What is The Future Of Pricing? Together with Brandpad, we forecast the costs of creativity

Welcome to The Future Of, a series presented in collaboration with digital brand guidelines platform Brandpad. Over the course of six articles, we’re speaking to the brightest designers, studios and agencies about the future of graphic design, unspooling the ideas that will shape tomorrow. For chapter five, we speculate how, in the age of AI and globalisation, finances will change in the design industry. How is the value of creativity changing? And how will it be measured in the years to come? With the help of David Tanguy, Founder & Creative Director of Praline (a London-based design studio) and STUDIO FOCUS, and Vivek Thakker (NYC-based designer, art director, image maker and creative coder), we hypothesise what the future holds for pricing in the design industry, as well as how job roles might evolve, merge or vanish altogether. The shifting landscape of design pricing Looking to the here and now, Tanguy points out that a shift has already begun. “Many design studios and independent designers now struggle to charge the same fees as five to 10 years ago,” he tells us. “While larger brands can still afford higher rates, start-ups and small businesses often find it hard to justify significant expenditures on design.” Because of this, they have to work harder than ever to demonstrate their value. “Design services are now more commoditised,” Tanguy continues, “so studios need to adopt new strategies.”