About
Creative Services staffers regularly collaborate and consult with various campus departments and colleges about their publication and marketing needs. Our award-winning team of graphic designers, photographers and writers understand the university's needs and can take projects from conception to completion. The Creative Services unit makes the various pieces shine through the creative work of several professional and experienced graphic designers and writers. In addition to magazines and newsletters, the unit designs brochures, display banners, posters, programs, invitations, trailer wraps, wall decals and just about anything else that clients request.
While we are a cost recovery unit, our services are less expensive than the private sector. In addition, we ensure materials are compliant with the university’s graphic standards and brand, while actively supporting the strategic goals of the institution. We would be happy to learn more about your design needs and provide estimates for your project.
Requesting a Project or Meeting
Request a project or meeting with UMC through
In order to request a project or meeting, please create an account with our project management software Lytho and select the graphic design form or the photography form depending on your needs. Once the project request has been submitted with all the necessary information, you will be contacted by a graphic designer or photographer assigned to your project.
Special projects started outside of Lytho, will require the client to sign a service agreement that outlines the project and project costs.
SDSU Extension’s educational technology team supports faculty and staff with extension appointments. Requests can be submitted through the SDSU Extension Lytho account.
Pricing
As a cost-recovery unit within University Marketing and Communications, Creative Services charges the following prices for various projects. Special projects not falling under one of the below categories will receive a base price prior to the start of the project. These prices do not include the cost of printing.
- Publications (anything more than 4 pages in length): $40 a page
- 3-panel brochure: $100
- 4-panel brochure: $130
- Programs: $20 a page
- Poster, 11x17 and smaller (minimal graphics): $100
- Poster, larger than 11x17 (minimal graphics): $150
- Original logo artwork: $150
- Pull-up banner: $150
- Postcards: $40
- Letterhead: $30
- Envelopes: $20
- Advertisements: $40 and up depending on size
- Online newsletter: $100 annually—includes design of newsletter masthead, distribution training and monthly access. (Additional graphics will be billed separately)
- Business cards: 500 cards is $116.92 and 1,000 cards is $134.66 (these prices include both the design and printing fee). Orders are sent to the printer on the 1st and 15th of every month and take 7-10 days for printing.
All prices include two rounds of revisions where the client will be given an electronic proof and be allowed to make changes and receive an updated proof. Additional changes will result is a $30-an-hour charge above the base price.
Text or photo updates to an already existing piece, without any additional design changes, will be billed at $30 per hour.
All electronic documents—generally, but not limited to, PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoints and spreadsheets—posted on or uploaded to sdstate.edu are required by the federal government and university policy to comply with revised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and Section 508 standards, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the university’s mission.
It’s necessary to take those requirements into account from the very beginning of the creative/design process and at almost every step along the way, in order to create an electronic document that can be read by a screen reader. Building in accessibility can dramatically increase the amount of time it takes to create a compliant electronic document.
It is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to “retrofit” accessibility onto existing documents that use designs more complex than what may be expected from a standard word-processing document. And it is important to note that an elaborate design that may be appropriate for a printed piece often can result in an electronic version of that same document that will not be accessible.
Due to the additional time it will require to make these electronic documents accessible, Creative Services charges an accessibility fee. The accessibility fee will be in addition to the standard design fee. These fees will only apply to those projects where accessible documents are requested for website/digital use. Projects commissioned solely for print, will not incur the accessibility fee.
- Publications (anything more than 4 pages in length): 1-4 pages, $75; 5-8 pages, $150; 9-12 pages, $300. Additional pages over 12 pages, $40/page
- 3-panel brochure: $100
- 4-panel brochure: $130
- Programs: $20 a page
- Poster, 11x17 and smaller (minimal graphics): $100
- Poster, larger than 11x17 (minimal graphics): $150
- Postcards: $40
- Electronic Letterhead: $30 if ordered alone; $15 with the order of printed letterhead
- Advertisements: $40 and up depending on size