Top Tips for Choosing the Right Graphic Designer

It may feel a bit too challenging to find the best graphic designer, especially if you don’t know much about the design industry and what you can expect from the service. Graphic design is, indeed, a sort of art but also a professional service and a business field that has its professionals and amateurs too. As you can see, choosing the right professional is not necessarily a question of talent and a graphic designer should also possess a number of professional skills.

Since every graphic designer applicant is going to provide you with a portfolio with solid results and examples of their work you can further focus on other traits the best candidate will possess such as finding someone who is easy to work with and communicate, someone finding creative solutions to design problems and unexpected situations, someone committed to success and achieving your milestones and goals.

Here are then great tips that will help you find and choose the right fit whenever you are looking for graphic design professionals:

1. Know what you want and what you expect – The best and easiest way to find the right graphic designer for your project is to actually understand what work needs to be done and what you can expect as a result of the service. Any successful project starts with you providing enough background information about the project. Provide the graphic designer with a creative brief with all details, the objectives of the project, any specific information.
2. Know what types of skills you are looking for – You cannot find the right candidate if you don’t know what you are looking for. So it is very helpful if you have at least some basic knowledge of design and what are the precise skills needed for the project.
3. Check out if the candidate is creative – It is a good tactic to try and ask some unexpected questions when interviewing the potential candidates for the project. This will help you narrow down the candidates too.
4. Don’t rely on portfolios only – Choosing a graphic designer based on their portfolio only is not the right tactic. Instead, discuss the inspiration behind their work, their motivation, etc.
5. Consider a trial project – You can easily narrow down the candidates by starting the whole process of choosing the best one by offering a small sample project they can work on. Indeed, everyone will be talented in some way or another but what you can understand through this trial project is how everyone’s talent could work for your project and choose the most beneficial.
6. Arrange a short video chat interview – This is a great opportunity to save time and still be able to talk face-to-face with the potential graphic designer you are going to hire for the project.
7. Make sure to also ask what will be required from you – Most of the people looking for hiring some type of professional love to talk about their requirements. Of course, you will be the one paying and it is all about your project, However, a great way to understand more about the candidates is asking about their requirements. This way you can make sure they are the right fit and their expectations are realistic.
8. Explain your brand and audience – Make sure to explain clearly what is your target audience and what are the core values of your brand or company. This will guide the graphic designer and they will be able to create the right projects and provide you with the best results.
9. Look for relevant industry experience – If someone has an experience very similar to what you are expecting for your project it will be easier for you to choose them as a right fit for the project and they will find it easier to understand what is expected.
10. Learn more about the designer’s inspirations – What inspires them, what motivates them to do their job, what they enjoy the most in their work?