
SERVICES > RETAINER PACKAGES
Retainer packages are ideal for managing large projects, such as creating a suite of design collateral, while spreading the work and cost over time. By booking a set number of hours across several months, you can balance the workload around your ongoing projects. This approach is both cost-effective and efficient.
This is a new service Mystery Hare is offering so bare with us as we tighten the Retainer Service Packages up.
Retainer services can be arranged for the following types of work:
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Document templates (invoices, receipts, ppt presentations, proposals, case studies, etc.)
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Consultation meetings / training
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Internal brand asset library creation (filing all brand assets, like logos and stock images in an easy-to-find way and logo variation creation if required)
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Website edits (depending on the platform)
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Specific graphic design requirements:
working on updating current items; creating new ones; annual reports / reviews; leaflets; adverts; business stationery, editable template design, etc.
Retainers work like have an employee, set hours but on a short contract that can be extended if needed. You can also consider seasonal retainer services – quarterly, for example. A retainer can include consultation meetings where you can pick our brain for goal setting for the quarter ahead based on brand strategy and support for creating templates to simplify your admin and operations. As well as some internal filing for a library of assets that include your logos, brand references (colours, fonts, etc.), stock images and branded templates.
Explore our packages to find the one that best suits your needs (new packages will be added, if you don't see one you like here, let us create one for you) . . .
THE LIGHT TOUCH PACKAGE
BESPOKE PACKAGE
A bespoke package can be tailored to suit your budget and the scope of work required. When planning your budget, consider the following factors:
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Meetings – £144 / meeting
For every 1hr meeting, 3hrs is charged – this is for prep work, after-meeting notes, admin tasks & brief updates -
Hourly rate – £48 / hr
Each new job request may include time spent on briefing, research, admin, and communication. To maximise cost-efficiency, it’s best to start with an onboarding meeting and create a clear, detailed list of tasks. This list can be shared via Google Drive, in your dedicated client folder, allowing more time to be spent on completing the work rather than holding multiple meetings to clarify requirements.
The lifecycle of a retainer contract can look like this:
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Initial contact / meeting No fee for the first hour, then £26 for every additional 30 minutes. This meeting will focus on discussing the required work and delivery details.
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Onboarding meeting – 1 – 1.5hrs @ £192
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A briefing meeting will cover the work required, task list, deadlines, file-sharing processes, and communication plans for the period, ensuring you feel confident that progress is being made
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After the meeting, you’ll receive an email with notes and a link to your dedicated client folder on Google Drive. Your folder will include the meeting recording, a briefing document outlining the prioritised task list, and instructions on updating the list or communicating between meetings
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Schedule
As part of the brief, deadlines will be discussed, agreed upon, and scheduled alongside ongoing studio projects. To provide peace of mind, you’ll receive a design schedule document, ensuring that even if you don’t hear from me, you can rest assured the work is progressing in the background. -
Time estimates
We don’t provide estimates for how long a job might take, as there are too many variables that can affect the timeline. However, you’ll receive a weekly timesheet detailing the tasks completed and the time spent on each. -
Agreement depending on your requirements, a retainer can be set up for 1, 3 or 6 months at a time, (not counting onboarding & offboarding meetings) and 1 hr / week catch-up meeting and based on a 4-week month):
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1 month | 2 hrs / week – £960
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3 month retainer @ 2 hrs / week – £2,880
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6 month retainer @ 2 hrs / week – £5,760
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Offboarding meeting – 1 – 1.5hrs @ £192
We’ll review how the project went, discuss any remaining tasks from the list, and address any outstanding points. You’ll then receive a follow-up email with meeting notes, a request for a Google review, and your final invoice.
We recommend providing a comprehensive list of tasks, as some jobs may take more or less time than anticipated. Most of your work will be completed, so prioritise your list and include deadlines for any tasks that must be finished by a specific date. Everything else will be tackled in the order provided. Any unfinished work can either be rolled over, if you choose to extend the contract, or restarted during a new retainer period.
£576 / month (based on a 4-week month)
£682 / month (based on a 5-week month)
THE GLO-UP PACKAGE
Based on a small amount of time and a limited budget – you get a certain amount of hours and meeting opportunities.
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Set amount of hours / month
Remote working for a short-term contract that can roll on. 8 hours / month (based on a 4-week month) working to a brief and a list of work, with the understand that the list of work might not be completed if complexity of the task takes up more time than usual. -
Briefing, onboarding and offboarding meetings
At the beginning of the retainer and at the end to get a clear brief and a list of work required and then at the end, to confirm what has been completed and recommendations for the remaining work and how to progress to get them to completion -
x 1 meeting / week
On top of the 2 hrs retainer / week, you also have a check-in meeting to check on progress and have the opportunity to adjust the list of work. This will allow you the opportunity to pivot if anything unexpected comes up. The list will be created in a shared document so that it can be edited as we go. Any additional, unexpected meetings can be booked, based on availability and charged at £48 additional to the agreed retainer package fee
Retainer packages to be paid on a set date monthly. Late payments mean that work is stalled until payment is received.
£192 / month (based on a 4-week month)
£240 / month (based on a 5-week month)
* These prices are based on an approximate estimate of 1 hour / week spent on your website.
Keeping your website SEO on track, keeping your brand in a top ranking spot with some regular site updates and activities to keep you ranked high.
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Seasonal homepage updates
Branded web banners every quarterly (or more frequently to show Google that yours is an active website and not a dormant one -
SEO & indexing
Maintaining best practice for the site's SEO organic ranking, especially after any internal edits have been completed. We go through your site and the backend and review the quality of the SEO, URL slugs, indexing, client data from subscription forms are at a high quality to help your site rank as high as possible -
x 1 meeting / month
We'll have a bi-monthly meeting to go over your business goals and any ideas to help you achieve that through good, regular website maintenance
Retainer packages to be paid on a set date monthly. Late payments mean that work is stalled until payment is received.