I need to make a distinction here. When I talk about designing a logo, I'm not talking about branding. Branding may include a logo. But, a logo is a component or artifact of branding. Even branding style guides are more a part of the logo and brand design, than it is branding itself.
I overheard some designers talking about charging hourly rates. (It's still a debate, apparently.) And the designer gave some good points as to why he still charges an hourly rate.
He made the point that having an hourly rate is:
I was in my sophomore or junior year in college when someone came to campus to get a design student to design a poster for them. I thought it would be great to get some real world work in my portfolio, so I jumped at the opportunity. They wanted to promote an aspect of the Kwanza celebration of Umoja — which is Swahili for unity.
They discussed with me how they wanted it laid out and the colors, and I was ready to design it. I enthusiastically started by buying materials and putting it together by hand. I built it using cut Pantone papers, sticker lettering, and some paint. Then I gave them the final hand-crafted poster design. They loved it.
