Getting The Most From Your Graphic Designer
When employing a contractor to do any work for your business, it is important to give them the clearest possible picture of what you are expecting as the outcome. Working with creatives is no different. It may came as quite a shock but we are not mind-readers, well not quite anyway.
Here are some steps to get the most out of any design brief that you commission, these are also quite useful as tool to think introspectively about your business and can help it be successful.
Business Profile
Don’t assume a designer knows your business. Write a paragraph explaining who you are and what you do. Include a summary, a brief history, the products/services you provide and distribution. Why do you need this graphic design work now? Have you relaunched? Are you about to introduce a new product?
What is the purpose of the design?
Is the solution meant to inform, persuade, promote or identify? What do you want to achieve with the project?
Who is the audience?
Who is the intended target market for your brand/product? Are they male, female, what age range?
Is the audience local, national or international? Incomes? Lifestyle?
What is the competition, the marketplace?
Describe where your product or service stands amongst the competition. What makes your business different from the rest? Who are the competition?
What is the Context?
How and where would will the design be seen? What is the platform(s), for example, a poster, promotional flyer, website, email?
What is the Voice?
How do you wish to come across? Young, edgy, cool, traditional, authoritative, cheeky?
Single Minded Proposition
What is the single message behind the product/service/project? Boil it all down to one sentence (if possible). Spend some time refining it.
Specifications and Resources
Provide any specifications you have in mind, e.g, it has to be size A2 landscape. Also, any resources like existing logos or images to be incorporated into the design and any important information such as business contact details that need to be displayed.
Benchmarks
It will help to include some examples of other work you like so the designer can see what your tastes are. A shared Pinterest Board is a huge help.
Deadline
Ask the designer what they think is a realistic deadline and work around that. A deadline too tight may restrict creativity.
Budget
Ask around to find out what’s reasonable for the size of your project.
I know you’re saying…This seems like work the designer should be doing, but trust me, this will make the whole process smoother, you will get a better outcome and you won’t waste money on a designer working on something that is not quite right.