What is the process for establishing a clientā€™s budget during the design development stage ?

This is a very good question... I too have struggled with it myself... being an artist, it is difficult to say, I can do this in this set amount of time... & customers can be fickle...
You may not always be able to establish the customer's budget ... the best way is to be blunt & ask... "what price range are the looking for?" or "what is your budget on this project?"
I am a graphic designer & have produced much artwork & many logos.. I have a sign shop & sometimes the art is included in the total job.... That puts me in the position of being able to spend more time, if I want to... I also design logos for a lot of new business' & in that case, I try to give a break, in order to secure the rest of their advertising business in the future... I get new customers all the time & I usually get to meet face to face, which is a big help... You can ask what they expect of final outcome. Ask a lot of questions, basically interview them...

If you set up guidelines as to what the price includes, say like...A logo design will consist of 2 hrs art time + 3 revisions w/proofs, for a set price... it is up to the customer to know if they can afford it...

One thing that will save you considerable time, is to establish what style or theme they want, as you can waste a lot of time, barking up the wrong tree, if you do not have a clear idea what the customer is looking for...

Get a deposit!!! that will, at least cover the minimum amount of time, that you expect to spend... Make it clear that if they make a lot of changes, the price will be more...

Set an hourly price!!!... track your time carefully & keep the customer informed of the time, as you go!... This is very tricky & I usually go over my allotted time & obsess with getting it right... In the end it usually works out, but, there is a lot of art time I never get paid for...

I'm not sure this is much help & am very interested to see how others will answer this, as I'd like to know myself.... Estimating Art time is not an exact science!

Usually someone will have performed a front end study and produced a design brief, from which and estimater will produce a budget cost, usually way to low to be realistic

They should have a budget set out.

I would say that it would be OK just to ask what they have set aside.

If you don't ask they may never tell you.

Set a commitment fee for the client. That way client does not waste your time for free. This fee can be adjusted later in actual billing.

You should make your fee for ideation upfront, known to the client.
Later you can make a list of the items that client may need and set a price per hour based on total quantity of the work. It should normally be reducing as the work order keeps increasing to reflect your interest in long term working as well as stop new competition from snatching your account.

Just because you need business does not mean you allow your self to be taken for a ride. If you are clear in your dealings, good clients will always appreciate it. If they don't they are not worth working for.

There is a lid for every pot. Get budget nailed down up front and back your way into the tactics used to achieve the objective.

HI, the budget is the first thing a client should tell you when considering your company for any work. Just ask.

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