10. Don’t say: “I know someone who works for half that. Could you lower your rate to match?”

Why? Designers set their prices based on multiple components: geography, cost of living, style, skill, experience, and many more. Every designer will have a different combination of strengths and abilities to offer, and there’s no special formula for determining if a designer’s rate is competitive or “fair.” Generally, though, you get what you pay for — so you need to decide what characteristics are most valuable to you in a designer (speed? quality? originality? reputation? personality?). That’s not to say price negotiation is not an option, but if your first encounter with a designer is an effort to “lowball” his rate — suggesting a rate much lower than normal, while expecting the same quality of work — that will be an immediate turnoff and feel disrespectful to the designer. Design studio Hensher Creative offers a detailed guide to the subject, “Graphic Design Pricing: What’s a Good Designer Worth These Days?”, including what goes into pricing and some industry averages for different types of design projects.