What Nobody Tells You About Hiring an On-Demand Design Agency

TL;DR – Hiring an on-demand design agency also requires planning and clarity from the client side to ensure that every project is executed efficiently. By doing so, users can empower their design team to craft designs that get results and make the most out of their subscription month.   

Many brands hire a graphic design agency, looking to save time and energy so they can focus on other crucial aspects of marketing and running a business.

After all, one in three marketers said they spent 10-15 hours producing content per week, while one in five marketers said they spent more than 20 hours on content production.

But here’s the catch: hiring an unlimited design agency isn’t magic. 

In fact, the results can be nuanced. While many companies achieve great results with a remote graphic design team, others struggle and get frustrated despite having access to top outsourced design services.

In this article, let’s tackle the challenges of subscribing to remote graphic design services no one talks about and how you can avoid them in the first place.

What Is the Biggest Misconception About an On-Demand Design Agency?

One of the biggest misconceptions about unlimited design subscription is that it’s a magic solution that will solve all design-related problems.

After all, the pitch is hard to resist: a flat-rate design service that takes care of creative services, including design support, branding services, marketing design, and everything else you need a visual creative team for.

But as any outsourced graphic design guide would tell you, your outsourced graphic design service is only as good as the design workflow behind it.

Remember, an unlimited graphic design agency works on a queue system. Although you’re working with a scalable design team, the projects you request are worked on based on:

•  Priority
• Complexity
• Turnaround times

That said, how you request designs and communicate with your design team are crucial aspects of the success of your projects, alongside choosing the best creative subscription service for your needs.

What Are the Unspoken Challenges of Unlimited Design Services?

Here are the challenges of unlimited graphic design services nobody talks about, but you should know before you get a design subscription service:

1. The Biggest Bottleneck Might Be Your Team, Not the Agency

Getting unlimited graphic design service with a fast turnaround of 24-48 hours solves half the equation. The other half lies within your internal approval process, and it’s typically the cost of delays in many design projects.

Data reveals that companies could improve performance by up to 25% simply by reducing decision latency. This holds true for many aspects of the business, including graphics approvals.  

• Actionable Tip: Assign a point person slash decision-maker  for designs. Gather all feedback and comments from stakeholders and submit them in one go.

2. Unlimited Requests Doesn’t Mean Unlimited Output

A survey found that 30% of businesses post multiple times a week on social media, while 26% post once a day or seven days a week.

With social media being one of the main marketing channels in a digital-first world, it’s not surprising that many brands aim to get as many projects done as possible.

But here’s the reality about unlimited graphic design services: your requests are unlimited, but your outsourced design team works on your requests one or a few at a time, depending on your plan.

• Actionable Tip: Prioritize your requests, depending on urgency and importance. You can also create a design requests calendar to organize your projects and ensure everything is requested in a timely manner.

3. Great Results Depend More on Communication, Not Just Design Talent

Communication is essential in creative projects. In fact, 93% of respondents said real-time communication is a priority when choosing visual communication solutions.

Clarity in communication isn’t only important from the service provider’s side. When you hire a graphic design agency, how clearly you communicate is just as crucial, if not more, to the project’s success.

From the client side, clear communication comes in the form of clear design briefs and actionable feedback.

• Actionable Tip: To ensure your design briefs are clear, include image inspirations or mood boards to communicate the aesthetics you prefer.

4. Fast Turnaround Doesn’t Always Mean Faster Growth

Choosing an on-demand design agency with a fast turnaround, typically 24-48 hours, is valuable. However, design turnaround isn’t the main driver of business growth, but your approval process is.

Let’s say you requested a social media ad creative on Monday. Your graphic design subscription team delivers the design on Tuesday, well within the 24 to 48-hour turnaround time. Instead of checking the design right away, you put it on your to-do list for Wednesday. Come Wednesday, you look at the design and decide to consult three other people: your marketing lead, your ad campaign manager, and your CMO. 

You forward the designs to them and wait for their feedback. The ad campaign manager sends feedback on Thursday, and the marketing lead provides comments on Friday. You send this feedback to your design team on Monday. The design team revises the design and delivers it the next day, Tuesday. However, the CMO sends their comments on the first draft on Tuesday, which disrupts the entire revision process.

• Actionable Tip: Track when the design was initially delivered, revised, and approved. If designs await approval for days, recalibrate your approval process and internal workflow.

5. The Best Clients Develop a System, Not Just Design Requests

If you want to make the most out of your on-demand design agency subscription, you need to build a system for requesting designs.

This system should allow you to repeat, with the least friction, these common steps:

• Planning campaigns
• Writing briefs
• Organizing assets
• Providing feedback

Brand guidelines are one of the most overlooked materials that could streamline the design request process. In fact, data tells us that even though 95% of companies have formal brand guidelines, only 25% actually stick to them.

• Actionable Tip: To optimize your design workflow for success, use every useful weapon in your arsenal (including your brand guidelines) and incorporate them into your system.

The Lowdown

An on-demand design agency can help your brand grow and boost customer engagement, but it’s not a shortcut to instant results. You need to do your part by:

• Prioritizing your requests
• Providing clear design briefs
• Keeping your feedback actionable
• Reducing internal bottlenecks

Your remote design team is a creative partner, not a replacement for planning, strategizing, and execution. 

Ready to supercharge your design workflow? Try Penji’s graphic design services and experience the brilliance of the world’s top 1% designers.

Check out Penji’s portfolio to see why Penji is the preferred unlimited design service provider of brands from all parts of the globe.

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