Pricing a modified typeface

Kasper Pyndt

I've gotten a request from a prospecting client who wants to use one of my retail typefaces but with three characters changed. This is the first time I've gotten a request like this, so I wanted to ask how y'all approach pricing in these types of gigs.

I'm thinking that I'd simply charge for the hours it takes me to develop and master those three characters (probably around 1 day tops) and add in the cost of the license. 

Simple as that? Or is there something else I should consider?

Tobias Rechsteiner

Sounds reasonable. However, keep in mind that you might need to include at least one presentation, a round of client feedback, a round of revisions before you can finalize the commission, and of course your administrative work (email, calls, …).

All the best

Kasper Pyndt

@Tobias Rechsteiner

Thanks for chiming in! The client already has a basis for how the characters should look. I just have to basically optimise them a bit, so I don't expect much back and forth (hope I'm not gonna bite my tongue here). But definitely worth a note for future reference. 

JoyceKetterer

I can only tell you what we do at Darden Studio, not what you should do.  Fortunately, we're already very close to your proposal.

 We charge for the labor, for which we describe a clear scope (which always covers at least one round of revision) and then use our retail pricing tables for the licensing.  In some cases we don't charge at all for the labor but it's still itemised on the invoice and then voided out with a discount.  The reason we do it this way is so we don't need a big contract for a small project.  It can just be an invoice, a pdf scoping document (that the invoice references) and then our standard licensing documents.  If we agreed to something else the client would want the whole thing governed by a contract that always ends up being expense in terms of legal fees.

a few things to keep in mind:
1. Though the client only asked for three glyphs to be modified you may actually need to modify more in order to maintain design continuity.  Usually clients are grateful when we point this out, but it will effect the price
2.  You can charge either hourly or a project fee, with a clear scope.  We go the project route.  I always add some padding the my time estimate and expressly say to the client that if they decide the need more alterations or another round of revision there will be a change order.  Remember to cover your time for mastering and testing the new files.
3.  You're going to want to change the file names to prevent caching errors.  Our naming convention is "NameOfFont_AbbreviatedNameOfClient".  
4.  You may get a client in a situation like this who wants to negotiate your license terms.  The way I handle this is to tell them that the minimum cost to modify our license is our legal fees (for minor changes) but that changes which grant additional rights have additional fees.  Then, if they proceed, I never let them make change in the actual license document.  I did that when I first started out and it's just too difficult to keep track of.  You can do the drafting process inside the license document but we make  final product  the standard license plus an miscellaneous addendum which clearly itemises the changes.  

Kasper Pyndt

@JoyceKetterer

Thank you so much for your thorough response. Very helpful 🙏

JoyceKetterer

@Kasper Pyndt. Also, make sure you communicate with the client directly at least once.  Marketing agencies want to act as gate keepers but that road leads to major messes.  Get written confirmation from the client that they approve the scope and designate the agency, if there is one, as their representative.