Seller’s Guide to Calligraphy Fonts: How Much Should You Charge?

Americans are keen to pursue unconventional career options these days. You will probably know someone working full-time as a wedding planning consultant, florist, animal trainer, zookeeper, or ski instructor. Even people working in 9 to 5 roles work on passion projects and side hustles for extra money and creative satisfaction.

Statistics show that 39% of Americans have a paying side hustle. On the revenues front, the side hustle market value is at least $2.58 trillion. Calligraphy is an unusual career choice for full-time workers and side hustlers. The salary of calligraphers in the country ranges from $27,970 to $100,240, and the median salary is a whopping $58,450.

The numbers sound great, but you may not really know how much to charge for calligraphy services and how the pricing structures work. Let us share a seller’s guide for professionals looking to sell calligraphy fonts.

Know How Calligraphy Sells

Before starting a career or side gig as a calligrapher, you need to understand how calligraphy services can make you real money. The good thing about the skill is that knowing even a few calligraphy styles is enough to generate regular income. Moreover, you will be surprised by the sheer number of projects you can pick as a professional calligrapher.

Here are a few examples:

• Place cards
• Escort cards
• Wedding invitations
• Signage
• Envelope addressing
• Invitation design
• Save-the-date banners

These are only a few ways to make money with calligraphy. You can easily find projects in the wedding industry, event landscape, and business market.

Define Your Target Audience

The next thing an aspiring calligrapher should do is to define a target audience. You may consider working in the wedding planning industry because there’s tons of work there, from guest lists to invitation designs and table names.

Business clients also pay well for signage, envelopes, address lists, and envelope addresses. You need to understand the ins and outs of the industry you want to work in to get your pricing right from the outset.

Feel Comfortable With Money

If you do all the hard work mastering a calligraphy typeface, you deserve to be paid for it. You should feel comfortable with selling services as a professional calligrapher. Treat your projects as a business, whether you work on wedding invitations or business signage. The moment you adopt the right approach, you will learn the pricing tricks like a pro.

Share proposals, ask for the scope of work, figure out the optimal turnaround time for projects, stay ahead of the submissions, and share invoices with clients. If you have done a great job with a place card or a hand-lettering project, ask the client to share recommendations.

Decide on Your Pricing

Another helpful tip for pro calligraphers is to decide on their pricing wisely. Creative Market notes that you shouldn’t take a one-size fits all approach to project pricing. Think of the time and effort you need to invest in a wedding calligraphy or custom calligraphy project. You may also ask for a rush fee for a last-minute invitation design or hand-lettering job.

Also, consider the material needed for a calligraphy project while quoting your pricing for it. For example, you may charge more if you need to buy new tools like a pointed pen, black ink supplies, and ink colors for a job. It is an additional cost that should be accounted for. Be ready to increase the pricing when you have to, or you may end up feeling frustrated before the end of the project.

Practice Ethical Behavior

With calligraphy pricing, there is no defined hourly rate. While you shouldn’t settle for less, you must also practice ethical behavior with your clients. Since people prefer to have invitation envelopes and table names written by experts rather than doing DIY, you are in a good place to ask for a high price.

But charge genuine rates, depending on the effort, turnaround time, and additional cost of the project. Also, be ethical with your competitors because calligraphy is an art form, and everyone in the industry is an artist rather than a business owner. Maintaining healthy competition is a way to help everyone thrive.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does calligraphy cost?

Calligraphy requires extensive skills and attention to detail, so it can cost a bit. Typically, pricing may range from $2 to $5 per envelope, but calligraphers may charge more for special requests and last-minute projects.

How to make money selling calligraphy?

You can work with businesses in the wedding planning industry or event planning companies to make money selling calligraphy.

Why is calligraphy expensive?

Calligraphy is expensive because it is time-consuming and requires skill and patience. Moreover, a calligrapher bears additional costs of materials.

Is calligraphy in demand?

The demand for calligraphy services is high because people have an eye for creative work. You can charge a high price for spot calligraphy and custom calligraphy.

Conclusion

Calligraphy is a high-paying skill, provided you know where and how to use it. Beyond DIY projects for yourself and your friends, you can sell your services to others and make good money with your nib and ink. All you have to do is to choose a calligraphy style that works for you.

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Bogdan Sandu

Bogdan Sandu, a seasoned designer with 15 years of diverse experience, has been designing websites since 2008.

Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.

His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.

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