When building your brand, including your company history, identity, core message, and brand promise, you must also include a strategy for visual components. The logo, colors, images, and tagline are essential elements to make your brand recognizable. In this article, we’ll give you tips on finding a graphic designer for small business and help you find a suitable one for your growing brand. 

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Benefits of Hiring a Graphic Designer for Small Business

designers talking about work

The way you present your brand is more than just colors and design. Consistent visual identity resonates more effectively with your audience compared with those who are not. Below are the benefits of hiring a graphic designer for small business: 

  • Professional Branding: Well-designed materials convey credibility and professionalism. If your marketing materials, website, and product packaging look professional, they can build increased customer confidence. 
  • Increased Visibility:  A competent graphic designer understands your goal, making your visual brand so compelling that your audience can know precisely what they’re looking at.
  • Cost-effective: Hiring a professional graphic designer may appear expensive but can be cost-effective in the long run. High-quality design can attract more customers, increase sales, and improve your brand’s reputation, resulting inment.

Essential Graphic Design Needs of a Small Business 

Now that you know why you need a graphic designer, here are the things you might need as part of the graphic design package for your business:

  • Brand identity: The first project you can create with a graphic designer’s help is a logo design. But that’s only the beginning! You can include your brand colors, images, typography, and other design elements comprising your brand identity.
  • Web design: Nowadays, there are many ways to get web design services for small businesses, from established companies to affordable website builders. So, there’s no reason your small business shouldn’t have the stunning website design it deserves!
  • Marketing and advertising: Great design is always your most prominent marketing and advertising ally, ensuring people notice your offer and marketing messages.
  • Packaging: People often purchase products based on the quality of packaging. Beyond aesthetics, professional packaging design also means your products are protected and designed with suitable materials.

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Where to Find a Graphic Designer

short-haired graphic designer

Once you understand what you need, it’s time to find a graphic designer. Below are common ways to hire a graphic designer for a small business. 

Hire an in-house graphic designer

In-house designers know a brand inside and out and provide consistent, reliable graphic design for small businesses. That all sounds great until you find out the average salary. The annual wage of a full-time graphic designer in the US is nearly $60,000.

Additionally, an in-house graphic designer comes with many overhead costs, which a small business might need help affording. Hiring an in-house designer may not always be the best solution.

Hire a freelancer

Hiring a freelance designer means working with someone for flexible hours without taking up additional office space. This is a more affordable option and suitable for short-term projects. However, freelancers can become quite expensive if you consistently need graphic design services. Likewise, managing them is quite time-consuming.

Work with a design agency.

Your third option is to partner with a design agency. It will eliminate the concerns of managing designers and investing in office space. The only limitation is that this premium service comes with a premium price. That said, this option may only be viable for some businesses.

Opt for a subscription-based graphic design service

This is the last and best option for hiring graphic designer for small business. With subscription-based graphic design, you’ll get the designs you need for a flat monthly fee.

Typically, you can avail all your small business graphics for about $500 to $1,200 monthly. Most services include unlimited designs, multiple revisions, and project management. If you want to try this option, there’s no need to look further. Penji is here! We’re one of the top-rated unlimited graphic design services today.

Evaluating Potential Graphic Designer for Small Business 

office workers

You might have a list of potential graphic design partners in mind. The following tips will help you choose the best fit:

  • Portfolio Review.  A solid first impression is essential when choosing a design agency. Their portfolio highlights their top projects and reveals their approach to challenges, unique perspective, and commitment to turning client ideas into reality.
  • Client Testimonials. Every piece of design requires multiple review stages from different stakeholders until it’s ready for publishing. You can visit the company’s website or a third-party review website to learn more about the experiences and feedback from their previous clients. 
  • Interviews and Assessments: Guide on conducting interviews and assessing a designer’s fit for your business.

Making the Hire 

Finallly, here are the most important considerations during the hiring process:

  • Contract and Agreements:  The scope of work, payment terms, and expectations from both parties must be clear. Having a contract can protect you from misunderstandings and legal disputes in the future.
  • Onboarding Process: An onboarding checklist can add structure to your onboarding process. Graphic designers want an organized onboarding program that makes expectations clear. It’s good to prepare a checklist so they can see each step they need to follow.
  • Setting Expectations: If you decide to work with a graphic designer remotely, setting your expectations and targets is necessary. Also, you must agree on regular check-ins and meetings to maintain team cohesion and achieve goals. 

Working Effectively with Your Chosen Graphic Designer 

  • Open Communication: To ensure the final product turns out as envisioned, the client and designer must be on the same page. With clear communication, designers can fill in the gaps, which might result in designs that match the client’s intentions.
  • Feedback and Revisions: Knowing the feedback and revisions process of the graphic design firm you are working with is best. This way, coordinating with the graphic designer whenever you have revision requests becomes more accessible.
  • Building a Long-Term Relationship: A long-term working relationship with your designer benefits both parties. As a customer, it will be easier to re-engage and create a project with a service provider you trust. On the other hand, creating a relationship with new and potential customers allows businesses to offer a more personalized and enticing customer experience.

Choose Penji as your Graphic Design Partner! 

A solid visual identity is important for any business, whether a startup, small business, or big corporation. Penji has a competent team of designers who can help you create stunning visuals to capture your audience’s attention. With unlimited design requests and a quick turnaround time, you can focus on growing your business while we handle your design needs.

Ready to hire graphic designer for small business? Sign up for a Penji plan today and start a fantastic graphic design journey with us!