How To Find The Right Freelance Graphic Designer?

Did you know why graphic designer careers are loved? One of the answers is due to the rising demand and also the needs of their role. It is especially true for business. Designer roles in creating branding and visual identity always come from time to time. However, many businesses cannot find and hire full-time designers. 

Whether due to the budget or value, many businesses are starting to hire freelancers. It is not a bad decision. It is the right choice for a smaller business that wants to start its journey. Many graphic designers can bring a high-quality product under the more varying price ranges and skills sets. 

But then, how to find the right freelance graphic designer? Choosing the best freelancer can be an intimidating challenge for everyone. If you want to consider the freelance realm as your option, at least you need some proper preparation. There are also considerations to find the right freelancer. You need to be smart in it. Here is what you should do to hire one.  

1. Determine Your Needs (Purpose And Budget)

Starting with the most fundamental planning. Everyone needs a plan when doing something, especially a very pricey act. In this case, to find the right designer, you got to know the grounding of your project. Why do you need a freelancer? Can you hire a full-time graphic designer? It can be a big surprise that the answer will give you more detail. 

To find the best freelance designer, you have to analyze what you want and what you need. It is also worth writing down the graphic project budget. Jotting down that information will help you find the right or the appropriate freelancer. You need to underline that the freelance world is very vast, which means you need to be specific when picking one. 

1.1. Consider Your Graphic Project Budget 

The first thing that you want to consider to look for the right freelance graphic designer is budget. So, how much money can you splurge for the freelancer? Try to underline that the freelance realm is filled with many designers. The freelancers are from many levels and classes. You can hire a junior designer or the more experienced freelancer out there. 

The red string that you need to take is the more experienced the designer is, the higher the freelance fees are. If you know exactly how much your budget is, at least you can find the appropriate person with the right price range. However, the definition of the right itself can shift and differ from your purpose. In this case, you can get the right freelancer by considering the value. 

But do you need to find a designer that matches your budget? Does it mean an experienced graphic designer is better than the newer one? Trying to find a freelancer under budget consideration is just the beginning. You can change your selection in the later state to find the right freelance designer that fits more to your project. 

In this phase, you can also pinpoint that some graphic designers' quality might not fit with the price range. The takeaway point is that newer designers might also have adequate skill sets that meet your graphic project. Prices and rates are not always the best or the right determiner to find an appropriate freelance designer. 

You will need to dig deeper about the potential graphic creator. Thus, you can find the most suitable freelancer out of the wide-sea of the freelance world. So, do you need to consider the budget if it is not giving too much effect anyway? The idea of considering the budget is to narrow down your selection so it is easier to find the candidate. 

It also helps you a lot to find the more suitable person and the project budget. As you consider the budget, you might get other questions or considerations. Do you have to surpass the budget, or should you find the right freelance graphic designer under the budget? This consideration will help you choose carefully. 

1.2. One-Off Or Long-Term Graphic Project 

Another consideration that you need to make is the freelance options themselves. Most of the time, you can choose either one-off or long-term freelance projects. The two options offer different services and duration, which again can affect your progress to find the right designer. In this case, you need to consider the project needs and also the duration. 

The one-off project means a freelancer service that only works only for that time. The duration of the making itself can depend on the project's complexity. However, the freelance designer will not have a lingering knot for your project. It mostly works for small graphic projects, which is why the budget and how to find the right person is relatively easier.

However, it does not mean you can find the right person just like that. If you want to get the right freelance graphic designer, try to find one that specializes in the particular design. The idea is that you will only create a short-term relationship. Thus you need to ensure you got the best designer for your freelance project. 

However, if you got a long project or a bigger freelance graphic job, you need to consider a long-term freelance contract. Again, in this kind of graphic project, you can find many different capable freelancers. The best thing to get the right person is to find a graphic creator that has general skills. Why so? 

The reason goes to the fact that you might want a designer that can work on more than one particular graphic project. It can save you some money for a freelance job. But again, it is better to find the right worker based on other considerations such as budget, skill, and portfolio. Thus, you can get the right, suitable, and best result for your long-term contract. 

1.3. Freelancer Project Manager Consideration 

Bigger freelance projects might come with complex management. In this case, you can find a project manager for your graphic designer. The underlining is not all freelancers that are right for your project can manage a complex graphic project. To avoid bad things happening (such as disappointing results or late deadlines) you need a project manager. 

The idea is to ensure your freelance graphic project can give sufficient results. It most likely happens if you want the right freelance graphic designer for a long-term contract. You can find the manager separately or you can also get a graphic design freelancer that has a management background. But remember, consider the freelance budget before you execute this tip. 

2. Creating A Good Design Brief 

After debating with your project budget, contract, and management, you will need to create a good design brief. Before you find the right freelancer, ensure you already have the grounding details about the project itself. In this case, the brief envelopes deeper details which can include the brand identity, color, font choice, message to deliver, and many more. 

A thorough brief itself is one of the keys to finding the best freelancer out there. How so? As you find a potential freelancer, you need to show your brief and see whether they can comply or not. It is not only about the price and also the experience, but also how well your potential freelancer can understand the graphic project. 

In this case, a thorough brief is what you need. You can include some freelance graphic project details comprising the project timeline, the scope, the budget, the concept, the do and don'ts, or anything. The details, in brief, will help you lead to the right freelance graphic designer. It will narrow down the selection. 

The best example is you find a freelancer that suits your budget. After that, you show them the brief, but it does not match, or the designer cannot fulfill the demand. It means you can avoid the wrong person and move on to find others. It is also a great help for you who want to look for a more specific freelancer candidate. 

If you want a specific design style or aesthetic, mentioning it in the graphic design brief will lead you to the right person. You can share the brief with many freelancers, so you got to find one of the best graphic designers. For example, you want a freelance graphic project to make a vintage logo. Show it in your brief, and eventually, you will find a lower number of contenders. 

3. Consider Freelance Job Board 

Since you are the one who wants to find the right freelancer, that means you need to be overactive. The thing is, you will not find anyone by sitting passively. You have to start your search in the right place and time. Underline that getting the right person to work for your graphic freelance project can take time. Thus, ensure you do the search way before the project is due. 

To help you speed up the search, try to find the right contender in the freelance job board or freelance community. Both are the best place to put down your graphic project, find the person, and hire the right freelancer. If you use the platform, community, or freelance job board, you have some options to find and hire graphic designers.  

The best one is to post an ad for a designer. It will be your ads to find and hire the right person. The ads themselves should consist of all of the project details, which include the budget, timeline, style, and experience requirement. If you have written a brief, this process will feel like a breeze. It is easier and also faster to do. 

However, just because you already posted an ad does not mean you can sit idly. Try to be proactive and not only wait for the right freelance graphic designer to apply. Most of the time, freelancers will look for the best offer they can get. If you can make an enticing graphic project ad, then you might get some designer to apply. 

But waiting can decrease the chance to get the right freelancer. Remember that there are many freelancers out there. Maybe, some of the best ones did not apply to your ads. In this case, you can always try to reach out directly to your right or favorite designer. Who knows if it will be the best decision for you?

If you use a freelance job board, you can use the platform function or features that help you find the right freelancer. The platform might lead you to find the most appropriate graphic designer that wants to work with your project. The freelance platform algorithm might include filters that narrow down the search for the right candidate.

4. Checking Out The Potential Freelancer Portfolios

Given so many options to choose from, you will bound to get confused. If you want to find them, the portfolios will be the best determiner. It is one of the ways you can see the potential, quality, and value of your favorite freelancer. Portfolios also give you a glance at their graphic project prowess, such as their style and kind of design. 

To ensure you got the right designer, choose someone that has done some project similar to yours. If they do some similar graphic design projects, it means that the freelancer has some experience in the field. Having the same freelance project can also be a measurement of their quality. 

If you find some freelancers who have the right requirement, it is best to continue the interview process. The best example is a logo project. Consider a graphic designer that shows the best or similar projects in their freelance portfolio. However, you need to be careful when looking at your potential freelancer. 

You need to find the right freelance graphic designer through their portfolio quality. Confirm their originality and also be aware of those freelancers that only have practice projects or mockups. The projects are one of the indications they lack experience. The freelancers might be new in the freelance world or do not have enough projects to showcase. 

So, what should you do? Having a small number of portfolios does not mean that the freelancer could not be your right decision. What you need to consider is the price. You should ensure that the fee reflects their expertise. It is also worth looking at social proof, such as testimonials, reviews, or comments from the previous freelance project. 

5. Interview The Best Designer Candidate

When you find some freelancers with the right requirement, continue to the next phase, interview. In this part, you will find a lot more information about working with freelance design contenders. As you are in the interview, that means you are one step closer to dealing with a contract with your freelancer. However, you need to learn the most from the interview.  

Most of the time, interviews are done by talking face to face. But it is also possible to do online or email interviews with freelancers. No matter how you do an interview, ensure you ask the graphic designer about their portfolio. It is meant to help you discover the designer's point of view or thought regarding the project. It is better if you ask about a related freelance project. 

Not only about their point of view or thought, but you also need to ask about their design process. Graphic projects require more than just drawing. The more complex the work is, the more process that the designer needs to do. Understanding how they advance the work and challenge can help you see whether they are the right freelance graphic designer or not. 

From the information, you might be able to indicate whether the freelance designer can fit with your project, deadline, team, and work. It is especially vital for you who want a graphic job with a long-term contract. Your freelancer might have to get involved in your company, which means compatibility aspects are very vital. 

Working with a team, complying with company culture, and joining meetings are some of the considerations you need to ask your freelancer. If the response is not good or the freelance designer cannot fulfill the idea, it means the freelancers are not the right ones. Even with the short-term project, you need to ensure that the freelancer can fit like a puzzle. 

Some other questions that you can ask during the interview include how freelancers solve problems and how to respond to deadlines. Don't forget to ask about the freelancer charge and availability. You can put every puzzle piece to find the right freelance graphic designer. From the payment, work, ability, quality, skills to the viability, if they are all fit, then that is the right one.  

Conclusion

Who is the best designer to choose? It is harder to answer since there is an abundance of competent graphic design freelancers out there. The five steps to picking and hiring freelance graphic designers will help you pick at least the most suitable candidate. Starting from your freelance project planning and carefully selecting the right person, you need to do it wisely.