Retainer Partnerships
“Good design is good business.”
– THOMAS WATSON JR.
When your design needs are ongoing, a retainer arrangement can be the perfect solution. Retainers offer ongoing consistency, availability, and rapport with an experienced designer, without the permanent commitment to payroll and other HR costs.
When you need guaranteed design availability, an ongoing retainer partnership is usually a great fit. But we do retainer arrangements a little different around here. We base our retainer agreements on days, rather than a bank of hours because we find the most reliable way to add value for our clients is by working with them consistently on the same day each week. By having a set day each week, you know exactly when I’ll be working on your projects. This means there is no confusion about when we’ll need any necessary materials, we always have specific, dedicated time allocated for your projects, and we’ll never accidentally work too few or too many hours. Give it a try! We have yet to have a client regret it.
Retainer arrangements work especially well for:
Startups working through product interface design, as it creates the perfect environment for cyclical iteration.
Established businesses who have ongoing design needs or are facing a large design project and want consistent guidance and deliverables from an experienced designer.
Small creative agencies who need reliable help from an experienced designer in dealing with a surge of work or a large project.
All of our retainers are month-to-month arrangements
Our month-to-month retainers offer you a great degree of flexibility, as you’re only committing to one month at a time. Simply give us 30 days’ notice when you’re ready to pause or change the contract. Month-to-month contracts are billed at a flat per-day rate, upfront at the beginning of the month.
How it works
Step 1
Select your day of the week
We base our retainer agreements on days, rather than hours because we’ve found the most reliable way to add value for our clients is by working with them consistently each week. Once you’re ready to get started, we will let you know what days of the week we have available to choose from. Once your day is set, it’ll stay that way until we both agree to change it.
Step 2
Schedule our weekly planning call
Once your day is assigned, we arrange a standing weekly planning call 1-2 days before your standing retainer day. Planning calls typically last about 30 minutes, and are designed to be a time where we can discuss which items you want help with this week and the order of priority. Then, you’ll have the rest of the day to gather up any materials we may need for our day of work. We take these calls seriously and expect all parties to show up promptly and prepared!
Step 3
We do our thing, for you!
On your day, we work through your tasks in the priority order we discussed, then we follow up at the end of the day with a progress report of what we accomplished, along with proofs and sometimes even walk-through videos. You’ll have a few days to review before our next planning call, when we’ll discuss whether we need to iterate or move on to new goals that week.
Why do you run your retainer partnerships this way?
We run our retainers like this for three reasons:
Having a set day/days of the week means you know when we'll be working on your projects, so there is no confusion about when we'll need the materials necessary to work on the projects.
Having a set day (or days) of the week means we always have specific, dedicated time allocated for your projects. This way we don't accidentally work too much or too little on them, and it helps us avoid projects sneaking up on us at the last minute.
Allocating a full day to your projects reduces interruption and increases productivity and efficiency, which often means you get a lot more work done for less investment per project.
Additional benefits of this system:
It works really well for clients who are uncertain of just how much design help they need because you can ramp it up or down as needed.
It helps reduce long-term budget commitments and HR overhead costs (especially during these uncertain times).
It provides access to senior-level design thinking and work product at a much lower investment than an equivalent hire.
Past and present retainer partnerships
Have more questions? I’ve got answers.
-
A freelancer is typically project-based: you bring them in, scope the work, and they deliver that single project. Each engagement starts from scratch. Conversely, a fractional engagement is ongoing. This means I get to know your brand over time, and that accumulated context is one of the primary things you're paying for. The work gets faster and better the longer we work together.
-
Anywhere from a few months to several years—it all depends on your needs. All retainer agreements are month-to-month, with 30 days' notice to modify or end. Some clients run a retainer through a major project, then pause until the next one. Others maintain an ongoing partnership for many years.
-
I’ve had several clients in the past who have booked multiple days per week. Most clients start at one day or half-day, and if your needs grow, we can discuss adding additional time, pending availability. For time-sensitive projects that can't wait for your next scheduled slot, I can often accommodate extra one-off days or overtime hours that would just be billed on your next invoice.
-
Not necessarily! Since the key idea of a retainer is that you are buying my availability, you are free to use your reserved day for whatever you choose. So if you have multiple businesses you can absolutely have me working on a project for one business during one week, and a project for another business the following week (or even during the same day if the projects are smaller!)
-
You’re probably familiar with the hour-based retainer concept, however, I have encountered issues with project planning and scheduling when using this method, so by implementing the day-based scheduling it creates a predictable work cycle. You always know exactly when your work will be happening, and exactly how long you have to review it until my next work session!
-
Website or email coding, animation, copywriting, photography, complex custom illustration, and third-party purchases (fonts, stock photography, hosting, etc.) are not included. I'm happy to connect you with trusted partners from my network for any of these services if they are needed.
-
Retainer agreements are billed monthly on the 1st of each month. Payment is due within 15 days. If I take planned time off, I'll give you 2–4 weeks' notice and will prorate that month’s invoice accordingly.
-
Available slots change as client partnerships open and close. Contact me to find out what's currently open.
Seeing is believing
View a selection of our past projects to get an idea of what we might be able to do for you, or view our full portfolio.
“No matter the ask—from infographics to pitch decks and product images to ad images and tradeshow booth design—Melissa is incredibly talented and has created beautiful graphics for our marketing team. As her client, she was quick to understand our brand and help us grow it, always working with us, iterating with us, and making sure that her graphics come out perfectly. While we typically give Melissa copy and general creative direction, she pays close attention to detail and specs while using her creativity to riff off of our themes and bring our deliverables to life.”
CHRISTINA SINGH, CONVEY
Ready for a design partner who shows up consistently?
Let’s talk about where your brand is headed, and whether a design retainer partnership might be the right fit for you.
Or email me directly at hello@strongdesign.co ➝