How to hire an excellen graphic designer for your startup
Online businesses need a strong online presence to appeal to their target market. A minimal (small budget) online presence usually comprises an easily-identifiable logo, a website and presence on social channels relevant to target customer groups.
Graphic designer skills are now abundant into the design skill market because of the democratization of design learning venues mainly available on the internet or often through personal trials. Abundance means lower quality, but also lower prices.
There are great advantages to hiring one graphic designer (in-house or freelance) who understands your brand image rather than juggling with a few amateurs. If you are a graphic designer yourself, you may want to read our blog to how to become an excellent designer (surmounting a creative block). These are ichanical tips.
1. Identify your needs
Graphic designers are often soft on the technical languages so you really (really) need to explain yourself clearly when hiring for a specific job. If you need a red square with two blue lines, be upfront about it. Don’t be subtle.
Don’t be these people.
- Make a list of your specific needs when it comes to graphic designing by starting to ask yourself for what purpose you are hiring a graphic designer.
- Complete this task and physically put down in paper your exact needs so that you can clearly see what you will be looking for when you interview possible designers.
- Create a project list including your graphic designing needs and also the rest of the details of your project.
- Set the budget you are willing to invest in a good graphic designer who will assure the quality and design style you desire.
- Have your objectives and requirements clear from the onset and hiring the right graphic designer for your company will be easy.
2. Don’t hire the first candidate
- Start looking around for a graphic designer in your own network. Just send an email to your startup friends or ask for a recommendation from a business with good design visuals.
- Ask your friends, associates or your co-workers weather they could recommend a designer who worked for them and would fit your criteria.
- Referrals and good recommendations are always preferred over hiring unknown professionals.
- If ever you could not find a recommended designer then you should start your own search.
- Go through freelancing sites looking designers that might fit your need. You also can post a job add in which you specify your list of deliverables so that you narrow down the number of applicants.
- The most important stage of your search is looking into the designers’ portfolio and testimonial references.
- Before doing your selection, make sure he/she is experienced enough and thus able to deliver the task in time and with quality.
3. Help them succeed at their task
- Make sure you hired the right graphic designer even though it is very hard to judge the work of a designer and to measure his/her abilities because there is no clear cut certificates for graphic designing that you can measure with.
- However, one way of knowing the adequacy of a graphic designer is by assigning him/her a small test project similar to the original task you have in mind.
- See how this designer will handle this assignment; time management, respect of deadline and most importantly the quality of the work.
- Such criteria are only made clear by personal testing and hence make you certain that you made the right choice.
If you want a free quotee from iChanical or more recommendations on hiring graphic designer for your business talk to us at: http://ichanical.com/free-quote .