Choosing a Graphic Designer in Melbourne
Choosing a graphic designer in Melbourne should be a carefully considered business decision. You might already have an idea of what you are looking for your short term design needs. However, when it comes to building a successful relationship with a graphic designer in Melbourne for the long-term, you should consider their potential to become your creative partner. Here are some tips that will help you effectively choose a graphic designer:
Goals and Objectives
One of the essential things to consider when selecting a graphic designer is their ability to understand your business goals and objectives. More than likely, as a business owner you are not looking to win graphic design awards. Your goal is probably to drive sales or build brand recognition. The graphic designer you choose should be someone who shares your beliefs and understands what you are trying to achieve with any given project. Working with a graphic designer that has their own agenda is a common problem in the industry and one every business owner should be aware of.
Presentation
While presentation can be misleading at times, it does provide some clues as to the character and business attitude of the graphic designer. Just like a job applicant, you should look at a potential graphic designer candidate according to how they present themselves. The image a graphic designer shows to clients may also be a reflection on how he or she conducts themselves. A graphic designer, who dresses like a ‘rock star’ or ‘bohemian artist’, may be showing you something about their approach to design and business. This may be appropriate for some industries, but for a regular business owner who is dealing with deadlines and pressure, it is probably not the best fit. A sloppy and untidy graphic designer may sometimes bring the same character to the projects he works on. This may mean your print files could contain technical errors that do not get picked up until too late costing you thousands. Your website could also be coded poorly, thus performing badly in search engines and some browsers resulting in lost sales. A neatly groomed graphic designer when meeting with clients should indicate to you something about the way they conduct themselves in a business setting. Most clients are looking for trustworthy and reliable graphic design services.
Portfolio
When selecting a Melbourne graphic designer, you have the advantage over other professions of quickly viewing and assessing past projects. What the graphic designer has already achieved in terms of previous projects and client work may give you an impression of their ability to work with you. Stylistically, you may not appreciate all their work, but that is not the main thing to assess when reviewing a portfolio. As a business owner, you should focus most of your energies on how well the project fulfilled the clients’ requirements. Of course, having a similar design taste may help. However, you shouldn’t discriminate against the design style, but look at how well it fulfilled the client’s goals and objectives.
Teamwork
Last but not least, make sure you give your chosen Melbourne graphic designer a chance to provide some creative input, not just visually but strategically. Chances are they have much experience with the type of project they are working on for you and are experienced with what produces the best results. Although the idea for a certain design project may come from you, try to build a strategic relationship with your chosen graphic designer. This is so they can have some input, thus acting as your creative partner. There may be other options you may not have considered that will produce a better result for your business.
