Take the pains and headaches out of looking for a design company by following a few easy steps. If you’re looking to build a strong and lasting relationship with your designers you need to make sure of a few things and some of these things you will only pick up after time; So allow us to help you with a bit of advice: If you own your own business, you will know that good advice can be very valuable and help you make crucial decisions.
Firstly, have a look at their portfolio of work and ask to see a variety of styles and different projects. The reason being, if designers get used to only doing one style of design it might be difficult to work in a different style. In terms of different projects, it is important to remember there are certain ‘unwritten rules’ and specifications to design, so if your designer usually only designs invitations, for example, it might be challenging to start designing corporate identities.
Also ask them if they have done designs for companies in the same industry as you and companies with the same style guideline as you. This is a very important point, even though no one will have exactly the same style as you and no company will be exactly the same as you, but a similar style will show you what their capable of and companies in your industry might have similar a feeling to their work.
Ask the designer in what format they provide the design files. The more formats they provide you with, the better for you as you might need a certain file format for certain jobs. You also need to make sure they will provide you with an open format file, because should something go wrong in the relationship or should they close down, then you can still take your files to a different designer and you won’t lose the work you have already paid for.
Make sure of all the services they offer and take time to understand what they entail. It is much more efficient to have a design company or designer who can help you in a variety of work, like graphic design, website design, marketing, photography, videography etc. You may not need all these services now, but as your company grows, your design needs may also grow and change.
Before making the decision to go with a certain designer or design company, browse around asking these questions to different design companies; this will give you an idea of what they have to offer, but it will also show you how they communicate. You want to make sure that the one you choose will be efficient in communication and care enough to help you even though you’re not their client yet – this speaks of their integrity. The most important point of all is that you will need to be able to work with them and communicate effectively with each other to ensure that you can get along with them and the way they chose to communicate.
