Guide · Rounds · 5 min read
How many revision rounds is normal?
Start from two for most design work, three for identity, one per piece for copy. The number matters far less than how you define a round.
· Ferrier Industries LLC
In short
- Two rounds per deliverable is the common default for design work. Brand identity often takes three, copy one per piece, video two.
- The count is the least important part. Define a round as one consolidated set of written feedback from every stakeholder, delivered inside a deadline.
- A revision refines what was approved. A new direction replaces it, and belongs on a change order.
- Do not discount extra rounds. Price them at your normal rate, quote before starting, and log every round where the client can see the count.
Two. For most design work, two rounds of revisions per deliverable is the common default, and it is the number to put on a scope when you have no reason to pick another.
But the count is the least important part of the answer. A project with two undefined rounds will take more of your time than one with five tightly defined ones, because “round” is where all the ambiguity lives.
Numbers to start from, by kind of work
| Kind of work | Rounds to include | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kind of workWeb and marketing design | Rounds to include2 per deliverable | WhyEnough to refine a direction that was already approved. |
| Kind of workBrand identity | Rounds to include3 | WhySubjective work needs more conversation. Limit the initial concepts to two or three. |
| Kind of workCopywriting | Rounds to include1 per piece, 2 for long-form | WhyCopy converges fast, or it is the wrong direction entirely. |
| Kind of workIllustration | Rounds to include1 at sketch, 1 at final | WhyA structural change after the sketch is approved is a new piece. |
| Kind of workVideo | Rounds to include2 | WhyEach round is timestamped notes on a single cut. |
| Kind of workDevelopment | Rounds to includeNot revisions | WhyFix defects against the spec for free. Changes to the spec are change orders. |
The last row catches people out. A button that does not work is a defect and is on you. A button that works, but that the client now wants in a different place, is a change. Keeping those separate protects the goodwill you need for the actual bugs.
What a round is
Here is the definition worth copying into your scope. Three phrases in it are load-bearing.
A revision round is one consolidated set of written feedback, gathered from all stakeholders, delivered within five business days of receiving the work. Feedback received after a round has been addressed begins the next round.
- “Consolidated” means one document, not a drip of messages over nine days. If three people disagree, they resolve it before it reaches you.
- “All stakeholders” means the CEO who appears in week four and dislikes the color is not a free round. Get them into round one, or accept that they arrive with a change order.
- “Within five business days” means the project cannot stall for six weeks and then restart on the client’s schedule after you have filled the slot.
The line between a revision and a new direction
A revision refines the thing you agreed on. A new direction replaces it. The test is whether the feedback is consistent with the approved brief.
| Revision | New direction |
|---|---|
| RevisionMake the headline larger, tighten the spacing, try the secondary color on the button. | New directionWhat if we tried it in a completely different style? |
| RevisionSwap the hero image for one with people in it. | New directionWe have decided to target enterprise instead of small business. |
New directions are not bad. They are frequently the right call. They are simply not free, and the moment to say so is the moment they appear, calmly and without any suggestion that the client has done something wrong.
Happy to explore that. It is a different direction rather than a refinement of what we approved, so it sits outside the two included rounds. A new concept in that style is about 8 hours, so $960, and it adds a week to the timeline. Want me to send a change order so we have it in writing? If you would rather stay with the approved direction, we still have both rounds available.
Pricing extra rounds
Two workable approaches. Hourly at your standard rate is the fairest and the easiest to explain: track it, quote it before starting, invoice it with the next payment. Or price a round as a flat fee, which is simpler for the client to approve but costs you when the round is large.
Do not discount extra rounds. A cheap fourth round teaches the client that rounds are cheap, and you will get a fifth. The price is not a punishment. It is the honest cost of the time.
When the client keeps going anyway
Sometimes a project stalls in a loop: round four, round five, nobody happy, no clear reason. That is rarely a craft problem. It is usually one of three things.
- The wrong approver. Someone with real authority has not seen the work. Ask directly: “Who else needs to be happy with this before we move on?”
- The brief was wrong. If feedback contradicts the brief, stop revising and re-run the brief. Another round on a bad foundation wastes both of you.
- There is no decision-maker. Feedback by committee does not converge. Ask for one named approver, and be willing to pause the project until you have one.
Naming the loop out loud is often enough to break it:
Hi Priya, We are on round four and I do not think another round gets us there. The notes are pulling in two directions, which normally means the brief needs a decision rather than the design needing another pass. Can we do 30 minutes with whoever has final say? I will bring the two options and a recommendation, we pick one on the call, and I will take it to final. That will be faster than another week of comments. Sam
Why a limit makes the work better
Unlimited revisions remove the incentive to think, so feedback arrives unfiltered: every idea from everyone, in no order of importance. When there are two rounds, clients have a reason to read the work properly, argue internally first, and send you the notes that matter.
Say that to a client who pushes back on the limit. It is a better argument than talking about your time.
Track the rounds where the client can see them
The last piece is bookkeeping. A round limit you cannot evidence is a round limit you will not enforce, because six weeks in, neither of you remembers whether that Tuesday email was round two or a stray comment. Log each round with its date and a one-line summary of the request. Then “this is outside the included rounds” is a shared fact rather than your opinion.
That is what the revision log in PaloWorks is for: the included rounds are on the scope the client approves, each round is recorded with its number, and logging one past the allowance drafts a change order for you to send. Stop unpaid revisions is the story of doing it the other way.
Read next · Rounds
Stop unpaid revisions
Two rounds in the email. 178 hours on the clock. $42 an hour.
Continue →Try PaloWorks for free
Intake, scope, rounds, change orders, invoice on one project URL. The extra round goes on the invoice.