“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”
- Paul Rand
Designing is an artistic form of communication. You can call graphic designers “visual communicators” who make concepts by hand or with the help of specialized graphic design software. They always keep that x-factor and provide captivating results that inform and inspire the audience at the same time. It can be physical or virtual content created with the help of words, images, or graphics. The major purpose of graphic design in the business world is to communicate with customers, clients, and audiences with a perfect representation of the brand.
In this blog, we will learn about the job of a graphic designer and what are the qualities you should look for when hiring a graphic designer for business.
A Graphic Designer at Work
The basic job of a graphic designer is to communicate the message of the company artistically. They have to combine art and technology to produce appealing content. You can call them the backbone of production as they design advertisements, brochures, magazines, and corporate reports. It’s impossible to get these jobs done without a designer.
The eternal goal of a designer is to make the company recognizable and prominent. These experts don't add up everything or anything in the designs, but they carry out lengthy research to learn what is trending and what is going to suit specific brands. Starting with the production of rough illustrations of design ideas, the journey goes a long way. However, the produced content can be in the form of fonts, size, shapes, colors, print design, photography, animation, logos, and billboards.
Graphic designers have to collaborate with different departments to get the project done. A graphic person deals with digital marketing executives, programmers, art directors, web designers, and multimedia animators. Different team is contacted at different times like a copywriter is contacted when the designer uses text in layouts. He tells the designer if the content is to be put in headlines, paragraphs, or lists.
Things to Look for When Hiring a Graphic Designer
It does not matter what is the nature of your business. Sooner or later, you will need a graphic designer to keep the boat afloat. We are living in an age of information dominated by social media. Here, graphic attracts. People are too busy to read. It requires precise, appealing, and inspiring graphic content to grab their attention.
So, if you have not hired a professional graphic designer yet; let us help your case. We are highlighting a few points below that are necessary to be considered before hiring a designer.
What to Expect? – Set Your Mind Straight
First things first; set your expectations. The hiring process becomes smooth and easy when the recruiter has all the demands written down on paper. He can access the candidate better when he knows what to expect. It helps in asking good questions and evaluating whether the candidate is up to your expectations or not.
Keep in your mind that you are looking for a graphic designer not a jack of all trades. The job of a graphic designer is to develop graphic support for your business, nothing more than that! He is not responsible for coding and developing the whole website. You can only ask him to provide you with an appealing look and layout for your website. So, set your mind straight and make sure what to expect before calling a potential candidate.
Don’t Mix Up Job Descriptions
Some employers mix up graphic designers with creative directors. No! These are two different job descriptions. A designer might know about creativity and trends, but he cannot provide you with the complete strategy to move your brand with. If you want both services from the same person, it is better to increase the budget. But usually, a jack of all trades is the master of none. Thus, it is better to hire professional individuals.
Designing is a vast subject. It does not include logos only. Therefore, it is important to ask about the area of expertise of your candidate. If you are thinking that an impeccable logo designer can also provide the services of a stellar illustrator and custom logo designs, you can be wrong.
Get a Clear Picture of What You Want
If you are confused about what kind of design you want, it is impossible to make the hunt for graphic designers successful. Before starting the hiring procedure, ask yourself the following questions.
Am I looking for a logo, flyer, or poster?
What kind of feel and look I am looking for?
What should be the color theme and fonts style?
Once you have all the answers, it becomes very easy to get the right man for the job. If you fail to retain the thoughts and ideas, create an inspiration board. Write your thoughts and ideas on it before they fly away from your mind. You can also pin posts on Pinterest or save something from Facebook that can help in making the designer understand your vision. Collect the relatable logos and posts that you think can help your business and share it with the designer.
One thing you need to make sure about is to get a clear picture in your head of what you want. It will help you in finding the perfect graphic designer who could turn your ideas into a reality. Another important thing to ponder upon is your audience. Decide and communicate the age group with the designer. They can easily mold design into totally different looks considering the age group and social class of the audience.
Evaluate How Candidates Think on Their Feet
It is very easy to answer expected questions. The impressive job is to answer the unexpected ones and deal with uncertainties. A good candidate will always come back with a spontaneous and problem-solving answer to any question that is out of the box. You can ask something unexpected during the interview to gauge how smart the candidate is. For instance, ask him to critique a competitor’s logo. Question him about the differences and ideas that can make your brand stand apart. That’s how you can narrow down the graphic designer and examine his skills. The prompt answer he comes up with will surely help you decide whether he is a good fit for your business or not.
It is a very common process in recruitment that helps a lot. The goal is to analyze how strong and quick are the reflexes of the candidate. His quick and creative thinking can help your business a lot. People who are quick and creative at the same time are the most productive ones. So, look for such people who can think brilliantly on the fly and hire the best among them.
Freelance Designer or On-site Designer – What’s Better?
It’s a debate! There are different pros and cons of hiring freelance as well as on-site graphic designers.
Pros and Cons of Freelance Graphic Designer
Let’s discuss the pros first. A freelancer charges on basis of the project, thus it feels light on the pocket of the employer. These freelancers are independent and work on their own which means they are not committed to a particular company. Businesses that need quick and one-time projects should consider hiring a freelance graphic designer instead of getting someone on-site. It will save them good money without any side effects on work.
Coming to the cons, freelancers can stir the pot when it comes to time commitment. Communication and understandings eat a lot of time and make it a tough call. Moreover, a freelancer can never understand the requirements of your company better than a designer who works for you on a full-time basis. If you have a lot of design work at the company, it’s better to hire an on-site designer.
Pros and Cons of On-site Graphic Designer
It can improve the productivity of your organization and complete the team. Having an on-site designer will resolve your petty issues like promotional posts etc. You can order him to design posts, videos, and other content apart from the major job. Moreover, the designer will get to understand the culture and values of companies better, which will be seen in his designs. He will manage to design your thoughts more perfectly because of the close proximity and shared environment.
On the other hand, it will increase the cost. Hiring a designer on-site means you have to pay him monthly regardless of how much work he does. If you have just kicked off a start-up, hiring a full-time designer can disturb your budget at an immense level. Thus, on-site graphic designers are only good for companies that have plenty of work on a daily basis. Others can get the work done with the help of freelancers.
Final Word
Graphic designers are crucial if you want the perfect branding of your company. They are the backbone of any branding team. Depending on your workload, hire a freelance or on-site graphic designer immediately to get your branding on track. Don’t forget to keep the tips mentioned above in check during the hiring process.
