If you are about to hire a graphic design company for a project to create something new for your business, the number of revisions should be stated as part of the estimating and agreement phase. How many rounds of revisions your creative team should provide will depend upon your needs.
One to three rounds of revisions are common for graphic design projects.
As rounds of revisions progress, each round should get less complicated. The scenarios below explain why you may want, or need, a certain amount of revisions from your graphic design company, and what the pros and cons are for your design team. In the very beginning, it’s a good idea to have a conversation about the preferred method of providing comments. Our clients provide comments a number of different ways including verbally, written on a printout, emailed as text instructions or, our preferred method, marked up in a PDF utilizing the comment tools.
The review process or approval team/person can impact the rounds of revisions.
In all reality, if you have a tier or more of management above you that will be reviewing and approving your graphic design project, you will likely need more rounds of revisions. A board or committee group that needs to review the project is another scenario that could expand the required number of revisions in a project. The important thing to remember is to tell your prospective graphic design team what your review and approval processes are ahead of time. It will help allocate the appropriate time and effort to accommodate the extra rounds of revisions.
The best way to streamline the design and review process is to have the highest level decision maker at the kick-off meeting with your graphic design company. It will help the creative team make sure all needs, wants, and concerns are heard and understood. The up-front investment of time makes a world of difference in the flow of a project and could help reduce the rounds of revisions required—saving time and money in the long run. Take it from me, your graphic design company will appreciate this very much!
If you need “unlimited revisions,” rethink your approach. If you are offered “unlimited revisions,” look elsewhere.
Is it ok to ask a graphic design company for unlimited rounds of revisions?
This is a crazy question but some graphic design companies talk about “unlimited rounds of revisions.” The idea of endlessly wandering in a land of revisions and nothing ever is complete sounds terrible to me. The professionals that rely on us want things completed in a reasonable amount of time with as few rounds of revisions as possible. “Unlimited rounds of revisions” either says a client can’t make up their mind, a client is unprepared, or a graphic designer can’t get things right. If you need “unlimited revisions,” rethink your approach. If you are offered “unlimited revisions,” look elsewhere.
How can additional rounds of revisions affect a project timeline?
Increasing the number of rounds of revisions on a project will extend the length of time a project will take. The graphic design team needs time to update and your team needs time to review. If you anticipate extended review periods or people who need to see the designs, ask your graphic design company if there is a way to streamline the process. Here are some thoughts:
- Commit to specific project calendar to reduce chance of delays.
- Specify when you can review materials from your graphic design team, such as 10am-2pm, or that you require 48 hours for review.
- Confirm how much time your graphic design company will need to implement the revisions so you can have your internal team ready to review the revised work.
- Know your deadline and stick to it. Nothing blows a deadline like extra rounds of revisions.
How do rounds of revisions affect the cost of a graphic design project?
More time will equal more cost. Depending upon the project, rounds of revisions will likely have an anticipated implementation time. This translates into overhead for a graphic design company to account for. For example, if you think only one round of revisions will be fine, your project will likely cost a less than if you need five rounds of revisions. At Trillion, most of our projects include two rounds of revisions. Beyond that, we invoice hourly if needed or we adjust the project scope to include more time based on our clients’ needs. We think this format keeps everyone moving toward completing the project efficiently.
Trillion works closely with our clients to help reduce the rounds of revisions.
If you have questions about completing your graphic design project by a certain date, give us a call at 908.219.4703 or just use our simple contact form. We have been working with some of our clients for decades!
