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How to Find a Graphic Designer?

Looking for graphic design services? Graphic design is an important part of the marketing of your business. A logo will often be the first aspect of your business that customers see, and may be what they remember the most. An website with an amateur look may discourage customers. Although tinkering with Photoshop yourself or having that high school kid come up with a logo for you might be satisfactory for a while, at some point you may want to give a more professional look to your business.

Choices, Darn Choices...

There is a wide range of options when it comes to graphic design services, ranging from dirt cheap to incredibly expensive. You may have heard of Steve Jobs paying $100,000 for Paul Rand to come up with a logo for his company NeXT. But that is not even close to being the most expensive, BP reportedly spent over $200M in their rebranding effort. At the other end of the range, there are sites such as eLance and oDesk where it is possible to find someone from another part of the world who can do the work for far less than anything you would find in the United States or Western Europe. You can also try a "design contest" where you offer a cash prize which designers compete for. Some websites to help with this include 99designs and Crowdspring.

Know Thyself

Perhaps the first step is to make sure you understand your customer. Identify the people that you would like to have as customers for your business. Think about how you would like to communicate with them, and how you would like them to feel about your company, and the image you wish your business to have.

Takin' Names

Once you feel comfortable about who your customer is and how you'd like to communicate with them, you can go about finding some potential candidates for graphic design services. If you have recommendations from friends or colleagues who have had personal experience with graphic designers, this is often an excellent way of finding someone right for your job. Ask your contact about their experience to try and determine whether the designer seems like a good fit for you.

Be wary if the desginer is a friend or family of the person you are talking to - they may be recommending them for reasons other than the quality of their work.

If you don't have any personal recommendations, you can also search the web and also try organizations such as the AIGA. You can also try directory sites, such as right here at YLocale.

So, Tell Me About Yourself

Once you have a few prospective designers, you'll probably want to ask them some questions to try and determine which one seems like the best choice for your project.

Ask them about their experience, and check their portfolio. Find out if they have worked on a project similar to yours and determine whether their work was satisfactory for what you think you'll need. Also try and see whether their working style is compatible with yours. It is also good to check references.

Priceless

Now would be a good time to get an idea of how much each service would be. The cost will of course vary greatly with the specifics of the work you want to have done. A simple logo will generally cost much less than a full rebranding of your business.

Let's Get It Started

Armed with this information you can make your choice and work out a contract. It is strongly recommended that you have some sort of written document describing the work you want done, any deadlines, and the cost. Be specific, and make sure the designer understands what it is you have in mind. This will help avoid any "Oh I thought you meant..." moments later. Pay attention specifically to what you are supposed to receive at the end of the project - do you need all the graphic files with all the intermediate stages? If so, better put that into the document.

If your project is a larger one, you may wish to start off with a small piece first - so that you can "try and buy" to make sure that you have a good relationship with the designer before tackling the larger project. Be sure to communicate frequently with your designer to make sure you are on the same page.

Bon Voyage

With these pointers in mind, you should have a successful project with your new graphic design partner, and you will feel rewarded seeing your company revitalized with that new, professional look. Best of luck!