SHORT STORY: go to Joel & Co if you want to pay $25,000 to someone who will simply provide "aesthetic guidance". In return, he will hand you a set of materials (literally on a plate) that his team spent at least half an hour conceptualizing and browsing the CB2 catalog. Oh, forget about your taste or aesthetics. As a paying client, your input doesn't matter b/c he will tell you what looks good.
All professionals from engineers to architects will bill you according to work complete, Joel wants 50% advance.
His hourly rates at $200/hr are criminally bogus.
The assistant designer is $100/hr but don't ask him b/c he will simply say it that service alone doesn't exist.
LONG STORY: we hired Joel for two businesses (worth $50k) but soon realized he was a gloried decorator who had no intention to collaborate with his own clients.
Being a visual field, you would think a decorator worth a hundred bucks will at least show you different concepts, color combinations and themes prior to doing any work. That's not how it works here. Without any pre-consultation, he will invite you to his office for a "presentation" on the one set of color scheme and furnishings chosen for you. Plus they will actually show you a picture on a damn phone to give you an impression of how something may look. Just this was priced at half of the $25k.
Do you prefer something a little different or have other concerns? Too bad, he won't have any of it b/c the decision is made and he will try to steer you away. Evidently, his team has the taste and experience of browsing Pinterest and opening catalogs to offer you the same chairs and fixture found in other restaurants within a 5 mile radius of downtown Austin.
List of think you do not get for $25k:
No shop drawing
No construction documents
Not licensed or certified in anything
List of you'll get:
Zero input
Zero options
Zero budget considerations
Zero personalized service
Vague visual concept for a business costing millions to build
In the end, he offered a weak apology about how he was too busy designing for someone else. Guess paying $50k places you at the back of the line. I sincerely believe he tried to take advantage of our lack of understanding and experience. If I didn't fight him and almost threaten legal action, he would have walked away with $50k doing the bare minimum to satisfy any impression of work. read more