TODAY, DESIGN MATTERS
Are you thinking of hiring a graphic designer to give your company’s digital assets a bit of style? Want to turn your brand around and start visually impacting your audience? Then you will make the right decision by leaving this in the hands of an expert. Some believe that cutting costs on the design of advertisements will obtain higher profits, without realizing that great design can generate more sales. You must keep in mind that TODAY… DESIGN MATTERS. The design gives professionalism and distinction to a brand.
Graphic designers not only provide ideas but materialize what you dreamed of, advising on colors, trends and seek to balance the essence of your brand.
One aspect that must be respected is that good commercial design will attract sales. However, not all designers will have a positive impact, because it also depends a lot on how prepared they are and how much they listen to your suggestions.
It is normal that as human beings, designers seek everyone’s approval, they are artists, and it is in their blood. However, this can undoubtedly affect the development they can make for a brand or an advertising campaign since they look more at the aesthetic aspect than the purpose of an advertising piece. Not everything beautiful sells, and sometimes the “Ego” takes over and does not let them see beyond. You do not benefit from a designer who focuses on applause rather than sales.
For this reason, here are 10 tips you should keep in mind before hiring a graphic designer:
- You must take into account why you want to hire a designer.
It is crucial that you first plan a strategy. What are the reasons you need a new designer or an additional designer? Having these questions answered will help in the future when assigning them work.
You must be very clear about the objectives you want to achieve and know how to measure them to see if they are being met. Why? Well, what good is having an excellent graphic designer if they don’t have clear goals or guidelines to follow.
- Listen to recommendations from people in the industry
If you have friends or colleagues who work in the same industry, ask them who they work with during the advertising process. There will always be someone who can recommend a great designer for your team.
- Constant work
There are many places where you can find professional graphic designers. However, if your company is very large, and always need new designs, we recommend you look for a design agency. You can pay a monthly amount to cover several pieces and strategies, or you can agree on a design package.
This strategy also works if your company is small to medium-sized. You can hire the services of an agency temporarily or sporadically when you need it.
- Require a portfolio
You must analyze your designer’s previous work, as it will be a guide for you. You will learn how they create content, what inspires them, and how all of that can suit your customers.
You can also put yourself in your client’s shoes and see if it would capture their attention.
- Ask for results
If possible, ask for the results that came from their designs. Sale results from previous jobs help you measure how good and successful their work is. We know that you are looking for an investment and not an expense, so demanding sale results is not out of the question.
How can you track results? Seeing metrics on the websites their ads ran on, how many times a PDF has been downloaded, number of Ebooks that have been sold, or simply a job reference that can generate you more confidence in the designer.
- How is the “vibe” between you and the artist
You, as the owner of the company, know what you are looking for, and the designer is the one who will help you realize what you want; therefore, the work-energy between the two of you must be in sync.
If you don’t get along very well with your designer, you may find problems when working together. There must be synergy and excellent communication, which will be the key to great results.
- Evaluate your marketing knowledge
Sometimes designers are very creative, but they know little about marketing, and this will cause you to have beautiful advertising pieces that will not generate sales.
To help, you can focus on the following questions:
What should my website have?
What colors should I handle?
What is the perfect font size?
How types of pictures should the ad have?
What should go at the beginning and end of a video?
If he/she can answer these questions, you are on the right track.
- Start by giving small jobs
We recommend that you first get to know the designer’s style very well so that you can then give them more substantial tasks. The purpose of starting with small projects is to avoid any unexpected results.
You can start by assigning some small advertising pieces such as banners, catalogs, or ads that don’t carry much weight on your advertising strategy. These projects will prepare you and the designer. Remember that the designer must first get to know the target audience of the company, and this is not achieved in a few days.
This strategy will start their trial period and can show you the potential they have.
- Do not constrain … Let their creativity explode
Some companies tend to restrict designers. An effect that slows the creative process or even blocks them altogether.
You can tell them what you want them to do without blocking their creativity. Allow the designer to explore and let their imagination help them create a fantastic piece. Help them adapt to your brand! It would be best if you made clear the rules of the game, but keep in mind that as a boss and a leader, you should be a bit flexible too.
- Be FAIR
There is no better incentive than proper treatment. Designers are people who make a living from their designs and their clients. Although there are excellent clients, there are those who dismiss a designer’s work and do not realize the time and effort required to carry out a project.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
Remember: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! If you see that the designer is polished and pays attention to detail, you should be aware that their work will not be cheap. If you pay mediocrely, you will get mediocre results.
We are QA Digital Ads, experts in design, creation, programming, and web positioning.
