7 Steps for Hiring a Designer for Your Branding

We have had several people in the last week email to tell us that they’re having a hard time selecting from our group of 10 Branding Specialists for their graphic and web design needs.  We do have a great selection, if I might say so myself.

Here are 7 steps for selecting and hiring a designer to work with:

1 – Visit their website and view their portfolio.

You want to select a designer who’s work is a match for your personal style.  Our branding specialists all have a very diverse look.  Some have a design aesthetic that is very clean and simple, while others lean towards the romantic and whimsical.  You’ll also want to look at their experience and make sure it’s a match for your needs.  If you are seeking someone to design a blog layout for you, you’ll want to make they have done this kind of work.   If you want amazing promo material, you’ll want to make sure that they have experience with printed collateral.

2 – Define Your Budget.

Determine how much you want to spend on your design.  This is an investment in your company, one that will be with you for a while.  Whitney Speir, owner of Brown Sugar Design Studio shares, “It is good idea to have an idea of the budget and timeline for present and future design projects. If we’re aware of budget and expectations, we can make recommendations of A) what projects are essential now, B) what projects could wait a bit, and C) what projects aren’t absolutely essential but could be fun for the future.”

3 – Start the conversation and ensure you have the same goals in mind.

Last week we talked about the 10 reasons that designers are amazing in being able to create visual elements for your branding.  They are magical, but they are not mind-readers.  Start the conversation.  When you have 1-3 designers in mind, reach out to them and find out what their design process is like.  You want to make sure that your expectations are in line with what they do.  If you want a logo in a week and their turnaround is 4 weeks, then you want to make sure you have that conversation up front.  (By the way, we’ll talk about timing on a design project in upcoming posts.)

Also, you want to make sure they can handle the breadth of your project.  A graphic designer is not the same as a web designer.  Some graphic designers can do web programming, but some cannot.  And, some web designers can do artistic graphic design, but some cannot.  Most graphic designers do have web designers they can refer or that they outsource work to – and vice versa, with web design to graphic design.  You want to ensure that your project is within the scope of the designer’s ability.

4 – Prepare yourself for honest feedback.

A designer is hired to be a marketing strategist for your company.  They are going to be honest about your business.  This is the outside perspective you need in order to make objective decisions.  Nikki Nukkols, owner of Doodledog Advertising says, “Every time I start working with a business owner I ask them to tell me about themselves, their business and what they are currently using as branding or marketing material. When they are finished giving me their story, I say “Are you ready?”  When they answer yes, I tell them the good, the bad and the ugly about their branding from my strategic design prospective. I don’t sugarcoat it. The last thing I want to do is offend someone, but I do feel that I owe them an honest opinion since they have decided to put their trust in me with the business that they have worked to build and perfect.”

5 – Ask for references.

You’ll want to make sure that the designer you select has done good work for others.  Please ask them for a list of references.  If you are working with one of our 10 recommended branding specialists, we have interviewed 3 references from each designer.  Our designers came back with glowing reviews.

6 – Define the scope of your project: what the designer will do, in what timeframe for what cost.

As always: get it in writing.  Ask the designer for a proposal.  In addition to having something “official” that shows the work that will be done, you want to make sure that you and your designer are on the same page.  This goes back to point #3: ensuring you have the same goals in mind.  I don’t know how many times I hear stories of design projects taking longer than expected – or, stories where the client had unrealistic expectations of a project.  Miscommunication is a two way street.  You want to make sure that reasonable timelines listing project milestones are agreed upon ahead of time.  This also goes for project cost.

7 – Be a Team!

Here’s something exciting: your designer will be on your team of experts! And, for some of you, this may be the first person on your team of experts! (I just got goosebumps writing that.)  Yes – that’s right.  You own a business and you now have a team of experts!  Working on a branding project for your company is thrilling and exciting.  And, having a partner to share in this is equally exhilarating.   You’ll be working with your designer for several months.  He or she will guide you into making great decisions for the branding and marketing of your company.  You are going places!