Questions You Should Ask During Your First Consultation
Why do I need a graphic designer?
Starting up or rebranding a business comes with a whole host of tasks and one of the most important tasks for developing your brand’s identity is graphic design. Hiring a graphic designer to realise your company’s marketing material will save you from a major headache and allow you to devote your time to other important tasks, so your business can grow.
Chances are that unless you have graphic design experience, coming up with not only your business’s logo but also your businesses marketing products will be a challenge. That’s why hiring a professional graphic designer in Newcastle NSW to do the job for you can be such a relief.
Graphic designers such as Big Colour Signs and Vehicle Wraps, based in Gateshead NSW, work with their clients to develop logos, colour schemes, marketing materials, graphics, signs, and even car wrapping. They understand what businesses of every size and demographic need and are here to help their clients achieve their marketing goals.
What should I know about graphic designers?
Style
First off, it is important to understand that not every graphic designer is the same. Just like in the art world, designers have their own personalities and styles, and you want to find one that matches your company’s vibe.
Graphic designers will also have specialisations in what production or rending method they are most familiar with and may further specialise when it comes to what they use to create their work from photography or drawing to offset printing and interactive media.
Graphic design specialisations
Most graphic designers will offer the following products:
Visual Branding
This is the beginning of creating your company’s identity by combining design elements such as colour, composition, finish, materials, shapes, and typography. This combination can then directly and subliminally share your company’s personality and values through the design style and compelling imagery.
Environmental Graphic Design
Perfect for when you want to enhance your user experience through the incorporation of your business’s architecture, art, graphic design, landscaping, lighting, and other physical aspects.
Book Formatting
Includes the production of any books and any cover designs needed.
Illustration
This can be as simple or as in-depth as you need or want for your business. Fancy having a weekly or monthly illustrated work for newsletters or social media posts? You’ll need to find an illustrator to help you create custom work for your business.
Print Design
comes in handy when you’re looking for someone to help with business cards, leaflets, flyers, posters, and printed newsletters.
Product Design
involves creating and designing products for your company; these can be anything from branded hats or shirts to toys or products that you want to sell or give away for promotions.
Web Design
is the culmination of all of the above, after you’ve got your brand’s identity and content. A good web designer can take the graphic design materials and turn them into an interactive and engaging website for your company.
What are my graphic design business needs?
Graphic Designer/ Business Relationship
Before engaging the services of a designer, you should understand whether you’re ready for an ongoing relationship with them or not. Freelance designers are great for new businesses or solopreneurs as you’re able to hire them for special projects as you have the funds and room in your budget. Keeping a good relationship with your chosen designer will ensure that you have consistency throughout your brand’s visuals.
What sort of project do you have in mind?
If you go into your consultation knowing what you’re after you will be more likely to come out feeling comfortable and happy with the end results. Designers can create branding packages complete with a foundation for visual marketing, single pieces for your campaign, or if you’re not sure what you need having a list of where you want to market can help a designer come up with an assessment and proposal to best fit your business.
What is your business’ graphic design budget?
Budget will naturally play a big role in the affordability of a designer and the required products. While some designers are less expensive than others, it is good to remember that you are also paying for their experience and expertise, remembering that full branding packages involve hours of design and research time, plus file prepping before dispatch, should help you better understand and plan for affording the best designer for your business’s needs.
What is your deadline?
Planning ahead and securing the services of a designer weeks or months before you need the project completed will make the task less stressful for yourself, but it will also ensure that the designer has the time they need to complete the task to their best ability – you want to be happy with the results, and the designer wants to also be satisfied with the quality of work they put out.
Remember, the more experienced and qualified designer, the more likely they will have a waiting period before they can even begin another job.
Choosing A Graphic Designer
Just as you do your research before purchasing a big-ticket item, you should research local graphic designers. Understanding that you will be working with this person closely for several weeks, you’ll want to make sure your personalities work well together, that they communicate professionally, and that their level of experience is what you’re after.
Before you select a graphic designer, review their portfolio of work to ensure that:
- their style is what you’re looking for
- they have experience in your industry or one similar
- they complete jobs to a high standard
- they show cohesive pieces within projects, offering brand consistency in their samples
Does your graphic designer collaborate with other teams?
Often a graphic designer may collaborate with other designers as a creative team or may work independently; be sure to find out which your chosen designer does, and what portions of their work was undertaken as a team versus freelance.
Some designers may undertake a whole range of projects, while others may specialise and collaborate with other partners to expand their creative range. Experienced designers will likely have a list of partners they work with and can refer you to them or have an existing agreement where the designer handles all the work assignments.
Make sure to ask your graphic designer if they have partnerships with:
- Copywriters
- Content developers
- Editors
- Marking strategists
- Social media managers
- Website programmers
To sum it all up…
Never be afraid to ask questions about your graphic designer, their team and their works; at Big Colour Signs and Vehicle Wraps we expect and encourage it. If you’ve read through this list and feel prepared to schedule a consultation, contact the team today by calling 49695700 or emailing admin@bigcolour.com.au. Alternatively, click here to send us an online message and we will be happy to help!