Website and Graphic Design

Candice has been preparing to launch her web and graphic design portion of her business for some time now, and the day has finally come to make that launch official!

A note from Candice:

I am now ready and am accepting new clients who are in the wholistic industry currently, those who are just starting out, or those making plans to be in the future. who are in need of website and print design work. I would also be open to those businesses who would like a wholistic "feel" to their web and graphic design, but who are not Necessarily directly in that business. Because I myself, am in the wholistic profession, and understand the needs and "feel" of this industry, I am only catering to that specific audience.

My Vision & Inspiration for branching into this new territory

For a lot of us in the wholistic industry, the cost of hiring a web or graphic designer to create our marketing vision is way out of our league. Most commercial designers charge a minimum of $500-$600 for a very, VERY simple and basic website that may only be 2-3 pages in size - at best. The same goes for brochure and business card design. Many wholistic practitioners simply can't afford the potentially thousands of dollars it can cost to create an image for our businesses that attracts the attention that we want.

Danard and I were initially quoted about $1500 to have a 10 page website built for Thunderbird Sky. Though this quote was right on par with industry standards, we just couldn't afford it. We attempted having a site built on a trade basis with several people, as I'm sure many of you have thought of or even tried, but our site just never got built. So, we were at a loss, as a lot of wholistic businesses are, especially those who are just starting up, as to how we would be able to get a much needed website up and running.

This is exactly the reason why I took my basic knowledge of graphic design, and spent hundreds of hours learning how to use the software that created our website, as well as spending many more, honing my skills in print graphic design to a much higher standard that previous. I have talked to many practitioners and other wholistic business owners and most of them are in the same boat we were - how to get the necessary marketing materials created at an affordable cost, but still have the market appeal necessary to compete with companies with much bigger budgets.

So, with all of that in mind, I am now offering these services to you, the wholistic business or practitioner, in a way that won't cost you your "first born", so to speak. Please bear in mind that you may still feel that our packages seem "expensive", but in order to produce a high quality product, they take time and work to create. I encourage everyone to check around and get quotes from other companies before making your final decision.

We will have several different packages and services available (see links below), at varying prices, depending on the size of the project you wish to have created. Prior to beginning the design process, we will meet one on one, to discuss your design needs and wants.

How you choose your package will be very personal and depend on what we discuss in our initial consultation as being your primary needs and wants. Here are some basic guidelines you can follow to begin your decision making process:

1) First and foremost, what is your approximate budget?

In other words, what would be the maximum you would be able and willing to spend at this time, for your project? This does not mean that you can't change and improve things later on, but I also don't want you to spend your last dollar getting your materials together right now.

2) Secondly, what are your design needs?

Do you need just a small one page website only? Or do you require a larger site plus all of your marketing materials to be designed; business cards, brochures, etc. This will dictate not only the cost, but the time it takes to complete your project.

3) What is your time frame of completion?

Bear in mind, that I have a pretty good idea of how long it will take for me to complete a project. You need to have a realistic idea of when you would like your project to be complete, especially if you have a particular deadline, for example, you have an upcoming tradeshow where you need business cards and / or a brochure done.

A recommendation is that you never leave your marketing material design to the last minute, or it either won't get completed at all, or won't be the quality you hoped for. It takes time to complete a project, and you have to expect this.

Your marketing materials are your "face" in the marketplace, and often, the first time a potential customer or client will "see" you. You need to get their attention in approximately 3 seconds, or they will ignore you completely. This statistic has been researched by the marketing gurus of the world, and it is accurate.

If they don't understand or get an accurate feel of your image and what you represent as a company or practitioner, or you look generic, they will very quickly move on to the next website, business care, ad, brochure, etc, never even giving you a chance to prove yourself to be a business that can help them. Colors, fonts, graphics, how your copy is worded, overall design feel, etc, must be thought out carefully ahead of time or your message is lost on them.

4) Are you supplying the text (copy), graphics, photos, logos, etc?

This is extremely important if you wish to keep your costs dramatically lower, than if you needed me to write all or part of your copy, supply graphics, etc. I charge an hourly rate of $30/hour for providing these services, on top of the basic cost of your chosen package, so this will dramatically increase the cost of your project if you do not choose to create these yourself and supply them to me.

I will do basic editing only of existing copy, graphics and photos. Anything over and above basic - in other words, if I have to do minor or major "reconstructive surgery" to your materials, you will be charged at the full $30/hour rate. I will always get your approval first, for doing any major editing that will add to the cost of your package, before I begin. You need to decide ahead of time if you really need someone else to create these materials, or if you can handle it yourself and save yourself the money.

A further note on these design elements, I haven't been trained in creating company logos, so you would have to supply those to me. If you don't have a logo, I can refer you to a designer who can do this for you.

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Now that we have the basics covered, you will need to know what exactly it is, that I am offering in terms of types of packages, what they will include, and the cost. Please click on the appropriate link for what it is you are looking for.

1) Web Design Package Only

2) Web and Print Design Packages

3) Individual Services