Most business owners and sales managers aren’t often in a position of hiring creative talent. They often attempt to fall back on a set of traditional hiring criteria, which pairs experience against competitive pricing combined with a cursory look at a portfolio whose talents he may find it difficult to judge. When interviewing or searching for a designer or design firm, consider the following suggestions.
Graphic design is a professional career choice. Like other arts, many designers have a natural ability to create work that is impressive on many levels. Good graphic design, including print and Web, depend on this natural talent to be honed and refined in a well-respected design school to prepare them for a competitive and rewarding career. Review the educational background, work history, references and experience of the designer as well as samples of their work before making your decision. In other words, don’t choose the cousin of your neighbor because they just bought a cool Mac and once did a flyer for a local rock band.
The rates charged by designers vary greatly. The discrepancy is usually in the talent of the designer. The great design work you see by major retailers such as Starbucks and Nike are a result of hiring the superstar professionals and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for many of the projects. Don’t expect to pay a few hundred dollars for top talent. Weigh the potential impact of the design’s campaign to determine a budget. If you expect your sales to increase 15% based on a new image, print materials and a Website overhaul, then establish your budget based on the potential upside of the success. Having consistent, clean, professional materials as part of your sales and brand arsenal can make a huge difference in the customers and clients perception of the quality of service or product you provide.
Be wary of any talent you find on the Web based on price. There’s a whole industry out there that have streamlined the process of generating cookie cutter Websites, logos, and postcards that depend on you spending hours of your own time doing much of the work yourself. And when the going gets tough, the designer you barely know gets going. He has no vested interest in your success and is likely not interested in a long-term investment of their time to understand your business. You can search the Web, but use the results wisely.
Look for designers with a broad array of creative skills that apply well across many platforms and disciplines, especially if you’re a small or mid-sized firm. Your sales and marketing materials will maintain a consistent look and feel, and you’ll spend less of your own time educating different professionals about your business. The flip side formula, which can work for larger business, is the combination of an ad agency, graphic design firm, internet marketing firm and public relations firm working in tandem to cost a tremendous amount of money and time management. Good for a select few Fortune 500, not a good choice for most.
Finally, choose a designer you like. It sounds simple, but when discussing and trading ideas back and forth, you need a healthy respect of what each person brings to the table, sometimes resulting in ego clashing. Having an argument about whether blue or green is a better choice for the cover may not seem like a deal breaker, but it’s helpful to be working with a designer whose skill set may be different from a CEO, but with whom you’ll still be able to have a smile and a chat.