What’s the best way to brief your graphic designer?
When you need a graphic designer, start by finding someone you gel with and meeting for an introduction.
It helps to do some preparation first, so here are some things you may want to consider:
Before your first meeting, note down your business purpose and direction and gather information on competitors, such as their website, location, clients, etc.
When you get to your meeting, brainstorm words to describe your business, and say who your target audience is, such as demographics, business size, entity, and so on.
Show your designer any past material you may have commissioned and gather any logos or images that show the feel you would like to portray. You can even include sketches or mood boards you may have regarding colours and layout.
Most importantly, agree on a budget and timeframe so you both know where you stand and what to expect before you start creating your brand.
What if you are a small business?
One thing to consider if you happen to be a small business with a limited budget – and there are a lot of them – is that you may be wary about hiring a professional graphic designer, thinking it’s a lot of expense with no guarantee of recouping that expense. However, it can be a wise choice to outsource your graphic design if you don’t have hours to spend learning a new trade or if your own design work isn’t high enough.
Something just for fun.
This is a little tongue-in-cheek, but you’d be amazed at what we get asked to do sometimes, so purely for your entertainment, here are my questions I believe you should never ask a graphic designer:
Can we have the final artwork files? We just need to tweak them in-house.
Could you do something in the style of Nike?
Can I have that artwork in Word format?
If you do this job, you’ll get loads of exposure, so can you do it for free?
The design looks great, but can you add this image from Google?
We don’t have any content. Can you design it, and we’ll add it later?
Finally, my pet hate. “Can you make it really pop?”
I hope you found this helpful, but if you need assistance or have questions, you can always contact us. We're here to help. .
