you money as well, since it usually reduces the number of revisions needed to achieve the overall design style you're looking for.
 
If you can tell us as specifically as possible what you like, we'll do our best to develop that 'style and look' in your design project.
 
But if you're not really sure about the look you want, you can just give us a general idea.  We'll spend some time trying a first draft, and e-mail to see if you think it's going in the right direction... and then proceed from there.

You gotta' have pictures...
    
Adding quality photos or illustrations to your design project is one of the most important steps in the process.
 
You're welcome to e-mail digital images, or you can snail-mail photos, if you'd like us to scan them in.  I can also take digital photos of your building, the owners, or staff, as needed.  There is no additional charge for taking photos, beyond the trip charge and time spent. 
 
Some of the best photos used for design projects often come from third-party sources.  By searching stock photo sites by keyword, you can find excellent and affordable images for your project
 
Here are some online stock photo sources:
  
    •  Microsoft Clip Art  (all images are free)
 
    •  Stock Exchange  (some images are free)
 
    •  Fotolia  (most images are $2 - $3)
 
    •  iStockPhoto  (most images are $2 - $3)
 
    •  DreamsTime  (most images are $2 - $3)
 
    •  BigStockPhoto  (most images are $2 - $3)
 
    •  StockXpert  (most images are $2 - $3)
 
 
Once you find the photos or illustrations you need, you can purchase, download, and e-mail them to us.  Or, you can give us the source and ID number, and we'll purchase them for you.
 
If you don't have time to search, just let me know what type of photos you'd like to add, and we'll do our best to find them.  Unless you mention specific images (or supply them), we'll usually find appropriate images for your project, as needed.

For web design projects...
 
DOMAIN REGISTRATION & HOSTING
 
If you already have a domain name and hosting account setup, I'll need your hosting account username and password (if you have it), along with your FTP and/or FrontPage login and password.
 
If you don't already have a domain name or hosting account, I can register the domain and/or host your website for you. Domain registration is only $10 per year, and website hosting is $10 per month (billed every 6 months).

Just let me know the domain name you want, and we can get started.

Software used:
Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Corel Draw, Flash, Swish, InDesign, Word, Excel, Publisher, Acrobat, and audio-video editing / encoding software.
  
All original artwork is yours, whenever you need it.

Ready to get started?
 
If all this sounds reasonable, and you'd like to proceed, e-mail or call me at 1-800-540-2267 any time to get started.   
        
I look forward to serving you!
  
  

 
Mark Bradford
Northshore Web Co.
 
NorthshoreLinks.com
Designer
 
E-MAIL