no-spec
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Your time is paid work.

What are you doing tonight?

Pull a strip.

TL 01

The rate calculator

Three numbers you already know give the least you can charge an hour and still hit the year. Sample inputs below; change them.

Before tax.

Enter a number.

Hours a client pays for.

Enter a number.

Holidays, sick days, admin.

Enter a number.

Formula income ÷ (hours × (52 − weeks))

Income youneed 60,000 ÷ Billable hoursa year 880 = Hourly floor 68 Where 880 comes from 20 hours a week × (52 − 8 weeks you won't bill) = 20 × 44 weeks = 880 billable hours
Figure 1. The formula with the sample inputs: income divided by billable hours a year gives the hourly floor. Change the inputs above and the result updates.
Your hourly floor68In your own currency, before tax. Quote above it, never below.
Billable hours a year880
RC

Templates you can copy

Field names are sample rows from each template.

What designers earn

$62,960May 2025

Median annual wage for salaried graphic designers in the US, May 2025. Half earn more, half earn less; freelancers have to bill well above it to match the package.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, graphic designers (May 2025 wage data).

RC 01How much graphic designers make
SW

Say no to spec.

A client wants a few free concepts first. Here is the shortest polite no. Paste it and get back to paid work.

Everything on spec work Count what the free pitch costs you
SW 01 T Reply to a free pitch request
Thanks for thinking of me. I don't make free concepts, but I'd be glad to quote for the work.

Send me the brief and I'll reply with a price and a start date.

AP

AI and proof

When a client asks "did you use AI on this?", answer with a clause and a paper trail, not a promise.

NEW

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CommunityCM

Ask and answer the rate, contract and client questions other designers are stuck on tonight.

Join the community
The RecordRD

The profession's position on spec work, kept in one place: unpaid pitching undervalues the work and the people who do it.

Read the record