A story from Signal Vs Noise:

Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

What to charge is a constant topic of debate among designers and clients… Actually most of the time it’s between the client and designer. We try to quantify our product by the amount of effort it takes and if something comes easy its especially hard for clients to feel like they are “getting what they paid for” in terms of work. Just because something is simple, basic, easy, black&white, etc. Does not subtract from its value as a piece of Design.

Designers don’t take the true cost of their work into account most of the time and with each hourly proposal clients will ask for more for less.

Clients aren’t just getting the hours spent on their project directly.

They are paying for all of them and that can’t be quantified.