Design agency lets clients pay what they want

Poland-based interactive agency 8k is allowing its clients to decide how much the work is worth and set their own price.

Regular readers of Springwise may remember 99designs’ Swiftly service, which offers small design tweaks for a flat rate of USD 15 per job. Exploring another unconventional business model for designers, Poland-based interactive agency 8k is now offering its clients a pay-what-you-want system, whereby they can decide how much the work is worth.

For businesses outsourcing their design work, it may seem like creative agencies charge too much. For designers, it can sometimes feel like their hard work isn’t rewarded fairly. 8k wants to open up a discussion about the value of their craft by letting clients set the bill — which can be as low as USD 1, or perhaps a five-figure sum. The model — which has been used in other industries previously by the creators of the indie games package Humble Bundle, as well as bands such as Radiohead — allows clients to assess the quality of the work before paying out for it. The initiative includes logo, business card and letterhead design, as well as brand naming and slogan creation. 8k hopes to learn how much its clients think their output is worth, and a requisite of the scheme is that they must explain their chosen price. Clients can also only receive one design under the PWYW system.

The 23 projects undertaken under the PWYW scheme so far have resulted in an average of USD 74 per design, and 8k intends to run the service as long as it proves worthwhile for either the company or its clients. Are there other businesses that could adopt this kind of innovative payment model?