Choosing the right designer for your project is an important decision. In fact, it can make or break the project’s success. But with so many designers around, it can be hard to choose the right one for your project.
So how do you pick? Here are 7 things you should consider when choosing a designer:
1. Get recommendations
When you first start looking for a designer ask around for a recommendation. If a friend or colleague is willing to refer you to someone, it’s likely they’ve been happy with the service they received.
If you’re unable to get recommendations though, try searching online for a designer and check out their website for testimonials to see what their customers say about them. You could also check what people are saying about them on social media sites.
2. Check their portfolio
It’s vital that you choose a designer whose work you like so be sure to check their portfolio. If it’s full of work you love, great, but if you don’t like it then it’s probably best to look for someone else.
If they don’t have an online portfolio and you are still interested in working with them you could ask them to show you examples of work they have done.
3. Do they offer the service you need?
Most designers will mention the services they offer on their website. Look for someone who offers the service you need. You can do this by using search terms like “logo designer Aberdeen” or “WordPress website designer”.
If they don’t specifically mention the service you need though, but do mention similar ones, for example if you’re looking for a brochure and they only mention flyer design, you could ask them if they also do brochures.
4. How experienced are they?
When it comes to a designer’s experience there are 2 things you should look for: how experienced they are with the service you are looking for and how much overall experience they have.
These can both affect how smoothly your project runs – if they have done similar projects before they can anticipate and ward off potential problems – and how much you will pay – usually the more experienced a designer is the more they’ll charge for their expertise.
5. Talk to them
I thoroughly recommend meeting with a designer before hiring them, or at least talking to them over the phone. This gives you the chance to chat about your project, and get to know each other a bit and ask each other questions. From this you should get a feel for how well you’ll work together; if you notice a personality clash consider whether you want to risk clashing throughout the project or if you should just walk away now.
6. Price
Price is not the only thing you should consider but it is very important. It would be extremely disappointing to fall in love with a designer’s work then find that you can’t possibly afford to hire them.
Both clients and designers can be quite shy when it comes to talking about money but they shouldn’t be. Don’t be afraid to ask a designer for a baseline or ballpark figure, and if you have a budget don’t be afraid of telling a designer the maximum amount you can afford. You can then work together to figure out how to get the best value for your budget.
7. Where they’re located
One final thing to consider is the designer’s location. Are they based in the same city, the same country or are they abroad?
If they are located near to you then you could easily meet up, but if they are based in another country communication will probably be limited to email and Skype. If you hire someone in a different country you could save money, but you could also face issues with communication – do they speak the same language as you – or availability – do their working hours overlap with yours? All things to think about.
Don’t be scared!
Hiring a designer can seem daunting, but it needn’t be. We’re not a scary bunch (usually!) and if you bear these 7 things in mind when you are searching you’ll be off to a good start.
Photo: PhotoDune
If you are currently looking for a designer and like what you see here, please do feel free to contact me for a quote!
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