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If you landed on this article, odds are you have a new business in the works. And like most business owners embarking on this exciting and scary journey, you realized that the world likes visuals more than words.
Right from logos (learn more about logo design checklist) to pitch decks to packaging design, design seems to be what wins every round. Now, unless you are a qualified designer, most of the design concepts and materials you need can feel very alien and complicated.
Yes, you can outsource them as everyone does – but to whom and how do you find them?
In this blog, we will walk you through the importance of design and designers in your business while also helping you make a choice that works for you.
It will equip you to make a data-backed decision so that your brand, marketing, and business benefit from it.
Let’s get this show on the road then.
Value of Professional Design in Brand Building
Starting a business is a daunting task. With so many balls to juggle, design, unfortunately, is not on every business owner’s priority list. But, it should be as design goes way beyond prettying up your documents or making them visually appealing.
Investing in design, especially professional design can make your life easier and profitable in many aspects.
“Identities are the beginning of everything. They are how something is recognized and understood. What could be better than that?” – Paula Scher
One of the most popular graphic designers said this. And how do you create visual identities in a world where attention spans are reducing exponentially? You speak the language of the masses – design.
Design and Brand Building
Design builds the foundation of your brand by giving it a unique identity that makes you stand out from your competitors. With design, you can communicate your value proposition, USP, and brand messaging with ease to your customers. This connects your audience emotionally to you.
Good design makes your brand look authentic and trustworthy by displaying the thought and professionalism in the works behind it.
And if you truly want to extract the maximum benefit of making design a core element of your business, you need professional design.
Why choose professional design?
The need for professional design arises because branding and marketing are not activities you do in isolation. The design has a profound role in every stage of your business, and every design category needs a different approach while staying true to the brand you are building.
Sounds complicated? Yes, because it is.
Designs benefit your brand immensely, but they can hamper your reputation too, if not done well. Good branding and marketing designs are scalable across platforms, versatile for different use cases, and consistent.
Source: Kimp
Graphic design touches many verticals of a brand and forms a visual language of communication.
Some roles of graphic design in your business include:
Brand Identity Design: As we mentioned, building an identity for your brand involves design on a large scale. The complex set of visual elements you choose to represent your business comprises pattern design, logo design, lettering design, imagery and more.
Marketing and Advertising Design: Marketing and advertising are inherently visual in nature. You need high-quality graphic design that accurately represents your brand, adds flavor to your content, and attracts people to your messaging. This includes poster designs, digital ads, flyers, videos, and social media content, to name a few. Data visualization techniques such as infographics, charts, graphs, and word clouds you employ to make your content easy to read also fall in this category.
Environmental design: When you launch your brand in the physical world, environmental designs that attract people to your establishment and beautify the place are extremely important. This could include signages, retail store designs, external design elements, and display boards.
Print and publishing design: Businesses invest in local marketing and publishing to spread the word about their work and build credibility in their brand. The designs one creates for print and publishing have a different sensibility than the ones for the web. Factors like scale, target audience and design formats are unique to this category.
Web & UI design: There are no purely physical or digital stores now. These worlds are merging. Design enhances user experiences on websites, online portals, and apps brands develop for their products and services. People judge many of these services prima facie on branding and design, so you must spend time on this.
Product-related design: Probably one of the most obvious uses for branding for a business. Your brand values and style appear prominently in your product design, package design, and other merchandise you produce. You can employ custom illustration, graphic design, artwork, and mascot design to enhance these offerings via design.
Now that you know the wide applications of design for your brand, we come to a very important section and the reason you are here.
How do you choose the right designer for your brand? What’s the process of evaluation?
Well, why wait anymore? Let’s find out.
Types of Designers: Overview and Pros/Cons Analysis
Now that the world realizes the value of design, more and more people are embracing the role of a graphic designer, so the market truly spoiled brands for choice. However, as we said before, too many choices can be a problem.
Each of these design solutions has its own pros and cons, and what may work for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It is important to chart your own path and evaluate these for your unique requirements as a business.
So, let’s talk about some options you have in this area.
Learn more about freelancer vs graphic design agency
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Design Agencies
For any business, the first choice is always an external design agency. It is an age-old model and companies who are new to the business world find it freeing to hand over the reins to an expert. Design agencies often comprise expert and experienced designers for different niches, and this way, you can handle your design needs under one roof.
If you are a business with regular design requirements and cannot afford to manage the projects regularly, design agencies are a good way to go.
Pros of choosing a design agency:
- You have access to more resources, which makes it easier to complete extensive projects in a short time frame.
- Design agencies have dedicated teams for various tasks, so your designer only has to worry about the creative part, unlike a freelancer.
- There is strict adherence to deadlines and quality expectations.
- They are ideal for long-term relationships with heavy work volume.
- You get consistent branding and marketing collateral by working with a design agency and a dedicated team.
Cons of choosing a design agency:
- Design agencies have the obligation of paying high fees, insurance, and other overheads. So their fees for their clients are also expensive.
- Since you are working with a static team, a lack of creativity and variety in the design output is a concern.
- Design agencies create strict contractual frameworks, so flexibility in assignment, revisions, and tasks is sometimes scarce.
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Freelance Graphic Designers
The creator economy is really opening up, and it is now easier than ever to find freelancing professionals in every discipline. Graphic design is no exception to this. If you feel that committing to a design agency in the nascent stage of your business is risky, this is an option you can consider.
Freelancers are often niche-specific experts who lend their expertise to your brand on a project-to-project basis. If you have a short-term project with a tight budget, you can try the freelance route if you like the person’s expertise, work experience, and skill set. Choosing a freelancer for important brand-related design work is not a simple job as you’ll see below:
Pros of choosing a freelance graphic designer:
- Working with a freelancer gives you a lot of flexibility in revisions, experiments with design, and design style.
- Freelancers are inexpensive to work with because of the competition in the field and their openness to negotiation.
- You can choose different experts for different projects based on their individual skill sets.
Cons of choosing a freelance graphic designer:
- Quality of work and consistency in design can fall through the crack in the freelancer model.
- Freelancers manage a lot of administrative, financial, and design work, so time optimization becomes scarce.
- Long-term availability is a challenge when working with freelancers.
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In-house design team
An alternative to an external design agency is having an in-house design team. Firms with continuous design work and who really want to concentrate on design projects vis-à-vis their relationship with the brand, opt for this model.
In-house design teams give you the ability to recruit any designer you want with a skill set that acutely matches your brand and the work you need. It also gives you control over the creation process and timelines.
But, it is an enormous commitment and needs serious consideration.
Pros of an in-house design team:
- The team gets to work on the design with a deeper understanding of the brand’s values, customer base, and branding guidelines.
- You get a team with more ownership than any external agency can have.
- The in-house design team gives you the ability to keep your creatives safe from plagiarism because of confidentiality.
- Ideal option for long-term projects with consistent design styles and results.
- Brands get more autonomy on deadlines, revisions, and quality of work.
Cons of an in-house design team:
- It is exceedingly expensive to source a team with a varied skill set, desired experience, and expertise in your industry.
- Working with the same templates can lead to a lack of outside perspective and innovation.
- An in-house team is harder to replace in case of dissatisfaction.
Undoubtedly the new kid on the block, but subscription-based design companies are gradually conquering the industry. They have the benefits of working with a graphic design agency, combined with the benefits of a freelancer model. Of course, this model too has its limitations, hence it is important to analyze this based on your specific need.
Now, how it works in most of these graphic design services is that you can subscribe to receive a wide range of designs and renew as and when you need to. However, not every subscription plan will cover all your needs, and not every firm will vibe with your design requirements. So, it can be a tough choice in choosing the right one.
Pros of a subscription-based design company:
- You get access to a variety of design services. The best part is, often, you get niche-specific experts on a team to handle different parts of the assignments.
- It provides you the flexibility to change a designer with the company if you are not happy with the work.
- There is no need for a long-term commitment, but you can always pick up where you left off when the need arises.
- Most companies are open to revisions, contract negotiations, and innovations in working models.
- Faster turnaround times become possible because of the large workforce.
- You can achieve branding consistency without hiring or investing in a design agency.
- Subscription plans are cost-effective for long-term projects and a high volume of work.
Cons of a subscription-based design company:
- Some companies may not cover the niches you want to work in. This means you have to hire a freelancer or agency for a particular project and can lead to branding inconsistencies.
- There may be limitations on concurrent tasks.
- You may not have a rigid structure and adherence as opposed to a traditional agency.
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Third-party graphic design platforms
Besides the services we just discussed, there are also options to find freelancers and design service providers via a qualified search. Many third-party platforms now work as a portal to connect brands and designers. While it is nice to see an Amazon model for graphic designers, it has its limitations.
Pros of third-party graphic design platforms:
- Instead of running a blind search for freelancers and small agencies, you get a qualified database to find the ideal match for your brand.
- These service providers are often inexpensive, and you can pick one based on your budget.
- There is no obligation for long-term work.
- You can work with multiple design partners based on your own choice.
Cons of third-party graphic design platforms:
- It is like working with a freelancer, so the limitations of that model still apply.
- You may also have to be pretty hands-on to extract the work because of the lack of a project manager. This can challenge a new business.
- Even though the platforms screen the candidates, there is no guarantee of quality in most cases.
You need a design partner who understands you.
How do you make the right choice for your brand?
While we provided you with details on the different designers you can choose from, it will be a lot easier if you had a process. Sometimes, even with a model of design service, you may have difficulty narrowing down a prospect.
So what is the process that can lead you to the designer of your dream? Read on.
- Introspect
No two design projects are the same. Neither are the design requirements of the two brands. So, the search for the best design partner begins with introspection. Decide your short-term and long-term needs to make a sustainable decision.
Will you need print-based designs more or web-based designs? Do you see the need for package design or UI design in your future? The answer to these questions will help you narrow down a broader list based on their services and skill set.
- Go window shopping
There is no other way to do this. Find the design firms you like and discuss your thoughts with them. You can find design partners who either work in your industry, have done some work you like, or are easily accessible. Start with a few names and start collecting portfolios.
You can also have a sample mood board and a design brief to see if the companies can share a tailored proposal. You need to know all your options and their pricing to make an informed decision.
Make a list of the important characteristics you look for in a design partner and evaluate each firm against it. It can be budget, aesthetic, turnaround times, or shared brand values.
- Check references
Social proof is important because this design partner is an essential part of your growth. Check references, look for customer reviews on third-party sites, and social media mentions.
When you are starting out, you do not want to risk by investing time and money in a firm that may not be as it projects itself to be.
- Experiment
Nothing is as good as working with someone. So take the designer out for a test drive. Give them a small project to see how they fare. Ask yourself:
- Does the process fit your expectations?
- Do you like their design thinking process and aesthetic?
- Are you able to communicate their ideas well? Can they understand your design brief and requirements?
If the service provider has a trial run or a per-project starter plan, it is all the better to start with..
Design made easy with Kimp Subscriptions
Does this all look too confusing and time-consuming to navigate? Do you wish to have a design partner who is easy to handle, streamlined, and genuine in all your projects?
Look no further, Kimp is here for you.
Our subscription plans cover a variety of design services to fit the needs of every major industry. We have both Kimp Graphics – for unlimited graphic design services – and Kimp Video – for unlimited motion graphics and video design- so you don’t have to keep wasting time vetting and onboarding new designers. You’ll get your very own dedicated design team.
And the best part, we have a free 7-day trial period so you can get to know us better before you commit.
Source :
https://www.thebrand-stylist.com/blog/how-to-pick-the-right-designer-for-your-branding-project
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/why-good-design-matters-for-businesses-infographic/563931/
https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/good-design-is-good-business/
https://www.canva.com/learn/design-at-work/
https://www.wwwart.com.au/news/6-ways-graphic-design-adds-value-to-your-business.html
https://www.studiothink.com/blog/choose-creative-agency/
https://startuptalky.com/choose-right-graphic-design-agency/
https://www.canny-creative.com/how-to-choose-a-graphic-design-agency/
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/choose-graphic-designer/
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/types-of-graphic-design/
https://dribbble.com/stories/2021/03/16/types-of-graphic-design-careers
https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/design/blog/types-of-graphic-design/
