What are the benefits of a design subscription?

There are many benefits to a design subscription beyond the obvious financial benefits.

What is a design subscription?

Before we can even start to outline the benefits, it makes sense to clarify precisely what we mean by Design Subscription.

The subscription model has made its way into every facet of modern life, including graphic design services.

Standard monthly subscriptions for services such as media streaming services Netflix or Amazon Prime, and Microsoft 365 offering office essentials Word/PowerPoint/Excel as Software as a service becomes a new everyday term.

Regarding design services, there is a growing understanding that full-service agencies can offer a subscription model that allows customers to pre-buy a set amount of time which can then be used for any and all of their design needs.

Big projects such as large websites, branding projects or large print jobs such as Annual Reports or Catalogues may need to be considered separately.

But a design subscription is the perfect solution for the majority of day-to-day design jobs such as leaflets and brochures, website edits or tweaks, or minor marketing projects.

Benefits of a subscription model

The concept of paying for services in smaller, easy-to-manage amounts on a monthly basis has commonly been used for many everyday purchases from mortgages and loans to car insurance or household utilities, but the benefits are well known.

• Cost-effective: Design subscriptions offer a cost-effective solution for businesses and individuals who require regular design work. Rather than paying for each individual design project, a design subscription allows you to pay a fixed monthly or yearly fee for a certain number of design projects or hours.
• Predictable budgeting: With a design subscription, you can easily predict your design costs and budget accordingly. This can help you avoid unexpected expenses and manage your cash flow more effectively.
• Access to a team of designers: Most design subscriptions provide access to a team of designers who have a range of skills and expertise. This means that you can work with different designers for different projects, and you can benefit from a variety of design perspectives.
• Faster turnaround times: Since a design subscription provides access to a team of designers, you can typically get your design projects completed faster than if you were working with a single designer.
• Consistency in design: By working with the same team of designers, you can ensure that your branding and design elements are consistent across all of your marketing materials.
• Flexibility: Many design subscriptions offer flexible options, such as the ability to roll over unused design hours or to add additional design projects on an as-needed basis.
• Improved quality: By working with a team of experienced designers, you can ensure that your design work is of high quality and meets your specific needs and requirements.
• Reduced administrative tasks: With a design subscription, you can reduce the amount of time and resources you spend on administrative tasks such as sourcing and managing individual designers.
• Regular design support: A design subscription provides you with regular access to design support, allowing you to make updates and changes to your marketing materials on an ongoing basis.

Benefits of a design subscription

Marketing today is fast-paced and ever-changing. To respond to the complex and varied needs of any marketing strategy or campaign, you need to have a professional and capable design team.

Having a team that can work on a Facebook advert one day and a brochure the next is essential, and having it under one roof is a godsend.

A flexible design subscription would mean that the same design team could work on both projects and only bill you for the time taken to create the work.

If no subscription is in place, the design teams would need to provide quotes and each job would be managed and billed separately – creating more paperwork, cost and time wasted rather than going towards getting the work done.

How is Toast’s subscription different?

Most design agencies bill by the hour. Toast created a design subscription service that is billed by the minute, so you only pay for the time you use. This is how it works:

If a job takes 12 minutes, you only pay for 12 minutes

We typically turn around smaller projects in 1-3 days

Use your subscription for anything – from Artwork to Web work

Your time never expires, so you don’t pay for the time you haven’t used

You don’t have to deal with loads of separate invoices for small jobs

We always let you know roughly how long a design task will take before we do it

Everything is tracked and reported monthly – to the minute

Talk to Toast today

If you are looking for a new way of working and want to move to a design subscription model then talk to Toast today. We work with clients in almost every industry, ranging from start-ups to global brands, if you think our design subscription is for you then get in touch and let’s meet. Call 01295 266644 or fill out our form.