What We Offer

At this time we're not available for training, workshops, keynotes, or other speaking engagements. Check out our YouTube channel for tips, tricks, and tutorials on demand. 

We come in once you've got your report or presentation content fairly complete. You provide the content to us in an outline, or text format. We work through the design, layout, and data visualizations that bring your content to life. We may suggest ways to structure some content along the way, but we don't write the content or copy for you.

We come in once you've got your data analyzed and summarized. We take your analyzed data, (it should usually be in tidy summary tables) and bring it to life through suggesting and designing effective charts, graphs, diagrams, or other visual treatments that will work best with your data and the story you want your data to tell. Clients will sometimes even add quick default charts from excel data into their report or presentation outline to help point us in the direction you're hoping to go. In some cases we may be able to assist in some data analysis (additional pricing applies). We'll discuss what shape your data are in during the discovery process. 

All projects are unique, but we've detailed a typical process below. 

TLDR; Most projects come with a discovery call, scope of work agreement, early design check-in, two full rounds of review, and a final deliverable. Invoicing occurs at three points 10% at scope of work agreement, 50% upon first full draft submission, and 40% upon final deliverable submission (Invoice schedule may not apply to certain smaller projects to be agreed upon during scope of work review). 

1. [DISCOVERY CALL] Typically we'll start with a (free) discovery call so I can ask some questions about your project, design requirements, preferences, hopes & dreams for a final deliverable, software/storage logistics, and timeline and deadlines. This is a great time to send me any examples, data, or other materials that might help me in understanding your project needs. After our call I'll craft a brief project scope of work and send it over for review.
2. [AGREEMENTS & CONTRACTS] Once we agree on the scope of work, we'll sign contracts as necessary and get started. I'll send you an invoice for 10% of the project fee at this time (this may not apply for smaller projects, we'll agree upon payment schedule during the scope of work review). 
3. [EARLY DESIGN CHECK-IN] Soon after we start, I'll send you an example or mock-up of some initial designs to get your quick take. This might be a few cover page options, or interior page layouts, or chart types. You'll give me your gut reactions and feedback and I'll take that to design the rest.
4. [FIRST ROUND REVIEW] I'll send you the first full draft of the deliverable for review and we'll celebrate🥂.  You'll review, send it to your team for review, and mark it up (usually in PDF or directly in PowerPoint or Word). If there's any conflicting feedback within your team make sure to resolve that internally before sending it back to me for review. Send the document back to me, and I'll revise it based on your comments. We might have a call or a few emails to clarify any of your feedback as-needed. At this point I'll send an invoice for 50% of the project fee (this may not apply for smaller projects, we'll agree upon payment schedule during the scope of work review). 
5. [SECOND ROUND REVIEW] I'll send you the revised document with updates and revisions made. This is our second round of review. This is a great time for final line edits, copy edits, or other smaller revisions and adjustments. This is not usually a great time to introduce major changes that weren't addressed in the first round of review, but we can always change course or make bigger changes as needed. Keep in mind that extra rounds of review may incur additional work time (and fees). Send the document back to me, and I'll revise it based on your comments. 
6. [FINAL DELIVERABLE SUBMISSION] I'll send you the final deliverable and we'll celebrate again🥂. For most reports I'll send you all of the source files - that means Word, PowerPoint, Excel files in addition to polished PDFs. If files are large in size we might use cloud storage for sharing (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google, etc.). You can give your document one final pass and let me know if you'd like any teeny tiny changes. I'm human too, so if I missed anything along the way I'm happy to fix it. I'll send the final invoice for the remaining 40% of the project fee (for smaller projects this may be for the full project fee. We'll agree upon that during scope of work review). 
7. [ADDITIONAL CHANGES] If larger revisions are required after two full rounds of review, particularly those that require more in-depth design time, an additional hourly fee may be incurred. This will be detailed in the initial scope of work and agreed upon at the start. This would be for things like significant changes to graphs, creating new graphs, new design elements, or page layouts, etc.

We work within three primary Microsoft 365 applications; PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. For most projects you'll receive PDFs and the live file (PPT, Excel, Word) so you can edit your files as-needed after our work together is finished.

At this time we do not work in graphic design platforms like Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator), Figma, Google Suite, or data visualization platforms like Power BI, Tableau, R). 

Turnaround times depend on the project, but typically we can complete projects within 4-6 weeks for initial draft deliverables. Timelines depend on the scope of your specific project needs in addition to our docket of project work at the time of your request.

Hourly Rate: $160*

Our rates are typically based on a per project basis with our hourly rate in mind. We'll discuss your needs ahead of time and craft a detailed proposal to include a scope of work and total project fee. Rates & fees are non-negotiable, though we're happy to start with your budget in mind and provide a realistic estimate of what we can provide with the resources allotted.

Here are a few frequently requested design deliverables and their estimated fees.

• Small summary report (1-2 pager) - $1,500*
• Small summary report (3-5 pager) - $3,000*
• Medium report (10-40 pages) - $5,000-$9,000*
• Large report (50-80 pages) - $10,000-$15,000*
• Presentation slides (10-20 custom slides) - $3,000-$5,000*
• Presentation slides clean-up/sweep (10-20 slides) - $1,000-$3,000*
• Individual graphs for a report/preso (10-15 graphs) - $1,500-$3,000*
• Graphics/images for social media/blogs/newsletters - $200-$500*

*Fees above are estimates for reference and may vary depending on your unique project.

Pending availability we're happy to offer ad hoc design support whenever you need a helping hand or craft an on-going retainer agreement to provide you with dedicated design support on a regular basis. 

Ad Hoc Design Support

• Great for as-needed design support that may not rise to the level of a full-scope design project. Availability for support is not guaranteed and depends on our current slate of project work.
• Billed at our hourly rate ($160) in 15-minute increments. 
• Initial discovery call (free). All other communication and design work is billable. 
• Invoices sent on the last day of the month unless otherwise agreed upon. 

Retainer Agreement Design Support

• Great for recurring design needs such as regular production of briefs, presentation slides, or social media/newsletter graphics. Availability for monthly support is guaranteed with a retainer agreement in place (with mutually agreed upon time off schedules, etc.). A retainer provides you with assurance that we've reserved dedicated time each month to support your work.
• Billed at a discounted hourly rate ($120). Agreements can be made in regular monthly hour increments based on your design needs.
• Unused hours do not roll over into subsequent months.
• Additional (ad hoc) hours requested beyond the agreed upon monthly minimum are billed at the discounted rate ($120). Priority will always be given to retainer clients, however hours requested beyond those stated in the retainer agreement are not necessarily guaranteed depending on current slate of projects. 
• Invoices are sent on the last day of the month unless otherwise agreed upon. 
• Retainer agreement may be renewed, or adjusted at the end of stated agreements.
• Clients reserve the right to cancel retainer agreement with 30 days notice for any reason. Spotlight Impact Data Design reserves the right to cancel retainer agreements with 30 days notice for any reason. 

We're not currently offering productized services, but are considering it! Productized services are those that charge a flat fee for specific products like pitch decks, conference or keynote presentation slides, executive summary one-pagers, design templates, etc. Connect with me over on LinkedIn and let me know if you'd like to see us create a "menu" of productized services and what types of products you need most. In addition, you can check out our data design souvenir shop for affordable data design templates and examples we've made available for purchase.