Choosing a designer

Paul Attard

Published in

Please, Don't Be a Dick

8 min readJun 29, 2018

This post is part of the Please Don’t Be a Dick series. You can read the first post here.

Previous: The idea factory
Next: Working with a designer

How would you go about selecting a designer if you don’t know of any? There are plenty of designers scattered around the globe. We know some of them because we went to the same universities, we collaborate with them and sometimes we meet them for a pint in the evenings. But as for you, well, we can’t give you an absolute, comprehensive guide on how to find designers. You have to rely on the age-old methods of asking friends and family, searching online or going to networking events.

So where could you find them?

There are better places to find designers other than a random query on a search engine. There are sites built around the idea of designers showcasing their work, such sites as Behance, Sortfolio and AIGA. However, after you’ve browsed through the websites and selected a few designers that you like, how do know which one to choose?

It’s important to not just look at the visuals — the final product. All designers should be competent enough at drawing and using software to create good visuals, but not all designers will approach your problems in the same way. So look at the explanation of their work, get a bit more of an understanding of who they are and how they tackle their projects. Select a few that seem as though they may be compatible with you and write to them asking if they have time to discuss your project. Don’t just focus on one designer, after all you wouldn’t buy a car without looking at others now would you?

It’s always best to get recommendations from other people who have worked with designers; they can give first hand experience on how the designer works. But before you hire someone because your cousin said that this designer made an amazing invitation for his daughter’s 6th birthday party, it’s best to meet up with this person and form your own opinion.

Finding a designer that has experience designing in your field may seem like a sensible idea, but a designer with experience and extensive graphic design knowledge will generally be far more useful than a designer with a lot of experience within a specific industry or product category.

Setting your goals

This is a chance for you to assess your situation, to set the task you want to achieve and subsequently the task your designer needs to accomplish. At this early stage you might not even know what it is that you need from the designer. Without identification of a goal it is hard for a designer to give you an estimate of how much the project could cost and what sort of time-frame is needed. Setting a goal is important because it enables you to keep your decision-making process pragmatic.

Pitches and tenders

A creative pitch, or a tender, is when a client sends out a brief to a designer or several designers, gives them a short amount of time to do the required work and then selects the design or designer that they prefer. This seems to be a norm within the industry. Some designers swear by it, while the others are swearing at it. You may even find blogs dedicated to spewing hate-prose at companies that hold creative pitches to select

a designer to work with.

Many people think that the tender process is a great way to find a designer that suits them and ensures that they can try before they buy. But sometimes it just results in a headache for everyone involved. We try to avoid them when we can but sometimes they can be justified, especially in large client companies and design agency scenarios.

Why we think creative pitches don’t work

For a designer, there is no optimal way to brief several people well enough and explain a unique set of needs through a written brief. The time-frame of these pitches are generally much shorter than the usual length of a properly conducted project. This results in a rush to brief the designer or the account manager. If the designer is not in touch with the person ordering the project they inevitably waste precious designing time on deciphering the brief, which often leads to a lot of important nuances being lost in translation.

It’s not common practice to pay designers for the work they do for pitches, which defeats the purpose of design as a job. Think about it, you wouldn’t audition an electrician, you would ask for recommendations on a good electrician. Generally no designer will put their heart into a project if they are not getting paid for their work. Without enough time to work on a concept (or three as most tenders insist on) the designer often works on a solution that might not be best as a tool to visually communicate a meaning, but more so what he thinks will most appeal to the client.

A pitch is like a dating game — three male contestants each trying to woo the same girl. They will do everything to be appealing to the girl, without giving any thought to a future relationship with her. All that matters is that they are picked over the other contestants. It works the same for designers taking part in a pitch — they may not believe that their concept will work, but they might believe that this is what you want to see. They won’t think about your customers or if what they are presenting is the smartest way to communicate to them, they will only think about one thing — that you will buy it.

You may come across a designer who is also a brilliant salesperson. This means that you will need the strength to resist a) an idea which is tailored to your exact design sweet-spot, and b) someone who is skillfully equipped to use words to transform you into his puppet. It all screams YES, and EASY to you. But when it comes down to putting your money where your designer is, how do you choose?

Are you going to choose the designer that presented the most beautiful work, the one that stuck to the brief, the one that gave you the most concepts or the one that was the most charming? Did one of the concepts include a colour that you absolutely hate? Did one of the designers show up in flip-flops and you don’t find that professional?

Would it not have been easier, more objective even, to examine a few portfolios and make a decision based on (hold on to something)… good design?

So the pitch has happened, you’ve chosen the concept or designer, what’s next? They’ve already created the concept and the visuals, what do they do with these now? Do they develop them further? Do they scrap them and start afresh? Are you actually going to collaborate together this time on creating something that will really work? If so, then why did they have to produce all that work in the first place?

A pitch may not take as much time as a full time design project, but the full time design project usually comes after the pitch. This means that you’re just wasting your time on something that will probably be scrapped.

A better alternative

We would suggest meeting up with a designer, or having a conversation over the phone or Skype, before agreeing to work together. This will help you assess whether this designer is more than just a pair of hands, whether there is a brain to go with his or her beautiful work.

We like to meet potential clients for a coffee or pint, somewhere outside of an office or studio. This ensures neutral space and fewer distractions from work. It is an opportunity to get to know each other and understand if we are compatible enough to work together. You might even come to realise that what you want is not what you actually need and it might be time to reassess your goals.

Price and budget should not be discussed at this point, money can ruin relationships before they even start. Nevertheless, it’s good to keep in mind that there will be a price to be discussed later on. If the designer hints that this first meeting will be billable, he will probably bill you for every email that this “rock star” designer sends.

If both parties are honest enough, it can be quite clear on your first meeting whether the collaboration can work smoothly or not. If a collaboration doesn’t happen then at least you hopefully enjoyed a coffee or a pint with someone.

The estimate

After explaining your requirements, a designer should present you with a price of what the solution will cost. Designers’ fees vary; some charge by the hour with an estimate of time, others charge per project. Some estimates come with a breakdown of the hours and rates of the different people working on the project, others come with a breakdown of the cost per service and some are just sent with a final amount.

If this is your first experience receiving an estimate from a designer the amount may be worrying. If you have any questions about the costs just discuss them with the designer, they will be more than happy to explain everything and break it down for you. Remember it’s just an estimate not the final cost, but this can very easily go both ways.

Some designers are cheaper than others

You may be wondering why the estimate you received is much larger than another designer’s estimate. No, there isn’t a standard price set for the industry and some designers will charge more than others and it would just be weird if you asked them why. If the cost is too high for you then approach the designer, discuss whether everything within the estimate is absolutely necessary. Just remember that a designer has his rates and these rates are based on many factors. Don’t bother trying to bring the price down by telling him it will be a really good project for him to work on. No matter how interesting a project is, it won’t be done for pennies or as a “good portfolio piece”.

There is always the option of discussing your budget with the designer and asking them to suggest what can be done within your budget.

Look at it from another perspective — think about how long you are going to keep the project for, and this will help to justify the cost in your mind. Branding should last for over 10 years, an advertising campaign may be used for a whole year, maybe two, a website should go for at least 3 years. It’s the same as paying for a high quality watch instead of a cheap knockoff. They may be similar but one is going to last much longer and be of much better quality, you will also be more proud of showing it off.