As the owner of Two Sisters Creative, my days are filled with meeting people and learning about what kind of marketing materials they need. I love meeting business owners and learning about their companies. But when I start talking about our graphic design services, I often notice a look of pure terror cross their faces.

At first this reaction baffled me because, frankly, I don’t think I’m a particularly frightening person. Then I realized it’s not me, but rather the notion of hiring a graphic design agency that was causing the fear. I don’t blame them. Paying for something when you aren’t really sure what you’re buying is scary.

Unless they’ve worked in a corporate communications department, most business owners don’t know what exactly they’re buying when they hire a designer. Or, I think more accurately, they don’t know what they should expect from working with the designer.

Relax.

Hiring a designer is not really complicated or scary if you know what to look for. The following five tips are guidelines to help you choose the design agency that is right for you.

1. Know what you want to accomplish with this project and share that with the designer ~ who your audience is and what you want them to do as a result of getting this brochure or web site.
2. Look at the designer’s portfolio.
3. Get a detailed proposal that clearly states what the design costs include.
4. Get a rough estimate of how much artwork, printing, or other costs may be.
5. Map out a schedule at the beginning of the project.

Follow the links above for more detail about each of these steps. If you do these things the next time you need to hire a graphic designer, the project will be a fun and rewarding experience.