I wrote this for the maxiwill blog, you can find the original post here.

Ask yourself what your problems are, not what your solution is

Designers provide a service, but in many ways, they are problem solvers within their field, just like you are within yours. Offer an expert your problem, and if they know how to, they’ll to solve it. Offer an expert your solution without making them aware of the problem, and they’ll either not solve it at all, or create more problems for you.

First off, know what you want to achieve, or what problem you have that needs to be solved. “I want a logo and a website” is not a marketing strategy, and nor is it demonstrating awareness of your business. “I’d like to raise brand awareness, and I think we should develop and expand our customer base” is more like it. “Customers don’t seem to respond to our marketing, How can we improve sales?” is also better than “We need a logo”. Decide what you want to achieve, identify your problem, and you’ll make your designer’s job a whole lot easier.

Collaborate, don’t dictate

You’re employing the services of a designer. Hopefully, you know your business inside out, and you know what you want to achieve. Hopefully, your designer has mad design skills, and is itching to get creative. Unfortunately, these two different sets of knowledge often don’t get the chance to mix. The client knows their customers, and the designer knows their techniques, and the end product is something that is glossy and shiny, but has no real purpose or function.

Think of it as a collaboration. You are both working towards a common solution to a common problem. Inform your designer, educate them as to what you know about your business and your customers, your ideals and your USP. Let your designer educate you, as to the best methods to create new customers, and keep them. Often, designers use a custom questionnaire, or a series of very simple questions, to find out some important information about you and your business. These are questions that are worth answering truthfully and freely.

Also, if your designer suggests something you disagree with, explain your reasons for disagreeing, but do listen to why they think differently. They might have a different opinion, or a different outlook on the issue; It doesn’t mean they are wrong. They might have considered something you have not, or they might not fully understand something that you have considered. Communication is key, and that brings me onto my next point.

Your graphic designer works for your customers, not for you

While you might be paying their invoices, it’s your customers that pay yours. You have a responsibility to your customers. Therefore, a designer’s primary goal is appropriate communication with your customers, to find what influences your target market. Try and see your brand through the eyes of your customers. Sometimes your personal aesthetic tastes don’t match those of your customers. That’s alright, we’re all different! Try and keep it in mind that your aesthetics and your customers’ might not match, and that if you like something, it doesn’t mean your customers will. This is the line a designer treads when they create for a target market.

What Not to ask from your Designer

Don’t expect your designer to have an intricate knowledge of your business from the outset. Hopefully, they will have a good knowledge of your industry, and will have worked for similar companies with similar problems in the past. It’s important that they know relevant information about your company, so help them out. Let them know about the history of the business, and your mission statement. Again, it helps if you know what you want to achieve.

Don’t expect them to generate written content for you, unless that’s a specific service they offer. The primary role of the designer is to provide the framework, style, and function of your promotion, and if you haven’t got any images or creative copy of your product or service, your designer should be able to source an appropriate provider for you, but don’t assume that it’s included in their quote.

What to expect from a designer

Once you’ve found the company or individual you feel best fits your requirements, don’t rush into it. You’re still a long way from your finished marketing, and if your designer is any good, they won’t be rushing either. The most crucial part of this process is the initiation. Your designer should be asking you lots of questions, poking their nose in, and finding out what they can do to best serve the needs of your business. Be very wary of anyone that jumps in with two feet, or that tells you the answer to your problems before they’ve even heard what they are. No two businesses are the same, and no two problems have identical solutions. What may work for one business might not help the other at all. You and your designer should set some goals and deadlines for your project, and you should expect to stick to them. Bear in mind though, that the deadlines will apply to you too! A lot of a designer’s job revolves around your content, so if you’re late in providing it, they’ll be late in providing your designs.

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