3 Tips for Developing a Great Relationship with a Graphic Designer

In my last blog post, I offered tips for hiring a graphic designer. I outlined five important questions to ask if you’re considering hiring a designer to help with a project, create a company logo or give your marketing materials a makeover.

Once you’ve made your choice, the next step is creating a good working relationship that results in high-quality work. And ideally, you want the experience to be a fun one. 

Here are three tips for creating a good working relationship with a graphic designer:

1. Trust the process. You’ve hired a graphic designer because you need help. That means you need to let the designer work the process without micromanaging. Absolutely give the designer some direction (logo, brochure, website graphics, etc.) and let him or her know if there are particular colors or fonts that you like or don’t like. Offer some examples of designs you love and hate. Explain how the design will be used so the designer knows the end-use (horizontal, vertical, printed, digital, etc.).

Then, let go.

Trust the designer you’ve hired to create what you need. He or she is the professional with expertise in design, marketing and branding. Just as you hire a CPA to handle your taxes because he’s the expert in accounting, do the same with the graphic designer you’ve brought on to guide your design vision.

2. Set realistic deadlines. At the start of a project, work with the designer to establish a deadline for when you need to have the finished project in hand. Make sure you build in time for two or three revisions and backdate your deadlines based on other factors, such as printing schedules. If you need a brochure for an event, for example, allow plenty of time to review the design and get the brochure printed.

Your designer is likely working on several other projects so discuss up front if he or she can meet your deadline schedule. This also means you need to stick to your tasks as well. Don’t wait six days to review the first draft and then complain because the project is off schedule.

3. Set project parameters at the beginning. Before the first design is sketched, establish the project details. This should include the deadline schedule, the budget/price and the deliverables. Be sure to note how many revisions are included in the price. Designers usually plan for two or three revisions, but beyond that, you may have to pay additional fees.

Make sure you have buy-in from the key decision makers – whether that’s you, marketing VP or the business owner. This helps avoid problems as the project reaches the finish line.

Also, ask the designer what you’ll receive at project completion. If it’s a logo, for example, ask if you’ll get the logo in different sizes and file formats. Find out if you’ll receive a brand standards document outlining the fonts, colors and notes about how the logo should (and shouldn’t) be used.

As with any working relationship, communication is key. Life happens. Things come up. Keep the lines of communication open and be respectful of each other’s time. Some of my best experiences aren’t the ones that have gone perfectly, but the ones where the client is open with me, and we resolve problems together.

Follow these tips and you’ll likely find you have a wonderful new partner in your marketing efforts.

Have a great week,