7th Media Digital
Design retainers for US teams

A dedicated design team for US$800 a month

40 guaranteed hours a month with your own designers and project coordinator, not a shared request queue. We design while you sleep: send briefs before you log off and wake up to finished work. Presentations, brochures, reports, social and emails. Plans from 20 hours to full enterprise teams.

Qualified teams can start with a free trial task.

No recruiting, payroll taxes, benefits or PTO cover to manage. One monthly fee in USD.

Kerwin G., Hewlett Packard Enterprise
“7th Media is world-class based on the feedback from the work they generated for us … definitely an incredible team.”
Kerwin G., Hewlett Packard Enterprise
15+ years designing for marketing, sales and communications teams in the US, Canada and Australia, including:
HP EnterpriseNestléCenturiaEnsitechSmartwares AustraliaSprintSuite
What we design

Everything your team needs designed each month

Marketing campaigns, sales decks, investor reports and internal comms: one team for the everyday work and the big launches. Click any sample for close-ups; full examples from your industry are available on request.

Many of our clients work with us under NDA. Samples are real projects shown with the client's name withheld, or with the content replaced by fictional copy to protect confidentiality, and each is labeled. Ask us for examples from your industry.

Working in the tools your team already uses

You get editable source files in the format you need, so your team can make quick changes in-house.

Adobe
InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
Microsoft
PowerPoint, Word, Teams, SharePoint
Google
Slides, Docs, Shared Drive
Canva
Editable brand templates
Ceros
Interactive content
Why a retainer

The output of a design team, without the overheads of one

Most businesses need a steady flow of marketing and sales material, but not always a full-time hire. A retainer gives you fixed monthly capacity, a team that learns your brand, and cover when someone is away.

In-house designerFreelancers7th Media retainer
Monthly costMedian salary of about US$63,0001, plus benefits and payroll taxes, which average 30% of employer costs2: about US$7,500 a month for one designer (roughly US$47 an hour for 160 hours), before PTO cover, recruiting and equipmentAround US$38 an hour on average3, billed per job, with the most experienced charging US$85 an hour or moreFrom US$480 for 20 guaranteed hours. Growth works out at US$20 an hour. One fixed fee
Recruitment & adminAdvertising, interviews, onboarding, supervisionFinding and briefing each freelancerWe assemble and manage your team
Leave & turnoverWork pauses during PTO or while you recruit a replacementA one-person shop: if they get busy, go on holiday or take a full-time job, you're back to handovers and re-briefingFrom Growth up, a backup designer trained on your brand covers leave, so work doesn't stop
Range of skillsOne person's strengthsDifferent freelancers for different jobsSpecialists for presentations, print, digital and motion
Quality controlDepends on the individualVaries by freelancerCreative QC review before anything reaches you
Software & equipmentYour costTheirs, but files and tools varyIncluded: Adobe, Microsoft, Google and Canva workflows

1 US Bureau of Labor Statistics, median annual wage for graphic designers (US$62,960), May 2025. 2 BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, private industry, June 2026. 3 PayScale, average freelance graphic designer hourly rate in the US (US$38.06; 90th percentile US$85.11), June 2026.

Plans & pricing

Simple monthly plans in US dollars

Guaranteed hours with dedicated designers, not a shared request queue. The more hours, the lower your hourly rate.

Starter

20 hours a month
$480 USD / month
US$24 per hour
  • 20 guaranteed hours with a dedicated designer matched to your brand
  • Project coordinator as your single contact
  • Creative QC review on every job
  • Weekly report of hours used and deliverables
  • Google Shared Drive for your files, restricted to your team
  • Great for a steady trickle of social, email and sales collateral
Choose Starter
Best for weekly workloads

Growth

40 hours a month
$800 USD / month
US$20 per hour
  • Everything in Starter
  • Faster turnaround than Starter, with twice the capacity reserved for you each week
  • Backup designer trained on your brand for leave cover
  • SharePoint workspace, ours or yours
  • Capacity for campaigns plus business-as-usual
  • Access to presentation, print and digital specialists
  • Brand templates built up over time
Choose Growth

Team

80 hours a month
$1,440 USD / month
US$18 per hour
  • Everything in Growth
  • A small design team with backups
  • Suits multi-brand or high-volume marketing and comms teams
  • Most jobs ready by your next morning
Choose Team

Team + Motion

80 hours a month
$1,600 USD / month
US$20 per hour
  • Everything in Team
  • Includes motion graphics and 2D animation
  • Animated social, explainer and event content
  • Graphic design and motion from one team
Choose Team + Motion
Example

What 40 hours a month can look like

Based on time actually logged on our current retainer accounts (June to August 2026). Every brief is different, so treat this as a guide, not a quota.

  • A 15–20 slide sales or webinar deck~14 h
  • A 4–8 page brochure or report~9 h
  • A set of LinkedIn or social graphics~10 h
  • A one-pager or email~4 h
  • Project coordination and your weekly report~3 h

Revisions come out of the same hours. Monthly report and fact-sheet updates in your templates typically take 3–4 hours each; a single display or social ad, 2–3 hours.

Enterprise

Need more than 80 hours a month?

Enterprise retainers give you a multi-designer team sized to your workload, typically 120 to 400+ hours a month, across presentations, print, digital and motion. You get the same dedicated project coordinator and brand-trained backup cover, with capacity planned around your campaign calendar.

  • Custom monthly hours and team mix
  • Lower hourly rate at higher volumes
  • Usually agreed annually, as we reserve a larger team for you
Request an enterprise quote

Start with a one-month paid trial, then move to a rolling three-month plan, as we reserve dedicated designers for you. Prices in USD per month. Need a shorter start? Talk to us.

Try us first with a free trial task: up to one day of design on a real brief, for qualified businesses. If we're a fit, start with a one-month paid trial before moving to a rolling plan.

Get a plan recommendation
How it works

A simple routine that fits your marketing calendar

Brief us like you'd brief an in-house designer, then log off. Our Manila workday runs overnight for you and into your early morning, so work you send by the end of your day is usually waiting for you when you start, and we're still online until about 7am Eastern.

Onboard

Share your brand guidelines, templates and a few examples. We match designers to your brand and set up your project coordinator.

Request

Send briefs by email or Microsoft Teams in your first month. After that, we can work directly in your project board, and in SharePoint on Growth and above. Your project coordinator confirms scope, hours and timing.

Design

Your designer creates the work, and a creative reviewer checks it against your brand before you see it.

Deliver

Files land in a Google Shared Drive, or on Growth and above a SharePoint workspace (ours or yours), with editable source files on request. Changes simply use your plan's hours.

East CoastManila is 12 hours ahead of New York (13 in winter)
West CoastManila is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles (16 in winter)
Working hours9:00am–7:00pm Manila, about 9:00pm–7:00am Eastern: while you sleep
TurnaroundNext morning for most jobs on 80-hour plans. Smaller plans are scheduled within your monthly hours
The team behind your account

Real people, working while you sleep

Our Manila team at our December 2025 year-end get-together. You deal with one named project coordinator, while designers trained on your brand do the work behind the scenes. If a designer changes, we handle the handover internally, so your work keeps its standard.

The 7th Media team, 23 people, smiling together
The 7th Media team, December 2025
Retainer clients

US teams who've relied on us every month

Enterprise mobility services company

40 hrs/month + motionRetained since 2020United States

We design the company's sales and marketing material, from capabilities brochures, sales battlecards and partner social posts to animated explainer videos, all in its brand.

190design and animation jobs delivered since July 2020

Performio, sales compensation software

40 hrs/month2023–2026United States

We were the marketing team's design studio for trade-show booths, analyst-report campaigns, customer case studies, white papers, sales decks and short product videos.

113design and animation jobs delivered between December 2023 and March 2026

Mystery Ranch, backpacks and outdoor gear

Design retainer2023United States

For the brand's marketing team we designed email campaigns, display ads, product packaging and its seasonal workbook, plus event and ambassador templates.

11campaign, packaging and catalog projects delivered in six months

“Thank you for turning around [our urgent Gartner video] for us! Great job, team! We nailed it quickly!”

Gosia S., Performio · 2025

“Thank you for the quick turnaround! The slides look great and went over well with the team.”

Otto P., Qsic · 2026

“This looks great and I don't have any changes on my end.”

Jessica M., Mystery Ranch · 2023
Is a retainer right for you?

Built for teams with ongoing design needs

A great fit if you…

  • Need design work every week or month, not just once
  • Have someone who can brief the work: marketing, comms, sales or the owner
  • Have brand guidelines, or want us to help you apply them consistently
  • Want to add capacity without adding headcount
  • Are happy to brief by email or chat and review the work the next morning

Probably not the best fit if you…

  • Need a single logo or a one-off flyer
  • Need someone on-site in your office
  • Need a designer on live calls throughout your business day
  • Need less than a few hours of design a month

Not sure? Tell us what you need and we'll give you an honest answer.

FAQ

Questions US clients ask

How do I send work and communicate with the team?

Your project coordinator is your single point of contact. In your first month, send briefs by email or Microsoft Teams. After that, you can give us access to your own project management tool. On Growth and above, we can also work in SharePoint, ours or yours. We confirm timing and hours before starting each job.

Can we talk live, given the time difference?

Yes. We schedule calls at the start of our Manila day, which is your evening: around 7:30pm Eastern (4:30pm Pacific), or 8:30–9pm Eastern (5:30–6pm Pacific). Our team is online until about 7am Eastern, so early-morning questions usually get an answer before your day gets busy. Day to day, most clients brief by email or chat and review the work the next morning.

How quickly will I get my designs?

It depends on the capacity your plan reserves. Growth reserves twice Starter's capacity, so jobs turn around faster. On 80-hour plans, most jobs you send by the end of your day are ready by the next morning. On every plan, timing is agreed with you up front.

How will I know where my hours are going?

You get a weekly report of hours used and work delivered. During your trial we prepare it by hand; after that it's generated automatically from our project system and sent to you every week.

What if my designer is away?

From the Growth plan up, every account has a backup designer who is trained on your brand guidelines and past work. If your main designer is on leave, the backup picks up your requests, so work keeps moving without a new briefing. On Starter, if your designer is away for an extended period, we assign another designer to keep your work on schedule. For short, planned leave, we let you know in advance and plan your work around it.

What happens to hours I don't use?

Your plan reserves dedicated designer time each month, so unused hours don't normally roll over. If you know a quiet month is coming, let your project coordinator know early — we'll help you plan ahead, for example by bringing work forward, and on request we can carry unused hours over as a one-time exception.

Am I locked into a contract?

Our standard plans (20 to 80 hours) run on a rolling three-month term, because we reserve dedicated designers for your account. Enterprise retainers reserve a larger team, so they're usually agreed annually. Most clients start with a one-month paid trial, and we're flexible if you need a different arrangement.

How many revisions are included?

There's no revision limit. You pay for hours, not rounds, so changes simply use your plan's hours, with no surprise change fees.

Who owns the designs and source files?

You do. You own the final designs and their source files, and we supply editable source files on request.

How does the free trial work?

For qualified businesses with ongoing design needs, we'll do one real task for free: up to one day of design work. If you like the result, the next step is a one-month paid trial on the plan that suits you, then a rolling plan.

What currency do you invoice in?

We invoice monthly in US dollars.

Is my information kept confidential?

Yes. We're happy to sign your NDA before you share anything, and your files and briefs are only accessible to the team members working on your account. Files are shared through a restricted Google Shared Drive, or on Growth and above a SharePoint workspace, ours or yours.

Get started

Tell us what you design each month

We'll recommend a plan and let you know if you qualify for a free trial. No obligation.

  • A reply by your next morning (outside Philippine public holidays)
  • A plan recommendation based on your actual workload
  • Sample work relevant to your industry
Prefer to talk?

Leave your number and we'll call you in your evening, around 7:30–9pm Eastern (4:30–6pm Pacific).

Or call our Manila studio on +63 2 7728 1141 (answered from about 9pm to 7am Eastern)

Get your plan recommendation

The more detail, the better we can recommend a plan and assess trial eligibility.

We'll only use your details to respond to this inquiry. See our privacy policy.

Request a callback

We'll call you in your evening, around 7:30–9pm Eastern (4:30–6pm Pacific).

We'll only use your number to return your call. See our privacy policy.