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search and find a graphic designer if you needed to hire

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one for branding, logo design, web design or any other
design needs for your business.
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Graphic Designers?
UPWORK.COM
A great place to get started with hiring another freelancer.
Free to sign-up, post a job, find and match with freelancers.
You can set up your contract as fixed-price or hourly, and
there’s a 3% processing fee on the total amount you pay to
your freelancers. Great for small or larger projects
FIVERR.COM
On a super tight budget? Or just needing a small task
done? This is a great option for those looking for cheaper
under $100-dollar projects. This is a great for someone
needing to get a rough logo sketch turned into a vector file
or if you need a quick social media graphic.
You can use the search filter here to narrow down your
search by what type of design project you need completed.
Make sure the designer has a large set of previous reviews.
Cheaper is not always better, The freelancers that charge
more are charging more for a reason, because the quality
may be more superior and in demand.
PEOPLEPERHOUR.COM
Similar to upwork you submit your project proposal and
the system will match you with other freelancers with the
services you are looking for. There are service fees once
a freelancer has been hired. Based on research this tends
to not exceed 10 percent unless other requests are need
like urgent requests etc.
99DESIGNS.COM
You can hire a designer, or you can start a contest. If you
can start a contest with your rough ideas you have
developed and see which designer nails the right logo
style you are looking for.
This is a great option for those not sure what style they
want their final concept to be developed in as they can
see a wide range of designs without having to commit or
pay for reach one of them. Not the best deal for the
designers, but a great deal for those hiring the designer
as they get to go window shopping without ever having to
walk in the store and buy a product.

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Some cheaper freelancers have been known to use
copyrighted work in their projects to reduce costs.
Providing a rough sketch of a concept is helpful as your
GO LOCAL
logo design will remain unique and custom, reducing the This means posting on craigslist, a local forum or posting
chance of it being a copy of another copyrighted design. a flyer in your local coffee house. Working with someone
in person is great. You may not have the massive
selection in talent that you have on some of these other
platforms, but this is a sure way to have solid
LINKEDIN.COM communication with a designer on a one-on-one basis.
You might also be able to work out an exchange of
PROFINDER WEBSITE services or a lower rate
This is created by linkedin for businesses to hire freelancers
based on information on their linkedin.com profile. RECOMMENDED
Freelancers have to sign up to be a part of this pro service.
This service is free for the first few job proposals. After 10
proposals there is a monthly free required.

Hourly or Per Project?

Hourly is great as you get to control costs by limiting the designer’s hours for certain projects. Fixed Pricing is even more
predictable as you know the set pricing for a project before it starts and can predict final costs unlike hourly which could
fluctuate depending on how much they can get done in a certain timeframe. It is a better deal to hire freelancers who get
things done faster on an hourly rate and hiring freelancers who are slower on a fixed rate schedule. They also may charge
you in their desired pricing schedule which can be either, one or a mix of both. This is something you can work out in the
contract.
Guide By: Lindsay Marsh: Redistribution of this graphic without permission is prohibited.
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What to look for in a

graphic designer?
Make sure they have some previous work completed. Positive
testimonials or reviews are always nice to see. Make sure
previous work has a similar style you are looking for your own
business or close to it. A great graphic designer can adapt to
different styles though and have a wide variety of styles in their
portfolios.

You want to look for a designer who has some classes, courses
or some educational background in design or marketing. Not
required but a nice bonus to look for especially freelancers with
a background in brand design.

Using some of these larger services we talked about on the first

PREVIOUS WORK PROJECTS
page protects you from fraud or freelancers not showing up for
the job, so working with international freelancers is much HAS YOUR DESIRED STYLE
safer these days, but I do prefer working with someone who I
can clearly communicate with. Make sure you share a common
language and can communicate well with each other before
ADAPTABLE
committing to a freelancer.
PRIOR EDUCATION OR COURSE WORK
Do they have a contract or agreement they want to sign? Read
over that contract or agreement carefully to make sure there
are clauses to protect yourself as the client in case they are HAS A CONTRACT
unable to complete work due to unforeseen circumstances or
you can get your deposit back if work is never started. COMMUNICATES WELL

Red Flags
There are times when you need to bail on a potential or already
hired designer. One of those times is If they do not respond to
your e-mails, changes or requests within 72 hours. Obviously, life
can get in the way, but barring any significant life events slow
communication rarely gets fast later on and this can be a sign
they are too busy, overwhelmed or just not that into your project.

Another red flag is unprofessional grammar or language skills.

If they lead with an unprofessional demeanor then this also rarely
gets better. Some freelancers can lie on their portfolios and
profiles, you can tell if a freelancer matches his experience on his
profile by the way they craft their e-mails and communications. If
they have higher ratings, then make sure their professionalism
matches those ratings.

DOES NOT RESPOND IN 72 HOURS

UNPROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS Guide By: Lindsay Marsh:
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What do I need to
send to a designer?
Depending on the type of project you need the more
information you send them the more they know about your
business or services. Make sure you communicate clearly what
you do, perhaps your mission statement and goals for your
business as well as your industry and a few of your competitors
might be helpful. A lot of the items we worked through in the
course already can be very valuable to a designer.

If a designer asks a specific question, make sure you take the

time to answer thoroughly. As a designer I always had a hard
time with clients who responded with brief answers or no
answers at all.

Rough sketches are better than nothing when it comes to

helping a hired designer create projects you are really satisfied
with. You may think your sketch looks awful, but these rough
guides can communicate more than written text, designers are
visual creators, so anything helps.

MISSION STATEMENT

INDUSTRY AND COMPETITORS

NECESSARY IMAGES, PHOTOS OR FILES NEEDED

ROUGH SKETCHES OR IDEAS

DESIRED LIST OF FINAL FILE FORMATS NEEDED

AS WELL AS DESIRED SIZES (IF KNOWN)

Communication
Make sure you clearly communicate
the final files or formats you will require
for your project. If you require your
logo to be in vector format, make sure
they have the software and skills to
send those files to you.

Guide By: Lindsay Marsh: Redistribution of this graphic without permission is prohibited.