Homework
What is your worth? Work out how much should you be paid (based on your skill and experience) per hour as a freelance designer using online resources (http://www.agda.com.au/, http://www.getartisan.com.au/, http://www.dia.org.au/ and http://www.seek.com.au). Create a self-branded timesheet and post as a jpg. image on your blog.What is your worth? Work out how much should you be paid (based on your skill and experience) per hour as a freelance designer using online resources.
My experience within the design industry is extremely limited. I do the occasional freelance job for small businesses and sole traders however what I am producing is not cutting edge, most of these jobs are low budget, low production cost.I have a Certificate IV in Graphic Design and am studying a Bachelor of Graphic Design, although have yet to finish this qualification. I have developed my understanding of programs such as Illustrator, inDesign and Photoshop through my studies and am an intermediate - advanced user of these programs. I also have a rudimentary understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
My portfolio leaves much to be desired due to the nature of the work I acquire.
Due to this lack of experience in the industry and poor portfolio I would put my job description squarely in the “Junior Graphic Designer” or “Graduate Graphic Designer”space. This assessment is correlated by my findings on the various websites listed above.
Using the seek website I was able to gather a junior or graduate designer approximate earnings per year. This averaged out at $42, 500 and from conducting some quick calculations (50 weeks a year, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day) the hourly rate worked out to be $24. The lower end of the scale was $20 and the higher end was $28.50. This value, however, was worked out from permanent jobs therefore the low hourly rate is compensated by job security, super, sick leave etc. For the job listings I found that paid by the hour, the average rates for a junior or graduate designer were $25 - $40.
These values are also corroborated by the following websites which indicate the average hourly rate for a junior graphic designer as $30 and the average annual income as $46,000.
Timesheet
