Professional Designers are not always cheap
Finding someone to do your design work is not always easy. The corporate designers, those who work for regular design companies, have set fees that are rarely negotiable. Those fees can be a little high for some people’s budget.
High fees discourage those who need simple designs done or for a one-time project. That is why many people who have design projects have turned to look for freelancers. Freelance designers are often negotiable on their already cheap fees.
They are also flexible on the type of jobs they will accept and like long-term projects or campaigns to work on. Freelancers are motivated as their employment depends on how many jobs they can get.
What this means for you is that if you shop around you can save a little money on your design costs while obtaining the services of very qualified and loyal designers.
What we will do here is to provide you with the information you need to know about finding a freelance designers in Singapore. To get all the facts you need just continue to read our article.
The Singapore job market
The job market is not always a stable indicator of employment in Singapore. One quarter the people seeking jobs is up and the next, that number will be down. There is no real way to predict how the job market will be from one quarter to the next.
The rise and fall of the job market depend on many factors including the number of expats who come to Singapore looking for greener pastures. Right now, there are 5 main industries that are still growing in the city-nation- banking & finance, logistics, real estate, healthcare and retail & wholesale businesses.
Those growth rates are not influencing the freelance market as the government of Singapore is supporting the IT sector where most freelancers are to be found. Because of this support, you should d not have a difficult time in finding a good freelancer to handle your design projects.
The only things you need to worry about is the influence of the different seasons of the year, the economic shifts that take place in any employment area, and the restricting of visa to foreigners who may make up a large majority of freelance workers.
Why do people hire freelance workers
Most people have grown up being taught that you go to school, get your diploma, head off to college then get a normal 9 to 5 job for the rest of your life. Once you do all of this, you are considered successful.
The thought of being a freelancer is a little scary. That is because freelance work is not stable or consistent. But more and more businesses are turning to freelancers, especially in the design field.
The reasons for this new trend are as follows:
- Inexpensive- let’s get the main reason out of the way first. Freelancers charge less than regular designers. They lack the expenses a regular designer has, so they can pass that savings on to you
- Flexible hours- freelancers can and do work at different times throughout the day or night. If you have an emergency project to be done quickly, freelancers do not demand overtime and still get the job done
- Scheduling freedom- you are not locked into a 9 to 5 routine. You can get the job done quicker and cheaper by scheduling a freelancer to work at odd hours.
- Good communication- good freelancers make sure they maintain good communication with their clients, even if it means staying up late at night
- Transparency- you know who is doing the actual work on your project and there are no bureaucratic factors involved when you need to make a request or ask a question
- Commitment- freelancers now that if they do not do a good job, they won’t get more work. Freelancers are highly motivated, they know that the better job they do the more work will come their way.
- Efficiency- freelancers do not have corporate structures t work under, they do not have meetings interrupting their work and more. They can get the project completed faster
How can you find a freelancer
Finding a freelance designer in Singapore is not as difficult as it may sound. There are companies that provide a platform for employers to meet with freelancers without any cost to the employer.
These companies have strict rules concerning providing personal contact information. It is a big no-no to try to circumvent the platform’s system and remittance features. These companies spend a lot of money providing the platform for you to use. They just want their fair cut of the transaction.
A quick internet searching using key search words will provide you with a list of these freelancer portals but here are a few of the major ones that work for most people:
- Upwork– in the beginning they charge 20% of the transaction fee as payment but it is the most popular website right now to find freelancers
- Guru– you can set your project by the hour or per contract with this company. They have over a million people using their services, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a designer in Singapore. Their fees are more realistic
- Freelancer– has several innovative ways to present your campaign to freelancers, including design contests
- Fiverr– another innovative company that uses the term gig to advertised freelance job and services. A variety of prices ca be used on this platform
- Folyo– this might be a more complicated platform as different freelancers may refer your project to others and not do the work themselves
- Matchist– this platform matches you up with a project manager and experts to make sure you get top quality results
- Mechanical Turk– if you like Amazon, you may like this platform. It matches up employers with a ready to go workforce that is highly motivated to handle your workload
- Indeed– it is a project matching service that sends your project out to all qualified freelancers
- Virtual Vocations– is a platform where the employers are vetted as much as the freelancers are. They update their job offerings everyday s there is a good chance you will find a good freelancer quickly
- Crowdsite– you get 140 characters to describe your project. Then you vet those freelancers who respond
For a complete or almost complete list of freelance companies available for you to use to find a freelancer for your project, just click here. You should be able to find one that meets your project needs and attract top quality freelancers to your door.
The key to remember is to be specific. Many different professional freelancers use these same companies. You need to make sure you mention the requirements that the freelancer has to be qualified in the design field and resides in Singapore to get the response you want.
Also, you need to be ready to receive and exclude those responses from scammers and people who will lie about their experience and location.
One more thing, if you do not want to take the time to use those companies listed above, you can simply do an internet search. Just type in the words ‘freelance designers in Singapore’ and a long list of designers comes up for you to choose from
How much do freelance designers charge
That is a very good question. The freelance world is very competitive and there is always someone who will do your project for a lot less. Of course, the end result may not be what you want, and you may feel cheated or some other strong emotion.
Each freelance designer will have their expected fee but that does not mean that they are not negotiable. The freelance companies you find through an internet search may have set fees and they may not be negotiable on their prices. It all depends.
You can find fees ranging from as little as $5 per hour or up to thousands of dollars for the whole project. It all depends on the details of the project and what you want to see in the finished results.
The good news is, when you go with one of the companies listed above, you get to set the fee. That means if you cannot afford a large amount of money, then you place the amount at a number you can afford.
You stay in control of how much you pay per project. Plus, your set fee will help cut the number of responses you have to go through to find a good freelancer. This will save you a little time when your ad hoc project is under the gun and the deadline is approaching fast.
33 Websites to Hire Freelance Designers in Singapore: How Much do they Charge?
Let’s face it, the biggest challenge you’re probably facing right now as a start-up company is lack of funding. That’s why you haven’t built a team of your own or opted for an agency but decided to come online and look for freelance designers you can hire.
I’ll admit: this is a cost-saving option, on top of requiring less paperwork and coming with a shorter onboarding process.
However, anyone who’s ever hired a freelance designer before knows how discouraging the process can be. With every freelancer setting their own rates, it’s hard to tell whether you’re hiring the right talent or paying them a little too much.
At Media One, we’ve had some experiences hiring freelance designers. We know how to navigate the world of freelancing, and today we’d like to share some insights with you.
Why Should You Hire a Freelance Designer?
Still not decided on whether or not to hire a freelance designer? Here are 7 reasons to help you make up your mind:
#1 Affordability
Let’s start with the most obvious reason. The only reason you’re even considering this is that you’re a bootstrapped start-up being funded with credit cards or loans from your family and friends. Otherwise, if you were a Silicon Valley darling sitting on a war chest of cash mountain in venture capital funding, then you wouldn’t have hesitated to build your own team of designers.
2# Time and Attention
Agencies tend to take so many clients. They also prioritise their schedule based on company size. You can’t compete for their attention with a multinational corporation paying them a six-figure retainer. It’s easy for your small project to be overlooked or rushed through. Freelancers, on the other hand, tend to only take a limited number of projects at a time, not more they can handle. You, therefore, get to enjoy their full attention while they’re working on your project.
3# High-quality Work
One of the biggest challenges freelance designers face is finding work. Clients don’t just hire them simply because they’re designers. They have to dig through reviews, check their portfolio, and find out what their past clients have to say about them before they can go ahead and hire one. In other words, they’re always motivated to deliver their best, going the extra mile to ensure the client will return.
4# Communication
If you’ve ever worked with an agency then you probably know how hard it can be for you to communicate with the actual designer. Most of the time, you’ll be communicating with an account manager, who then has to relay the information to the designer. This can slow down the process and even lead to the broken phone scenario where the designer gets the wrong or incomplete information. However, in the case of a freelancer, you’ll be communicating with the actual designer in real-time to get immediate feedback from them.
5# Flexibility
Hiring a freelancer comes with no limits. You can hire a freelancer from anywhere in the world, working at different times of the day. If push comes to shove, some will even work late into the night and over the weekend to ensure your work is delivered on time, no matter how urgent it is. They can be accessed via email or phone, and if your website is down, you can bet they’ll be able to get it up quicker than any of the agencies you know.
6# Well-suited Experience
It’s only natural that you’ll want to vet the freelancers you hire. Their profile will have all the information you want to know about them. Most of the time, you’ll know what to expect from them based on their skill set and experience. However, when you hire an agency, you wouldn’t even know who’s working on your project. The agency might be experienced, but you wouldn’t know if your project is assigned to a newbie or experienced designer.
7# The Agency Might be Outsourcing
What many clients don’t know is that agencies outsource too. Just because you hired an agency, it doesn’t mean they did all the work. It comes as no surprise when an agency outsources its work to freelancers. It may be that you’re getting your work handled by a freelancer but receiving the markup of an agency. So, why not do yourself a favour and cut out the middleman by hiring a freelance designer from the get-go.
33 Websites to Hire a Freelance Designer
When searching for that perfect freelance designer, it takes a lot of time and resources to navigate through the sea of options and tap into the most qualified and experienced professionals.
It just seems right that we help entrepreneurs sort out some of the places they can find the best freelance designers and what better way to do it than to prepare a long blog post about it.
1. LinkedIn ProFinder
LinkedIn ProFinder has over 50, 000 highly skilled in-demand freelancers, many of whom are experienced illustrators, web designers, graphic designers, and more. The platform allows you to quickly browse through a list of top freelance designers, look for related experience, request direct quotes, and read recommendations.
The best part is that it’s super-easy to get started. All you have to do is sign up and describe your design needs. The next thing you know is you’ll be receiving proposals from some of the most qualified freelance designers on the platform.
2. Dribbble
Dribbble is an online community of freelance designers – from web designers, illustrators, icon artist, graphic designer, logo designer, creatives, and more. Their job board has grown to become many companies’ go-to destination for finding the best freelance designers for hire.
When looking for a freelance designer, Dribbble allows you to segment different designers based on their skill set and geographical location. You also get to go through their bio, read their reviews, and preview some of the projects they have done.
3. Behance
Behance is a platform that enables freelance designers to showcase their work and connect with potential clients. It’s the home for more than 7 million creatives, with more than 65 million design projects getting viewed in a month.
Owned by Adobe, Behance boasts an incredibly active community of designers looking for work. As an employer, you’re allowed to post your job and have candidates recommended to you based on your specified criteria.
4. 99 Designs
As one of the world’s largest graphic design marketplaces, 99 Designs has helped more than 364, 000 businesses find the right talent for their work.
Whether you’re looking for someone to help you design your logo, infographic, book cover, branding projects, or app design, 99 Designs got you.
To get started, just head over to 99 Designs and fill out their creative brief. 99 Designs will then proceed to share your job contest with over 1 million designers. Give it a few days and the designers will begin submitting their ideas to you.
Now, choose the freelancer whose idea excites you the most. That’s the freelancer you’ll be working with.
5. Angel List
Angel List is a treasure trove of great talents, a great destination for finding and hiring qualified freelance designers with different skillsets and backgrounds.
To get started, just head over to the platform and list your job opportunity and you’ll be directly connected with interested designers.
6. Twine FM
Twine.fm connects businesses with talented freelancers.
They have a community of 400, 000 talented freelancers to choose from. And the best part is that they manually vet all job pitches before they’re sent over to you.
7. Designhill
Designhill is considered one of the largest graphic design marketplaces. They have one of the simplest functioning principles. As an employer, all you have to do is visit the platform and create a contest. You’ll be prompted to include the prize, duration, and brief.
Go ahead and publish the contest once done, and you’ll start receiving dozens of entries from different designers all around the globe.
From the entries submitted, you’ll be allowed to choose your favourite design work and work with the designer whose work you approved. They also have a money-back policy just in case none of the entries matches your standards.
8. Fiverr
Fiverr has all types of freelancers, including designers.
Some of the services listed go for as low as $5, which makes it one of the most affordable platforms you’ll ever come across online.
It’s easy to navigate, and on top of that, they have a QA session to guide you through the process.
You can also search for your preferred candidate using keywords and you’ll be provided with a list of relevant candidates to sift through and choose the best fit.
9. Freelancer
Freelancer is one of the oldest freelancing platforms, with a mainstream model of connecting businesses with qualified freelancers.
To get started, just visit the platform and sign up. Next, create your job post and include how much payment you’re offering.
Candidates will submit their bids. You can go through the bids, taking your time to also check out their profile and portfolio before choosing anyone of them.
You also get to decide whether you want to pay them per hour or offer a flat rate price for the whole project.
10. Toptal
Only 3% of freelancers who apply to join the Toptal community get accepted. That means they only work with the best that the industry has to offer.
That explains why it’s considered the best platform for hiring freelance designers. It’s, however, quite expensive compared to other freelancing sites.
The platform operates on a simple policy: you only pay after you’re 100% satisfied with the quality of work delivered. They also offer a no-risk trial to clients that sign up with them.
11. Design Crowd
Design Crowd is a community of designers from all around the world. It’s a simple platform that allows businesses to outsource their projects directly to freelance designers.
The platform promises a fast turnaround, many design ideas, affordable services, and zero risks.
Like other similar platforms, Design Crowd requires you to publish your project brief, including your essential requirements. You also have to choose a plan that best corresponds to your design needs.
Once done, interested designers can go ahead and submit their design ideas to you. But unlike other similar platforms, Design Crowd allows you to share the submitted entries with your team or friends for rating.
12. Cloud Peeps
Cloud Peeps is another freelance platform with thousands of qualified freelancers in different fields.
On the platform, you can go through each professional’s profile and check their experience, reviews, CV, references, and more.
If you get to like a freelancer’s portfolio or CV, you can go ahead and hire them directly. Another option would be to post your job on the platform for qualifying candidates to apply for it.
13. College Recruiter
College Recruiter is a great platform for hiring millennials or Gen Z candidates. It comes as a great opportunity for college students and recent graduates to be hired for entry-level or part-time jobs.
It’s not free. You have to pay $75 for every job you post. Furthermore, you can advertise your job offer or create an email campaign targeting qualified candidates.
14. ServiceScape
ServiceScape is a freelance platform for all talents. They’re, however, focused on a few categories – writing, graphic design, translation, and editing.
The platform allows you to review each freelancer’s information, including their speciality and price.
Freelancers can change their status to “available” or “unavailable,” which lets you know if they’re available for work or not.
15. Art Wanted
Art Wanted works great if you’re interested in hiring a creative person, such as an illustrator, artist, or graphic designer.
Freelancers are allowed to create their portfolio. They can also list some of their creations for sale.
Suffice it to say, the platform has so many talented people. You can use keywords to browse through the talents and contact them directly if you think they’re a good fit for your project.
16. Donna Jobs
Donna Jobs only lists female freelancers.
So, only use the platform when you’re interested in hiring female designers.
There are two ways to use the platform.
The first one is where you browse through different profiles and choose a female professional that you think is more qualified to handle your project.
The second one involves posting a job request and waiting for freelancers to submit their requests.
17. SpeedLancer
SpeedLancer offers to connect you with the best freelance graphic designers you’ll ever come across anywhere.
At the time of writing this, the platform has about 500 highly skilled graphic designers, divided into teams.
All projects are handled by a team, not individual freelancers. So, if you have a project, you can visit the platform and browse through the teams to choose one that you think is more qualified to handle your project.
The cost of hiring a team on SpeedLancer is approximately $1500/hour.
18. FreelancerMax
FreelancerMax is a huge network of freelancers focusing on different services, including web design, app development, content writing, and design services.
It’s a simple platform that allows you to post your job and wait as different freelancers submit their applications.
Another option would be to go through different freelancer profiles and send a message to one to find out if they’re available for work.
19. WORKnHire
WORKnHIRE is an Indian-based freelance platform, with thousands of freelancers from all over the world that you can hire.
It’s a simple platform with an intuitive interface and a straightforward principle of work.
After signing up, you can post your job and wait for freelancers to start bidding on it.
After you receive a quote, you can go through each candidate’s profile to find out more about them – their skills, pricing, reviews, etc.
If satisfied, you can go ahead and hire the freelancer, and wait for them to deliver the work within the specified timeline.
20. AIGA
AIGA is the home of 25, 000 designers from all over the world. It’s a community of freelance designers, in-house designers, and business mentors.
Beyond operating as a freelance market place, they also act as an educational website and a platform for sharing helpful resources and materials on design.
Their Design Job section is divided into subsections: professional, internships, and pro-bono.
If you’re one of their members, you’ll be allowed to post your job at a significantly reduced rate. Not to mention, they have a huge pool of talented freelancers that regularly check the platform for new job offers.
21. UXHires
UXHires is a freelance platform dedicated to UI designers, UX designers, and UX researchers only. They have more than 10, 000 highly skilled and experienced freelance designers that you can hire.
They, however, don’t connect you with the freelancers directly. Instead, you have to reach out to UXhires and state the nature of your jobs and they’ll try to match you up with the right talent based on experience, skills, and personality.
Recently, they introduced the option for posting your job and waiting for qualified professionals to apply.
22. Krop
Krop is a freelancer marketplace consisting of both part-time and full-time freelancers.
They have a simple hiring process. You can browse through different freelancers’ portfolios and hire one directly or post your job on their job board and wait for freelancers to apply.
A single job posting on Krop will cost you $199. But the more jobs you post the more this amount reduces.
They have more than 100, 000 portfolios, which can only be accessed after paying a $299 monthly subscription fee.
23. Indeed
You’ve probably heard about Indeed.
For those who haven’t, this is a simplified job board that allows you to hire all types of professionals – whether you’re looking for permanent employees, part-time workers, or freelancers.
You can post your job offer on their job board, where different candidates can apply. Applicants can filter through different job offers using keywords or by specifying their locations.
24. Craigslist
Craigslist is a great platform for finding qualified freelancers for your project.
Even better, Craigslist makes it possible to filter freelancers based on their locations. And did we mention that it’s completely free?
25. PeoplePerHour
Similar to other platforms, you can post your job on PeoplePerHour and wait for freelancers to apply.
Remember to check their profiles and read their reviews before hiring one.
Also, try to make your job posting more detailed to increase your chances of finding the right candidate.
26. Coroflot
Coroflot is a network of professionals in the creative and design industries. The platform accommodates a diverse range of designers you can work with – UI/UI designer, graphic designer, 3D modelling, illustration and art, etc.
As an employer, you’re free to post your project on Coroflot, where it will remain open for 90 days for designers to submit their proposals.
You’re also free to cancel the job post any time you want.
27. Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange is a Q&A community of programmers and designers. People visit this site to find, ask and respond to all manner of questions on programming and software development.
They also have a community for designers that now boasts over 50,000 active users, many of whom are open for freelance offers as displayed on their profiles.
28. Envato
The handpicked Envato freelance developers and designers have completed more than 93, 000 jobs for clients from all around the world.
Whether you’re looking for someone to design you a logo, design your website, or handle any other type of design work, you can trust Envato to tap into their network of over 7 million creative designers to get the work done.
29. Authentic Jobs
Big brands such as Facebook, the New York Times, and Mercedes Benz are among the companies that have used Authentic Jobs to find the best freelance designers they can hire.
Of course, you’ll be required to pay to list your job offer on Authentic Jobs. But it will be worth the price considering they have some of the best freelance designers you’ll ever come across online. Moreover, they offer a money-back guarantee just in case you don’t find a freelance designer that best matches your standards.
30. Local Solo
If you prefer working with a local freelance designer, Local Solo is the platform for you.
Here, you can post your project and search through the community for a top-tier freelancer in just about any major city around the world.
The platform features a built-in applicant tracking tool for managing your applicants. It’s a great tool if you’re looking to set up a big team of freelancers.
31. Onsite
Onsite is all about serious business.
All their freelancers have to undergo a thorough vetting process before they’re brought on board.
They’re all top-quality with the required agency experience and proven track records. After you post your job offer, you’ll be provided with a list of ranked freelancers matching your job offer.
32. Folyo
Folyo is a private network of 1, 000 plus hand-picked freelance designers.
The platform lets you post your project at a one-time listing fee, after which you’ll instantly start receiving applications from shortlisted designers.
Only 30% of freelance designers that apply with Folyo get accepted. This should tell you something about the quality of freelance designers you’re likely to get on this platform.
33. Dice
At the time of writing this, there are over 38, 000 design-related jobs on Dice and over 2 million professionals searching for a job opportunity.
By signing up as an employer on Dice, you’ll be joining the big companies such as Adobe, Dell, and Cisco tapping into the vast talent pool of freelancers looking for work.
What’s the Cost of Hiring a Freelance Designer?
The average cost of hiring a freelance web designer is $75 per hour. Designing a fully functional business website should cost you between $5000 and $10000. But the average cost of setting everything up, from designing, building, and populating it with sales copies is $6760.
Also included in the figure is the cost of maintaining the website training the client.
Keep in mind that a custom website will cost you more.
If we were to break down everything, here’s a full price list of setting up a fully functional website:
- Setting up the website: $160
- Design and building: $5, 000
- Content creation: $500
- Client training: $600
- Maintenance: $500
Total: 6, 760
This is just a rough estimate of how much it’s going to cost you to design a website. The cost may vary depending on so many factors. For instance, the setup cost may go as low as $50 or as high as $200, depending on the type of hosting, domain cost, and a long list of other factors.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Freelance Graphic Designer?
The average cost of hiring a freelance graphic designer is $140 with most of the platforms on the list.
For hourly rates, experienced graphic designers tend to charge between $65 and $150 per hour, whereas newbie ones will be charging between $25 and $55 per hour.
The Cost of Designing a Logo
The cost of designing a logo can range from $150 to $450 where the designer is using a standardised template to make the logo.
But if they’re designing everything from scratch, the cost of designing the logo will be ranging from $500 to $2000.
Business stationery created using a template tend to range from $150 to $250. But if you’re designing everything from scratch, the cost will range from $300 to $600.
What kind of projects you can use freelancers
The short and simple answer is- the sky is the limit. There are professional freelancers that are skilled in handling just about any project you have in mind. If the project is too outside the box and cat be done, then the good ones will tell you that it can’t be done by anyone including scammers.
When you list your project on the different internet platforms be specific about the type of work you want done. You will find out soon enough if the details can be completed or not.
There is something that you should do not do when trying to hire a freelance worker. Don’t ask them to do speculative work or do a project for free with the promise of more work later.
Not only does this disrespect the freelancer and their time, it robs them of an opportunity to take a paying job that will help pay their bills. You can give the freelancer a paid test or just move onto the next candidate who presents better work credentials.
How to negotiate with a freelance worker
There are many opinions to this part of the freelance world. Some people think that the person who mentions a number first is on the losing end of the negotiations. Others disagree.
Also, the going market rate may not be what you want to pay, or it is a good guideline to help you set the right fee for the work at hand. Here are some tips on how to negotiate with a freelancer:
- Be clear about the job details- you are not looking for consultation but a cost estimate for the project
- Ask the right questions- get a handle on their experience, knowledge and let them ask questions
- Don’t under pay- if you want professional quality, then you need to pay for professional quality
- Build trust- be honest with the freelancer and let them know that you like their work. Freelancers want to work with someone they can trust
- Use understanding- if you think the fee is a bit high for part-time work, consider your full-time options and the costs involved. A full-time employee requires benefits, etc., while freelancers only require the right fee for the job
- Don’t give out information- in other words, when a freelancer asks how much you pay other freelancers, don’t give them a number. This may end up costing you more money than is in your budget
Some final words
As we said, finding a freelancer in Singapore is not that difficult. It will take a little work from you and a lot of patience. You do have to provide the project details, place the project on freelance websites and then filter out the bad responses till you get to the few you think can handle the job.
Those few are then qualified for the next step in the process, the interview, etc., So a little work and a lot of patience on your part should help you find the right freelancer that will do a top-quality job faster, cheaper and better than a regular employee would.
You save money, time and stress by finding the right freelancer for your project. That will make you look good to your boss, shareholders and other stakeholders in your business.
