Hiring a graphic designer is one of the most important decisions you can make for your business. Choosing to do design related work yourself via Microsoft Word or Paint is not a good idea. As a business owner, you should be spending your time on your business and selling your products or service. So, do what you do best and leave the design work to a professional.
It’s very easy to underestimate just how important it is to hire a graphic designer. When you think of it this way, your brand, logo, business card and website will be the first thing that people see when they come across your business; do you really want to do it yourself? Do you think that your customers will value your creativity? Even if your friends or family think that you’ve done a great job and created a ‘cute’ logo, it might be great to them, but will the average person on the street take you seriously and want to buy from you?
With the cost of designing a logo, business card and even a website being so cheap these days, it can be very tempting to go down the cheap route of outsourcing to someone you found on the internet, who resides half way around the world.
Here are 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Graphic Designer:
- They are a professional: A good graphic designer will know his or her stuff when it comes to the profession; they’ll know that you will need to get the branding out of the way. Some designers will have gone to college, or university, having studied graphic design then gone on to work for an agency, and some will be self taught. Either way, all you need to see is their portfolio of past work and client testimonials. Once you’re happy, and know they will be a great fit for you and your business, hire them!
- They provide more creative options: When it comes to creative work like graphic design, not everyone can generate ideas as easily as a professional designer, who has experience in the industry. Sometimes good ideas can come in a flash, other times they take time to develop and come to the imagination. A good designer will be able to generate creative ideas en masse, and be able to quickly eliminate the bad ones, and focus on the 1 or 2 that have potential. By choosing to work with a graphic designer, your options in design will expand, because you’re not limited by the templates found online, or by the limited programs you might have. Instead, you will have more options with your marketing and branding designs.
- They will save you so much time: Hiring a professional designer to focus on what they do best, frees up valuable time to focus exclusively on your business. As a business owner, your time is very important. When you take time out to design your own logo, or work out how to build your own website, you are taking time away from the development and growth of your business. Even if a designer is charging £35, and upwards, for their design time, they’ll complete the job a lot quicker, and at a higher quality, than if you tackled the task yourself. A well-designed logo can weather the test of time, whereas a poorly designed logo will require a re-design later down the line. This, in the long run, is a far more costly option, due to the fact that a rebrand of your entire business will be necessary.
- They will save you so much money: There’s an old saying: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” It might not seem like it at first, when you’re spending hundreds or thousands on your branding, but later down the line you’ll be grateful you made the decision to bring onboard a graphic designer. If you show someone a design that has been done by a professional; who understands the principles and elements of design, and then show a design by somebody that doesn’t really know what they are doing, the human subconscious is usually able to judge between the two, and is usually drawn to elements and detail provided within a professional design. A good logo is a representation of the business itself, – of how much money and effort has been put into your business – therefore it must be the right customer-facing design.
- They can be part of your company: Having a client/designer relationship is important, due to the fact that you want to be able to work with them in the future. Big companies hire designers, or have their own in-house design team. They understand how important it is to have designers, on staff, to provide the necessary and focussed branding and marketing.
Things to remember when you’re hiring a graphic designer…
- You are supporting local talent and the industry as a whole.
- You’re getting work that is strong and eye-catching, which communicates the best of your brand to the customer.
- When you hire a freelancer, they don’t even have to be in the same town as you, you can work electronically, via phone or email.
- You can delegate your entire design workload to designers who have specific skill sets; there are many that can take on all the technical aspects of the work.
- Working with a graphic designer will open your business up to greater opportunities; they are an asset to your business and brand.
How to Find A Freelancer?
Get a referral from a trusted friend, family member, business partner, or from somebody that is already in your network.
Examine their portfolio and body of work, in order to gain a sense of their creative personality.
If your budget is low, you can also try using freelance websites such as: