Option 01
In-House Designer
$65–85
Loaded Hourly Rate
▸ Salary + benefits + overhead can exceed $100K/yr fully loaded
▸ One skill set, one bandwidth ceiling
▸ Recruiting, onboarding, and management overhead
▸ You pay whether they're busy or idle
High fixed cost · Low flexibility · Single discipline
Option 02
Freelance Designer
$85–150
Typical Hourly Rate
▸ Availability unpredictable — especially at deadline
▸ No accountability, no project management
▸ Constant re-briefing with each new hire
▸ Quality variance is high and hard to control
Unpredictable · No continuity · Unmanaged risk
Option 03
Consulting Firm
$140–175
Graphics / DTP Rate
▸ Premium rates for work often passed to junior staff
▸ Billing layers and account management overhead
▸ You're one of many clients — not a priority
▸ Slow to mobilize, slower to revise
Premium price · Diluted attention · Slow execution
Westover Task Force
Embedded Team
$54–79
Effective Hourly Rate
▸ Dedicated daily hours — your team, every day
▸ Multi-disciplinary: design, DTP, motion, web
▸ Project Manager + Creative Director included
▸ Unlimited requests, unlimited revisions
Half the rate · Full dedication · Zero bottlenecks