How to select the right Marketing Designer for your project
Nowadays, anyone can learn to use a piece of software (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Figma etc.) and launch a career as a marketer or designer. However, being skilled with an axe doesn’t make one a great carpenter. The same applies to evaluation of a design piece, yet everyone's a critic.
While one could simply like or dislike a piece of art, one should be knowledgeable about design and marketing to provide reasoning for or against a certain design solution.
“I like it”, or “I don't like it” is not constructive feedback. Design either meets requirements and criterias defined in the brief, or it doesn’t. It either solves a problem, or it doesn’t, but its success should always be judged against the brief.
So, how does one without a marketing or design background select the most knowledgeable and competent marketing design contractor?
What to look for and focus on when evaluating designers’ portfolios:
Numerous projects and years of experience are not the most important factors when selecting a marketing design contractor. Not every project the designer worked on is a showcase piece, and the years of experience they have under their belt isn’t an infallible predictor of their knowledge, creativity, nor technical expertise.
It is advisable to ask about the designer’s ownership in portfolio pieces. Sometimes, designers do their work based strictly on provided instructions, without being able to put their expertise to use. Being aware of this gives both of you a chance to discuss a particular piece of work and talk about how things could have been done differently and why. This is a great opportunity to determine if you're on the same page.
Focus on portfolio pieces for which the designer was fully accountable and inquire about the brief (the problem) and reasoning behind the presented design solution. This will give you a great insight into the designer's approach to the task and their thinking.
Inquire about the time the designer took an initiative and suggested significant changes to a client (rebranding, logo redesign etc.) Finding out about the reasoning behind their suggestions may give you a pretty good insight on the designer’s educational background, thinking process, and the capacity to define and solve complex problems.
Review the “before and after” examples and ask for the background information, the WHY and HOW.
The industries designers worked in are a good indicator of their adaptability and versatility.
Well-rounded marketing designers usually have a formal educational background in both marketing and design. That way, they’re equipped to understand the business side, as well as to complete the projects in accordance with design rules and principles. Lack of education in either field shows in their outputs. For large overhauls like rebranding projects, you may want to be cautious when considering a contractor lacking in formal education in either field. Rebranding is a serious endeavour and it requires more than technical skills and an eye for design. Design is not art!
Check for redundancy or lack of creativity in portfolio pieces. Let’s say a designer has presented five or more logo designs in their portfolio. See if all the logos are, for example, typographic (text-based) and look similar, or consider how they use imagery in storytelling.
Aesthetic - this topic is certainly worthy of a separate blog post on its own. As long as design has been executed in accordance with brand guidelines and design principles, it should meet minimal aesthetic criteria. The use of colour and design elements must be logical and meaningful. Graphic design elements whose purpose can’t be explained are nothing but random artistic expressions.
Nowadays, it is not rare to hear of companies looking to hire “Canva designers” to create content and produce on-brand designs using Canva solely. Theoretically speaking, that could be possible only if the company planned all their content creation and a designer produced and prepared all the assets in advance using professional design tools. In other words, you need to be a skilled designer and have all assets ready in order to produce on-brand content in Canva.
Conclusion:
Hiring and collaborating with professionals to take over things you’re not an expert in should help you grow your business. With that in mind, hopefully you will find these tips helpful when in search for the most suitable marketer. General rule of thumb, whether you plan to hire a freelancer or a marketing agency, would be starting with a smaller project to see if you can collaborate and build trust.
