Brands use graphic design for every aspect of their business. From their logo design, to their signages, flyers, posters, social media banners, and online ads. It has become one of the elements that you need to help your business succeed. So it’s only natural that you go look for a graphic designer to help you with all of these. But before you do that, there are five factors you need to consider when looking to hire for your graphic design project:
1. Your budget
2. Your deadline
3. Workload
4. Frequency
5. Skill level needed
We’ve created this list of options that you can go with for your graphic design needs that will fit with your situation based on the factors mentioned above. Read more below to find out.
DIY Graphic Design
Is the short term for Do It Yourself. A lot of business owners and marketing professionals are starting to do graphic design by themselves thanks to user-friendly design tools like Canva. Cloud-based design software like this brings graphic design more accessible to everyone. This is perfect for those who need to keep their expenses down and if you have the time to do these projects yourself. This is also applicable if there’s not much design project needed and it’s not that hard to do, like if you already have a ready-made template for your social media posts and you just need to swap out the image and edit the text. If you’re planning to do a DIY graphic design then be sure to check out this list of tools that you’ll need to help you on your design projects.
Graphic Design Hobbyists
A Hobbyist is a person who pursues a particular hobby and spends a lot of time on it like graphic design. This can be a friend of yours who dabbles a bit with photoshop, your nephew who knows how to do some simple graphics or a friend of a friend. This is a great option if you don’t have the time to do the design yourself but don’t have enough budget to hire a graphic design freelancer, then looking for someone who finds graphic designing as a hobby within your circle might be a good idea. The downside is they might not have the capability to complete the project on time since they don’t do this daily and can only work on your project during their free time. Since graphic design is not their full-time profession, you cannot be assured of the quality of their work, so don’t expect too much. So if you do not have the time, trying to lower your expenses, not in a rush, and don’t need a design that requires a high skill level, then a graphic design hobbyist is the best option for you.
Freelance Graphic Designer
A Freelancer is where a graphic designer works independently with multiple clients, rather than exclusively for a company. Freelancers are one of the best options for you if you need professional-level graphic designs.
You should have the budget ready since professional freelance graphic designers don’t come cheap. The design rates for each freelancer varies based on their demand and skill level.
Freelancers work with multiple clients so you have to ask first about their availability and inform them about your deadline and budget.
The best thing about Freelancers is that there are a lot of types of them, some specialize in illustrations, web design, graphic design, marketing materials, and many more. Be sure you know the right type of graphic designer for your projects. The only setback with freelancers is that they can only take one project at a time, and they might not be able to handle large amounts of projects daily. So if you’re looking for one-time projects, which can be handled by a single person, and you have the budget, a graphic design freelancer is the best fit for you.
In-house Graphic Designer
An In-house graphic designer refers to a person being employed with an organization or brand, either on a full-time or part-time basis. Having an in-house graphic designer means that they will only work for your brand and focus solely on it. You can get your projects done faster because they don’t have any other clients like graphic design freelancers, they are always available for you, which also means they can handle more work for your business daily. Inhouse Graphic Designer will require a monthly salary and the budget for this will depend on the experience and skill level. You’ll need extra space in your office for them along with the hardware and software required for them to be able to do their duties so the initial cost needed will be a bit steep. Inhouse Graphic Designers are the best fit for you if you need graphic design work every day, you need them immediately, and you have the budget for the initial capital needed along with the monthly salary and operational costs.
Graphic Design Studios
Graphic Design Studio is a group of designers and project managers, working in a single workspace, engaged in conceiving, designing, and developing branding and marketing materials for several clients. Graphic design studios are a bit more costly than freelancers since they have a team of managers and design specialists working for your brand’s graphic design needs. They can handle larger projects which individual graphic design freelancers will have a hard time doing, especially if the timeline is very short. Graphic Design Studios are the best option for you if you have the budget, on a tight deadline, and have a large workload that an individual graphic design freelancer can’t handle. This is like having your own design department minus the additional cost for office space, equipment, monthly operational budget needs, and fixed salaries. If you’re thinking that working with a graphic design studio is for you then be sure to send us a message.
Advertising and Branding Agencies
Advertising and/or Branding agencies, plan, strategize, and create communication materials for their clients to promote or enhance their business, products, and services, to an intended audience. They work with a larger team than graphic design studios and have in-house brand consultants, marketing specialists, researchers, and graphic designers. This option is the most expensive on this list but has the highest amount of capabilities for your business. This is like a one-stop shop for your advertising and branding needs. If you have the budget, want your advertising and branding being taken care of by specialists, don’t have the time to micromanage this aspect of your business, and just want to see results, then Advertising and Branding Agencies are the best fit for you.
Conclusion
You do not have to hire a single type of designer listed above. You can work with two types, depending on your business’ needs. For example, you have a full-time in-house designer working for you, but sometimes the workload is too much to handle and the deadline is near, so you can either hire a freelance graphic designer or a graphic design studio to lend a helping hand. For bigger projects, like events and conferences, it would be advisable for your in-house graphic designer to work along with a graphic design studio. There’s a graphic designer type that will fit your needs perfectly. The secret is being aware of your budget, deadline, workload, frequency, and skill level needed for your design project from the start.