Choosing a Designer or Design Firm
If you’re looking for a new graphic designer or graphic design firm, it can be a daunting task to find the right one. After all, you’ll be investing a lot of time and money into your advertising, printed material, or web presence. If someone you trust can recommend a designer that may be all you need. If you don’t have any recommendations, or want to raise the bar beyond a solid lead, here are some tips for choosing the right designer.
The first and most obvious step is to look at their online presence. Do they present themselves professionally? If they haven’t bothered with a well thought out website of their own, this can be a warning sign. Take a look at their portfolio. Do you like what you see? Is there a wide variety of work showing their abilities with a range of clients and projects? After looking at several online portfolios, they may all start to look the same, but make sure there aren’t any problems that jump out at you.
You’ll also need a designer that can act as a consultant. A good designer helps you sort out the best direction to take with your communications, providing context for their work. They’ll want to become familiar with your business, mission, current and potential customers, and communication goals. A good designer will not blindly jump in.
Personal attention is another vital aspect to a successful design project. A large design firm with prominent directors is great, but who will you really be working with on a daily basis? Is your designer or account executive available for phone conversations, and will they respond quickly to your e-mails?
Do they charge a fair price? This one can be tough for anyone who’s new to hiring creative services. Many clients approach a designer either with no idea of what their project should cost, or with an unreasonably low expectation of cost. With design, as with almost anything else, you get what you pay for. A good designer will spend time researching your business, market, and competition before even starting the initial sketches for your project. It can be a good idea to get estimates from multiple firms. If any of those quotes is drastically over or under the average quote, it can be a red flag.
The last step in choosing a designer is to meet with them to get a feeling for how well you could work together. Trust your gut on this one. There are lots of great design firms out there, so make sure you click with the one you do choose. Since you’ll probably be spending a fair amount of time working with them, it’s good to make sure you’ll be comfortable.
For a few more tips on choosing a graphic designer check out this article from Duct Tape Marketing.
