At some point in every business owners journey, there comes a time where you consider hiring a designer for your branding, website or marketing materials.
But with a sea of designers to wade through, all providing similar services at different prices, how do you know what is right for you and your business?
Well, if you’re serious about the success of your brand, you have to consider the following when hiring a designer.
Processes
Before hiring a designer, you’ll want to ask them about their processes to get a better understanding of what they’ll do to achieve your desired result. It will quickly become clear if they don’t have any processes or do not conduct industry research or strategic thinking.
You want to look out for a designer that utilises the strategic information that you can provide them with and ensure that they utilise this in the creative process.
Language & Accessibility
I’m not talking about language barriers however, that is something to consider but not judge a designer on. To get the most out of the designer, you need to understand what they’re saying and if they are explaining everything in a way that is easy to grasp. Also, can you clearly express yourself and have them understand you?
A good designer will be heavily involved in your brand development so you want to make sure that you can speak to them freely and can have face-to-face meetings, Zoom calls or at the very least phone calls. Speaking to someone allows you to bounce off one another, brainstorm ideas and most importantly get a feel for their personality.
Communication and collaboration are key when developing your brand.
Portfolio Variation
Looking through a designers portfolio is a no-brainer but always keep in mind that what you are looking for may be very different to what they have already produced. You want to see the variation in the designers work, from industry to artistic style. This helps you see that they don’t just apply one style to fit all clients and, that they have a wide range of experience in dealing with multiple industries, markets and audiences.
A designer that has the ability to be flexible and adaptable to different industries and audiences is critical and a good thing to look out for when hiring a designer.
Branding Guide
Once again, before you hire a designer, you’ll want to confirm that they will be providing you with a branding (style) guide. You, as the business owner, need the full details of your internal & visual brand identity to not only utilise in later marketing efforts but, to ensure cohesive brand implementation with key stakeholders and business personnel. You want to be able to have your brand guidelines to ensure your brand is displayed consistently across all applications.
The Brief
Your brand designer should bombard you with questions. It’s their responsibility to understand each aspect of your brief and maybe even help you explore new possibilities. How a designer does this is dependant on their own personal style and process. Some will do this upfront while others will do this later on in their process, there’s no right or wrong. You just want to make sure that they are actively trying to find out as much about your business, purpose, audience, industry and overall brand. In gathering all this information, they are most likely to apply this in a strategic way when creating your brand.
As a business owner, looking out for these key things can help you filter out the designers not suitable for what you’re looking for which will ultimately save you time, money and you will be far more likely to end up with a result that breeds success.
But even with saying all of this, it is your job as a business owner to put the work in as well. You have to give to receive and the more information and thoughts you provide your designer, the more insights they will have in understanding your vision and creating an effective brand that you can obtain to make your business marketable and stand out from the crowd.
If you need help with your brand, website or would just like a guidance consultation, get in touch! We’d love to work with you.