The first time I hired a designer I was actually hiring a programmer. This was 2007 and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just knew that I had found a really good programmer, and he also said he was a designer!
I thought I had just struck gold!
(“Nino”, the Programmer/Designer I hired in 2007…he still works for me today)
And, he was actually a reasonable webpage designer. Not great, but reasonable. Which, is almost impossible to find in the same person. Programming and design are generally driven by opposite sides of the brain.
A graphic designer is one of those workers that nearly every business needs, but not everybody knows how to recruit. It’s easy if you’re a designer or are creative yourself. But if you’re not, it can be difficult.
So I asked my graphic designer, Elijah, what people need to know about hiring a Filipino graphic designer. I also asked him about people’s misconceptions about hiring graphic designers that prevent them from finding a great one.
“The number one misconception for the designer or video editor, is that every design has to look BEAUTIFUL, every video has to have FANCY Text and motion graphics. Each design has to be aesthetic or “Pinterest” worthy. NO! Designers and video-editors (media people) need to understand that they are here to create for the brand, the client, and of course the medium. Some brands and clients seek simplicity and minimalism (John is the best example). Some mediums also are geared toward minimal editing like TikTok.
In other words, when hiring, employers should not just look for creativity, but versatility. Can this person adapt to my brand? Or is this person stuck with one style of editing and creating.
If possible, look at their portfolio to see how they change their styles with different clients. If the style is consistent, the artist is not able to adapt to different brands and mediums
Creativity is very hard to judge – one of the easiest ways to judge an artist is through their skill of adapting and changing their style to suit their client.
For graphic design, you have to know what you are after. Some artists can pull off everything, which isn’t that rare. But there are some artists who specialize in logo making, character/cartoon design, typography, and content layout. Knowing what you want will help you refine your job post and expectations.”
Graphic designers are not magicians. They can’t pull rabbits and ideas out of thin air. It’s your business; the direction has to come from you. You’ve got to have an idea of what you want so they know what to give you.
Also, recognize that a logo designer is not a graphic designer and a graphic designer is not a webpage designer. These are all different skill sets.
John