How To Hire A Graphic Designer?

Whichever business you may be in, at some point in time, you will need to hire a graphic designer. You’ll need your logo designed, your website designed, or your social media campaigns designed. For all of this, you’ll have to hire a designer.

Now multiple things need to be kept in mind when you set out to hire a Picasso for your company. Besides their experience and charges, there are multiple things like their specialisation, your requirements, etc., that are to be considered.

A brief guide to help you start the search and hiring process of your graphic designer is as follows. But before that, let’s understand the job profile and their needs in your business.

Who is a Graphic Designer?

A graphic designer will work on providing you with graphic support for your business. The designer can design the look and feel of your website or application. Designers are specialised in a certain area. One can be an expert in making logo designs, while others can be good at illustrations. Many graphic designers can also play the role of creative directors. 

Why hire a graphic designer?

Hiring a graphic designer who can put your creative ideas into deliverables will be a huge asset for the company. The contributions made by a designer are:

• Create visually appealing material that serves its intended purpose.
• Support your marketing strategies.
• Will help you immediately jump into new projects. 
• Design, create and edit images like logos, graphics, etc.
• Design layouts for your print projects while maintaining consistency and understanding brand guidelines.

Know Your Requirements

Before you set out to hire a designer, be aware of your requirements, like:

• What do you want your designer to do? Design a logo, flyer, poster, or something else.
• The look and feel you want in your work.
• What are the basic elements of your brand identity like fonts, colour palette, etc.?
• Who is your target audience, kids, youngsters, or adults? The designer should design keeping that in mind.

As per your requirements, you can also decide whether you need an in-house designer or a freelancer. There are associated pros and cons with each choice which are as follows:

In-house Graphic Designer

Pros

• The designer will work solely for you.
• They’ll know your brand’s style.
• They’ll always be available to you.

Cons

• You need to pay them even when no designs are needed.
• Have an area of specialisation.
• Will work within their limits.

Freelance Graphic Designer

Pros

• You pay them for the work completed.
• Hire as per their specialisation and your requirements.
• Flexibility of hiring as per your need.

Cons

• They’ll not be aware of your brand style.
• They’ll not be available for meetings or last-minute changes. You might have to pay more for such changes.
• You have to make efforts to find the right freelance designer for your business.

Required Skills of A Graphic Designer

Many skills are essential for a graphic designer’s profile, like communication, teamwork, attention to detail, time management, ad design, and typography.

• Communication: The graphic designer should effectively communicate with other team members and departments. Should be able to understand instructions and convey ideas.
• Attention to detail: The designer should make error-free and on-brand designs.
• Time Management: To meet deadlines, s/he should be able to manage time effectively.
• Technical Skills: The designer should be aware of the various graphic designing softwares available such as CorelDRAW, canva, Adobe Illustrator, etc.
• Ad Designs: A designer should be aware of the various dimensions and ad formats on various platforms. They should employ the best designing practices and follow the rules of various platforms for creatives.
• Typography: Should be able to arrange the texts in a legible, readable, and attractive manner.

Hiring A Graphic Designer

Finding A Graphic Designer

There are multiple sites you can use to hire a graphic designer. Whether you’re going for a full-time designer or part-time, dedicated sites and applications are available for both. You can also check out some portfolio websites to see the work and then hire. 

Writing Job Description

Once you’ve decided on hiring a graphic designer, you’ll have to post a job description while putting your ads on various sites. A good job description mentions the company’s name, a brief about the company, the roles and responsibilities of the designer, and the job requirements.

Pre-Employment Tests

Once you start receiving job applications, it would be good to take a pre-employment skills test. This will ensure that you’re hiring the best graphic designers. It’ll also increase your hiring efficiency. You’ll also spend less on the training programs as you’ll hire only skilled people.

Interview

You can either save time and ask them to upload answers to a few relevant questions like about their projects. This will give you an insight, and you can shortlist better. If you’re going for a personal interview, you should be aware of the relevant questions you need to ask. For example:

• latest trends & techniques in designing
• level of expertise in using certain tools
• Making changes as per the feedback from the client
• Handling pressure

Choose a candidate who’s more in line with your requirements.

Negotiate Salary/Charges

You’re required to do the money talk once you have finalised some candidates. However, before you initiate the conversation, you should be aware of the current charges of the designers for your work.

Moreover, multiple factors play a role in determining the charges of a designer. These include:

• Specialisation: more specialisation means higher rates
• Experience: their charges will increase with their experience.
• Hourly rate vs. fixed rates: designers can have either fixed rates or hourly rates. The one with hourly rate will give you a time estimate based on your brief. A designer with a fixed rate will give you a contract that will elaborate on the breakdown of charges.

Things to Look Out For

Keep your eyes open for certain red flags in your process of hiring a graphic designer. Such as:

• Takes days to respond.
• Asks for 100% charges to be paid in advance.
• Refuses to submit references or work samples.

Hiring a graphic designer for your business would be an exciting process. It would be hassle-free too if you keep the mentioned points in mind. Be sure of your requirements and hire a designer who can aesthetically put together your ideas into reality. Apart from that, they should submit work before deadlines and show good work efficiency. If such things are included in your hiring program, you’ll be able to hire a good graphic designer.