FINDING THE RIGHT DESIGNER FOR YOUR BRANDING OR WEBSITE DESIGN PROJECT
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Things you need to consider when finding the right brand or website designer for your next project.
Selecting a designer that is a perfect fit for both you and your business can be tricky task. I’m sure you’ve typed in ‘brand designer’ ‘graphic designer’ 'website designer’ (the possibilities are endless) into Instagram/Google or even Tiktok and found an endless stream of design accounts, some may appeal to you and some will make you want to throw up. Sorry. How on earth are you going to find the right designer for you?
Your brand identity directly influences the success of your business. Firstly, conveying the right message not only gets you in front of your ideal target audience, but it also does the selling for you once it gets there. How many times have you seen some awful DIY Wix website or Canva logo and thought “What on earth is this mess?!'“ and quickly exited with disgust? Maybe I do that more often than most being a designer (and insufferable perfectionist) but back to my point… I bet you didn’t want to buy anything from them because they didn’t look the part and therefore, you assumed what they were selling was trash. This is where poor design becomes more expensive than good design, it’s losing you sales.
In this blog post, I’m going to jump into sharing some insight from a brand and website designer point of view and highlight key points to consider when evaluating potential designers and eventually picking the right designer for your business.
DEFINE YOUR NEEDS
First things first, you need to define your needs. How on earth are you going to find the right designer for your business if you don’t even know what your business needs? Start by evaluating where your business is. If you’re a start-up small business then I doubt you’ll need the same as a 6 figure established brand. Below are some important questions to ask yourself before embarking on the hunt for a brand or website designer.
WHAT’S YOUR BUDGET?
There is a huge range in pricing for design work. £10 watercolour logos to £50k packages and everything in-between. Working out a realistic budget range will be helpful for you when reviewing designers websites or project proposals. Usually, a designer will provide you with at least two options. When sending out project proposals to my clients, I include three project options at different price points. The first is a design sprint style project, designed as an affordable and speedy option. The two remaining project options are based on larger four to six week projects.
WHAT DELIVERABLES DO YOU NEED?
Now we have an idea on budget, what design deliverables do you actually want to get out of your branding or website design project? Do you need social media templates? Branded email signatures? Branded newsletter templates? Business cards? If your business sells physical products, do you need packaging design? Label design? Clothing tags? The list is honestly endless and so you want to have an idea of the scope of work you require. Letting your designer know this at the start will also be extremely helpful in helping them tailor the perfect package to deliver everything you need.
That being said, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be open to suggestions from your designer. An experienced graphic designer will be able to guide you and won’t be afraid to let you know if you need anything in particular.
DEFINE YOUR POSITION
SMALL BUSINESSES/START UPS
If you’ve just started your business or plan to keep it fairly small, you don’t need a full branding package with all the bells and whistles. If you find your budget is too small for custom design work, a good option can be semi-customisable brand kits. A lot of designers offer these with quick turn around times. Usually, you’ll select a pre-made brand identity and be able to input your business name and colour palette.
For an even cheaper alternative, you can head over to Creative Market and pick a logo template from there but please - stay away from anything watercolour, glitter, gold or with extremely curly fonts!!
ESTABLISHED BUSINESS
Established businesses will need a tad more care and consideration, at this stage you’ve probably already been through the budget option and are now looking to grow your business and invest a little more cash in a more robust design solution. This is where selecting the right designer for your business starts to become more and more important. Be prepared to spend your evenings searching for different designers to add to your shortlist, don’t settle on the first designer you like the sound of.
That being said, please don’t waste designers time either. Don’t ask a handful of designers all for a project proposal and pick which you want to go for. Start by picking your favourite designer, and if you don’t feel it’s a right fit, then kindly let them know and move onto the next designer on your list.
Once you’ve gathered your shortlist of designers, let’s say you have maybe 2-5 that you LOVE and can’t pick between. Follow them on social media and just hover for a little while, see what they get up to, see if you like how they show up on social media, see if they share any behind the scenes content and if they do, see if you like it. You can find me on Instagram here, btw.
FINDING THE RIGHT DESIGNER: THE CHECKLIST
10 questions to ask yourself before hiring your brand or website designer…
Do I like at least 80% of their work? It’s unlikely that all of their work will resonate with you, but the majority should at least appeal to you. Looking through their portfolio should be full of “ooo I like that” and “wow this is GOOD”. If you’re not drooling at their website and portfolio, then they aren’t right for you. Their work should make you want to get up off your seat and shout “YES, this is it!”. Slightly dramatic, but you get the gist.
Does each project in their portfolio stand out from one another? We love a designer who knows their clearly defined target audience, but each project should be totally unique. The rise of the minimal style is gorgeous, but can leave brands looking a little…meh. A little samey, and that’s never good when you’re building a successful brand.
Have they worked with businesses similar to mine? Hiring a designer who has worked with businesses similar to yours is helpful as it’s an extra layer of expertise you’ll be adding to your team. This applies to both industry and style, neither are set in stone but I wouldn’t recommend hiring a construction branding expert for your new natural skincare range.
Do they share information about their design process on their website and does this sound good to me? A good designer will be upfront and willing to share information with you. Their website should be informative and spill all the juicy details about working with them and what you can expect. A little red flag if their website doesn’t include this info.
Do I feel as though they are trustworthy? A designer who has branded themselves effectively will make you feel at ease throughout the whole process, from discovering them all the way through to delivering your branding or website design project. If they make you feel a little iffy, red flag. You want to trust and believe in your designer. Especially as they’re the expert, meaning they’re probably going to know what’s best for your brand and so you need to be open to listening and implementing their advice.
Do they have the same core values as I do? Find a designer who aligns with your brand values, if you value timeless and thoughtful design then you may not want to go with the designer who’s pushing out trend after trend. It may be gorgeous but not always the best option for your business. No one wants to spend thousands on a new brand identity, only for it to be out of fashion by next spring.
Do they offer the services I need? This one should probably be further up the list in hindsight, but anyway. You need a designer who actually offers the services you need (you’re probably thinking well… duh? But stay with me for a second). Don’t assume all designers will offer all services, or that all of their services are quality. Lugi Design Studio specialises in brand identity design and custom website design, we’re pretty good at both of those if I do say so myself. But we aren’t as experienced with complex packaging design. Something to consider.
Are you excited at the prospect of working with them? I touched on this slightly on the first point, but you should be overflowing with excitement at the prospect of working with them. Reading their website should give you goosebumps. Scrolling their portfolio should make your eyes light up. We want passion, we want zest and we want a buzz!
Do they have availability right now or do I need to book in advance? Does this suit my timeline? Another big logistics question, do I need to book in advance and does this work for my timeline? At Lugi Design Studio we book 1-2 months in advance so you need to build that into your timeline. I know others that book up to 6 months in advance so you’ll want to be on the ball with this and not leave it too late if you have any sort of deadline to hit.
Does their own branding and website appear to be cohesive? Finally, is their own branding, website and social media cohesive? A good designer will practice what they preach and you’ll be able to see the quality of their work right off the bat with their own brand identity.
If you answered yes to the majority of the the questions above, then it looks like you may have found your perfect match!
If you were just thinking of Lugi Design Studio, then please drop by our enquiry form and spill all the plans you have for your upcoming project - the more detail the better!
I’M LUCY, LOVELY TO MEET YOU!
I get a buzz out of helping you to craft your brand and live the life you’ve always dreamed of. If you’re ambitious, determined and love to break the rules then I’m here to help you craft magical design solutions to build and launch your business empire and find a life of freedom. Let’s go.
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