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graphic design

LOOKING FOR A GRAPHIC DESIGNER? HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO HIRE ONE

This is your “ultimate guide” to hiring a graphic designer – from what to look for to where to find them, from how much you can expect to pay to how long you can expect to work together, and everything else in between. Don’t hire a graphic designer without reading this first.

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Table of Contents

 

What is Graphic Design?

Google. Apple. Time Magazine. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. What do these big brands have in common? They all have unmistakable identities thanks to effective graphic design. From Google’s colors to Time Magazine’s cover and from Apple’s iconic logo to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s roaring lion, these are all effective graphic design jobs in action.

Graphic design is the art of communicating messages through the use of visual content. What used to be a craft focused mainly on printed media now includes fields such as web design, user interface and user experience (UI/UX), and even motion graphics and animation. Graphic designers in the Philippines are very adept at these skills.

Because graphic design jobs now encompasses a wide range of specializations, confusion sometimes arises on whether or not a graphic designer may also be considered a web designer. And since today’s graphic designer also usually deals with UI/UX elements, there’s even confusion on whether or not a graphic designer may also be considered a web developer.

A graphic designer should be well-versed in iconography, photography, typography, and illustrations. But he should also be able to do, at least, basic web design. Knowledge of web development is not required but is definitely useful especially when it comes to developing UI/UX elements.

Why is Graphic Design Important?

Graphic design has a measurable impact on the success of your brand and your marketing. Case in point, Red Bull and Monster Energy. For the longest time, Red Bull has dominated the energy drink market in the US. However, Monster Energy has quickly risen above the ranks and is now in second place, beating older companies such as Rockstar and Gatorade. Most marketers attribute Monster Energy’s success to the graphic design of their logo that translates really well to physical merchandising.

Graphic design enhances your message and makes it more effective. A good example of this is the “I Want You” army recruitment poster. The combination of the statement “I want you” and the stern and determined look of Uncle Sam pointing at the audience conveys a strong and unmistakable message.

A well designed logo can deliver a company’s overall message better than a written slogan. For example, the stylized arrow that points from “a” to “z” in Amazon’s logo signifies the company’s complete range of products (from A to Z) and it also doubles as a smile that symbolizes customer satisfaction.

In recent years, infographics have become popular digital marketing tools. Not only do they make explaining complicated principles easier, but they also effective lead magnets. That’s why companies such as Venngage, Visme and Canva have capitalized on these. And a lot of these companies hire graphic designers from the Philippines.

Important Skills and Traits of Graphic Designers

Needless to say, a certain level of expertise in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and/or similar programs is a must for all graphic designers, as well as an intermediate knowledge of photography and photo editing. Sketch is also a good program to be familiar with as this allows the designer to plan out the UI/UX element of his design. A basic understanding of HTML and CSS principles is also useful.

But more than just expertise in technical skills, perhaps what’s even more important is a designer’s innate creativity and ability to think outside the box. Case in point, Adidas. They wanted a logo that shows an athlete’s journey of improvement while keeping the iconic 3 stripes. How did their graphic designer do it? He used 3 bold stripes of ascending sizes and slanted the stripes in such a way that it formed a triangle. Hence, the Adidas mountain logo that signifies the challenges an athlete faces in becoming good, better and best. Simple but effective.

A graphic designer should be able to understand your project’s “big picture” and tie together all the various elements such as font, capitalization, theme, spacing, color, etc. to create a compelling visual story.

Digital marketing is a dynamic world and digital marketers need to be constantly adapting. Therefore, graphic designers who work with digital marketers also need the ability to change directions mid-flight, that is, make necessary changes to an ongoing design project and make adjustments on the fly.

The ability to multi-task and be able to keep track of the project versions and revisions is also an invaluable asset for a graphic designer. Effective time management is also important especially with multiple projects in the pipeline.

Where To Find Graphic Designers

So the big question now is, where do you find a graphic designer? Is there a secret bar or club where these eccentric artists hang around in? Will you be asked for a password such as “helvetica” or “transparent layer” when you try to enter these hangouts?

First off, you need to decide whether you want to hire a local graphic designer or a remote one.

The advantages of hiring a local designer include:

  • Ease of access and the ability to work with you face to face – you can easily assign tasks, supervise and request revisions with a local designer you’re working with face to face.
  • Less cultural and social adjustment needed – you’re most probably living in the same city as your designer so you’re in the same time zone, speak the same language and share the same culture. This makes work so much smoother.
  • Better team-building opportunities – being in the same place physically creates plenty of opportunity to train, collaborate, build rapport, and get feedback.

On the other hand, hiring local talent can have the following disadvantages:

  • Specific skill sets can be harder to find – if you’re limited to a particular geographical area, finding a rockstar will be challenging.
  • Overhead expenses – if you hire locally, you’ll be obligated to keep an office which means you have to pay rent, pay for supplies, pay for electricity and other utilities. If you already have an office, you’ll have to provide your new hire with a work space which translates to the same thing – increased overhead.

If you decide to hire a remote worker, you need to decide if you’re hiring a project-based designer or a full-time employee. In any case, here are the advantages of hiring remotely:

  • Access to a global pool of talents – you’re not limited to who’s available in your city and what they know. Hiring remotely gives you access to talented graphic designers from different countries who may even charge relatively smaller fees than local recruits. This is true to both project-based designers and full-timers.
  • Little to no overhead – most remote workers work from home so you don’t need to worry about providing them with work spaces. This is especially true for project-based designers. However, for full-time employees, you may be required to subsidize their internet connection, computer equipment etc. But these costs are still far less compared to local overhead expenses.
  • Less contractual obligation – you can hire graphic designers on a per-project basis. If you like their work, continue to give them projects to work on. If you don’t, just don’t give them any more tasks to perform and that’s that.

On the other hand, here are the disadvantages of hiring remote workers:

  • Trial and error – you can’t really gauge the level of expertise, experience and even work ethic of the remote worker until you take a leap of faith and hire them. The good news is, if you don’t like their performance on the first project, you can just part ways right then and there.
  • Time constraints – if you hire a remote project-based designer, you need to understand right off the bat that you’re probably sharing that designer with several other clients (some paying more than you). That means your project is at the mercy of the designer’s workload. This may not be the case with full-time remote employees.

That being said, here are a few places where you can find graphic designers online. Note that in some of these websites, you’ll have the option to hire either locally or remotely. It’s all up to you, your needs and your budget:

  • Upwork (local and remote) – geared more towards the US market. You can post a graphic design job, and available contractors can start lining up to apply. All you’d need to do is choose the best candidate. This is a good place to look for either part-timers or full-time graphic designers.
  • Fiverr (remote and local) – contractors already post their services and their fees upfront. However, there’s still room for negotiation once you’ve touched base with a contractor. This is your best choice for one-off projects.
  • People Per Hour (remote and local) – geared more towards the European market. Just like Upwork, you post a job and contractors will apply. You can choose the best candidate and go from there. This is also a good place to look for either part-timers or full-time graphic designers.
  • C9 Staff (remote) – specializes in providing remote staffing services from the Philippines. It is considered a concierge service where you don’t simply hire a graphic designer from the Philippines (or any other kind of remote worker for that matter), you hire a graphic designer with an entire management service behind him to keep him accountable and always on his toes. This is ideal for people looking to hire the best and expecting to get the best while keeping costs relatively competitive.

Hiring Considerations

When looking to hire graphic designers, whether it be local or remote, there are a few important considerations you have to keep in mind.

What kind of graphics do you want created? Is the graphic design going to be used purely for web purposes or are you planning to translate it into physical merchandising as well? Is it going to be a one-off project or do you have a series of projects in your pipeline?

Next, what level of experience or proficiency would you like your graphic designer to have? Would you be okay with a mid-level designer or are you looking for a senior level designer?

Finally, how much do you have to spend on the project? Do you have just enough for a one-off deal? Is your pocket deep enough for a part-time or even a full-time recruit? Are you ready to spend good money on a senior-level graphic designer salary or is your budget pointing towards a mid-level one?

C9 Staff Graphic Designers

Here at C9 Staff, we have teams of highly technical graphic designers in all levels of proficiency. Whether you need mid-level designers (with 1-3 years experience) or senior level designers (with 4 years experience or more), we have one (or sereval) that fits your needs.

Expertise is also not a problem because we have graphic designers who excel in different types of graphic design. It doesn’t matter if you need photography based graphics, illustrations, cartoons and caricatures, geometrical shapes, symbolic icons or CGI (computer-generated image) graphics, static, dynamic or animated graphics – we got you covered.

And since our graphic designers are based in the Philippines, you won’t have to worry about having your instructions getting lost in translation because our designers speak excellent English. In fact, most of our remote workers have English as their second language so you can say goodbye to communication problems.

Hiring our remote graphic designers can help you save up to 70% in contracting costs without the corresponding loss in the quality of work. We train our graphics designers to “live inside the client’s business” in order to truly deliver what the client wants and needs.

So, are you finally ready to hire a graphics designer? Let’s talk.

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We've worked hard with C9 Staff for years and they have done an outstanding job of helping our brand build our customer service department. They are experts in developing, training and deploying Philippines-based staff for businesses of all industries and sizes. As a result of C9 Staff, we have seen an improvement in our first call resolution, overall customer service satisfaction, online reviews, brand reputation, and growth. We look forward to continuing to grow with C9 Staff and the entire team they've deployed for We look forward to continuing to grow with C9 Staff and the entire team they've deployed for Amax Group.

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