Ongoing graphic design production without the hiring overhead
Most organisations do not have a design problem. They have a throughput problem. The work is small, constant, deadline driven and currently spread across whoever has the software.
What is graphic design?
Graphic Design is the ongoing production of branded material across formats: campaign artwork, sales collateral, reports, signage, advertising sets and internal communications. It suits Australian organisations producing enough design work to need reliable turnaround and consistency, but not enough to justify recruiting and managing a permanent in-house designer.
Get a fixed written quote- Typical timeline
- Ongoing, with agreed turnaround per request type
- What drives cost
- The volume and mix of work each month, how much of it is set piece work such as annual reports, and how much original illustration is needed.
- Best for
- Marketing teams producing steady volumes of branded material
- You own
- Every source file, packaged with fonts and links, on request
- Built with
- Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, print-ready output, brand templates
Your handover
What ongoing design production actually covers
The list is longer and more mundane than most agency pages admit. A typical month includes a campaign concept and its adaptations, a set of advertising assets in six sizes, a two page sell sheet, an event banner, a report laid out from a Word document, a set of icons for a new product line, an updated price list, a recruitment advertisement, three social posts outside the normal template range, and a last minute request for something to hand out at a conference on Thursday.
- 01Single intake path with a short brief template
- 02Agreed turnaround tiers and a visible queue
- 03Campaign concepts with format adaptations
- 04Print-ready artwork built to supplier specifications
- 05Digital assets sized for each destination
- 06Master files with a documented resizing plan
- Packaged source files with fonts and links
- Consistent file naming and an organised archive
- Monthly summary of what was produced
None of that is glamorous and all of it is visible
None of that is glamorous and all of it is visible. The value is not in any single piece. It is in the fact that all of it looks like it came from the same organisation, arrives when it was promised, and is supplied in the format the destination actually needs. Where an identity system already exists, we work inside it. Where it does not, this work often reveals the need for one, and clients frequently move from here into a proper identity system once they can see how much time is lost re deciding the same things.
A slide deck that is not persuading anyone needs narrative work before it needs styling.
Artwork production is a discipline, not an afterthought
There is a real difference between designing something and preparing it for its destination, and the second is where most external design work falls down. A billboard needs different resolution logic to a business card. A magazine has a supplied specification with a particular bleed, ink limit and PDF standard, and missing it means a rejected file and a missed booking. A vehicle wrap needs artwork built at a scale ratio with allowance for door handles and body curves. An email banner needs a file size a mail server will not choke on.
More on artwork production is a discipline, not an afterthought
So we treat production as its own step. We confirm the destination specification before layout, build to it, then preflight before supply. Where an item exists in many sizes, we build a master and a resizing plan rather than eleven unrelated files, so an amendment in week three does not mean eleven separate corrections. Files go out named for their destination, and the packaged source stays in your library for the next time someone needs the same thing at a different size.
How the engagement runs
How work comes in and gets prioritised
The failure mode of ongoing design is not quality. It is the queue. Requests arrive in meetings, hallway conversations and forwarded emails with no deadline, no dimensions and no copy, and then everything is urgent on the same afternoon. So we set up a single intake path with a short brief template. If a request cannot state its purpose, its destination, its final size and its deadline, it is not ready to start, and starting it anyway produces rework that costs everyone more.
- 01Stage 1Submit through one intake form with purpose, destination, final dimensions, copy and deadline
- 02Stage 2We confirm scope, turnaround tier and any missing inputs the same business day
- 03Stage 3First draft delivered for review, with alternatives only where the brief was open
- 04Stage 4One consolidated round of feedback from your side, gathered by a single owner
- 05Stage 5Second draft and approval, or a short call if the feedback conflicts with itself
- 06Stage 6Production files supplied in the exact formats each destination requires
- 07Stage 7Everything archived in your library with consistent naming so it can be reused
Two decisions on your side that keep the project moving
We then group requests into turnaround tiers so a small amendment does not sit behind a fifty page report. Your team can see the queue and reprioritise it, because you know which deadline is real and which one is aspirational. Two review rounds are included as standard on most items, and we say plainly when a request arrives too late to be done well, which is more useful than quietly producing something rushed.
Choose the right level
Retainer, project work or hiring someone
These three options solve overlapping problems and the right answer depends on volume, variety and how much management capacity you have. Hiring is excellent when the volume is genuinely full time and the work is consistent. It is a poor fit when the work spikes and troughs, or when the range spans print production, motion and interface work that no single person does well.
Option
01
Ongoing retainer
Works when
Steady monthly volume across varied formats with real deadlines
Where it struggles
Needs one person on your side to own the brief queue
02
Project by project
Works when
A few significant pieces a year with long lead times
Where it struggles
Every project restarts context, so small jobs become uneconomic
03
In-house designer
Works when
Full time volume, consistent work type, someone to manage them
Where it struggles
Single point of failure, no peer review, narrow skill range
04
Templates plus internal production
Works when
High volume of near identical items your team can self serve
Where it struggles
Only works for repeatable formats, and templates need maintaining
How we work this out during scoping
The honest weakness of a retainer is that it needs someone on your side to own the queue. The honest weakness of hiring is that a solo in-house designer has no one to review their work and tends to plateau. We have seen both work well, and we have seen both fail for those exact reasons, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than defaulting.
Working with your brand, or without one
If you have guidelines, we work inside them and flag where they are silent rather than inventing quietly. Most guideline documents cover the logo and the palette thoroughly and say nothing about tables, charts, long form documents, or what to do when a partner logo has to sit beside yours. Those gaps are where inconsistency creeps in, and we record the decisions we make so the guidelines improve over time instead of being contradicted.
More on working with your brand, or without one
If you have no guidelines, we do not stop and sell you a branding project. We set a minimum working standard in the first fortnight, which is typically two typefaces with defined sizes, a palette with accessible pairings, a spacing rule and three layout patterns. That is enough to produce consistent work immediately. If the volume later justifies it, that groundwork feeds directly into a full identity, and none of it is wasted.
When a design retainer is the wrong shape
If your needs are sporadic, a retainer will feel like paying for a gym membership you use twice a year. Project engagements suit that pattern better, and we will say so. If you have one significant piece coming, such as an annual report or a capability document, book it as a project and give it the attention it deserves rather than squeezing it into a monthly allocation.
A slide deck that is not persuading anyone needs narrative work before it needs styling
There are also requests that look like graphic design and are not. A slide deck that is not persuading anyone needs narrative work before it needs styling. A social feed that nobody engages with needs a content plan more than it needs new artwork, which is content strategy. And a website that is hard to use will not be fixed by better graphics, which is a interface design problem. We would rather point you at the right service than make attractive material that solves nothing.
How we scope it
Four ways to scope your Graphic Design project
We do not publish package prices, because the same brief can be a short build or a long one. These are the shapes the work usually takes. Tell us which one sounds like you and you will get a fixed written quote that spells out exactly what it covers.
Graphic Core
The essentials, done properly, not a template
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Single intake path with a short brief template
- Agreed turnaround tiers and a visible queue
- Campaign concepts with format adaptations
Graphic Full identity
A complete identity your team can apply without us
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Everything in Graphic Core
- Print-ready artwork built to supplier specifications
- Digital assets sized for each destination
- Master files with a documented resizing plan
Graphic Brand system
A system that holds up across products and campaigns
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Everything in Graphic Full identity
- Packaged source files with fonts and links
- Consistent file naming and an organised archive
- Monthly summary of what was produced
Graphic Brand care
Applying and extending it as the business grows
Rolling monthly, quoted in writing
- New assets and applications as they come up
- The system extended rather than reinvented
- Files and source artwork kept in order and in your name
- Rolling, cancel with 30 days notice
These are shapes, not menus. Most quotes end up somewhere between two of them, and we will say so when the honest answer is the smallest one. Describe the problem and we will tell you which it is.
Questions buyers usually ask
Frequently asked questions
Working with us
How quickly can you turn work around?
It depends on the tier. Small amendments and resizes are usually same or next business day. Standard items such as a sell sheet or an advertising set typically take two to four business days once the brief and copy are complete. Multi page documents and campaign concepts need a week or more. We agree those tiers at the start so nobody guesses.
Can you deal with our printer directly?
Yes, and it usually saves a round trip. We take the specification from your supplier, build to it, preflight and supply the files, then review the proof before it goes to press. If something is rejected we deal with it rather than passing the email to you. For anything with unusual finishing, we talk to the printer before layout rather than after.
Do you work with small businesses or only larger marketing teams?
Both, though the shape differs. A larger team usually wants capacity and consistency across many requesters. A smaller business usually wants a modest, predictable amount of work each month and someone who already knows the context, so nothing has to be re explained. The intake process is the same; the volume and the tier mix are not.
Detail and edge cases
How is ongoing design work priced?
It is scoped on volume and mix rather than on individual items, because pricing every small job separately creates more admin than design. We look at a representative month, agree what is included, and put it in a fixed written quote. Larger set pieces such as annual reports are usually quoted separately so they do not consume a month's capacity unnoticed.
Do we get the working files, not just the PDFs?
Yes, on request and at any time. We supply packaged source files with linked images and font references included. Fonts themselves are subject to their licences, so we tell you which ones are used and at what tier, and if you do not hold a licence we will specify an alternative rather than passing along files you cannot legally use.
What if our volume varies a lot month to month?
Most do, and a rigid monthly allocation handles that badly. We agree a baseline that matches your quieter months and a mechanism for the busy ones, and we look at the actual pattern quarterly. Predictable seasonal peaks, such as a conference season or an end of financial year push, are planned for in advance rather than absorbed as emergencies.
Related services
Tell us what a typical month looks like
Send us a list of what you produced in the last quarter and what got dropped. We come back the next business day with the scope written down and the price fixed.