Graphic Design Checklist

Graphic design is important for companies who are building their brand, website, social presence, and much more. With an experienced professional on your team, the possibilities are endless for what your company can create. 

After interviewing the Rise Marketing Group graphic designer, Regan, we learned valuable information to consider when doing graphic design and hiring a graphic designer.

Brand Guidelines 

A graphic designer primarily needs the brand font, colors, etc. to start working with a new client. 

• The fonts they use, color information (the specifics, hex codes, Pantone’s if they have them), existing graphics/styles, and their vision.
• If not brand guidelines per se, a mood-board works, or something to help get a strong sense of their brand so that they can confirm visually & go from there.
• Generally, being able to listen in during a meeting for what the client wants, helps to read or hear how they want to sound/come across to their audience.

Brand Identity

When a graphic designer starts working with a client they should provide them with all of the content they have available to start working with them. They should include:

• Brand identity and guidelines – Graphic designers are taught to apply the brand’s voice and characteristics to their creations. That should be a basis for every facet – copy, design, and direction for marketing.
• Brand photography – clear idea of what they need to be created if they do not have it. Using their own photos is highly recommended.
• Their brand vision or voice
• Font files, color codes, vector logo files (.png files if no .eps or .ai – transparency is key)
• For small businesses – If you are just starting out, it is smart to have an idea of what they are looking for. It is beneficial if they do their research before a call. This is especially true if they would need a logo.

Branding Questions

There are questions clients should ask themselves about their branding to be ready to work with a graphic designer. Those key questions are as follows:

• How do you want your customers to feel when they interact with the brand? 
• What 5 words describe your brand? 
• Do you know what you want visually, and can you trust someone else to create your brand visuals/extend or implement your visual identity? 
• What features of other brands, websites, posts, etc. do you see that you like and feel could also represent/communicate your business visually, and why?
• Do I know what I want the brand to be perceived as? 
• Am I an expert or new? Do I have helpful materials? 

Be sure to ask yourself, do I have a sense of what I want? Do I have reference images, examples, screenshots, and design vibes to bring to the kick-off call? All of these answers will result in a more effective vision created by the designer and your marketing team.

Time Frame for Designing

How long does it take to design specific criteria for a brand? For the most part, it depends on the designer’s experience with the client & what their needs and availability are. An estimate and important factors to consider are as follows. If a brand is starting from scratch, it will take more time and a call/meeting to discuss. 

• Logo: This is an incredibly important asset to a business. A logo alone is a good start, but a proper brand identity guides its use effectively and creates a cohesive visual experience of your brand. Depending on the extensiveness of the project, the designer, and the feedback process, a logo can take anywhere from a few weeks to months to perfect. 
• Social Media Posts: These can be fast but depends on the project and how familiar the graphic designer is with the work. Also depends on how much they explain to her and the feedback cycle. The feedback cycle is more important with certain items: logos or permanent things. Social media is easier to navigate because it is easier to remove, change, and or adjust in the next posts. 
• Emails: If it is the first time with the brand, it can take longer because it comes with a lot more research unless they provide brand guidelines and specifications. This is also more time-consuming because they are permanent.

Platforms for Designing

There are numerous design platforms for specific areas of graphic design work. Our in-house designer recommends the following:

• Adobe: Adobe is seen as the industry standard for design work, and offers a variety of software for different design needs.
  • InDesign: Great for printed work, and long text formatting. A great and versatile software that emphasizes layout and print.
  • Illustrator: A powerhouse of design excellent for creating vector graphics and experimentation. Regan’s software-of-choice for logo and digital asset design has many other uses as well.
  • Photoshop: Great for editing and manipulating images to import into other software. Can also be used to create printed or digital assets with text and other effects, but mostly depends on the designer’s preferences and the needs of the project.
  • Adobe XD: A program for designing a web page or app layouts, and for sharing work and receiving feedback. Versatile and similar to Illustrator, but not quite as powerful in some areas.  
• Canva: Canva is an excellent platform for templated graphics, and for sharing access amongst team members. Important to note is that using any template or graphic element created by Canva cannot be copyrighted, and will not be unique to your business. For projects like logos and brand identity, Canva is not recommended. 
• There are many third-party software and web-based applications that can also be used for design and should not be discounted! These are items in a designer’s tool belt, and a good designer will make good work regardless of the platform they use.

Conclusion

To recap, The best options you can have working with a new designer are to have existing clear brand guidelines, or start from a blank slate and build together, for the most transparency and clarity in executing your brand. However, this may not be everyone’s circumstance, and the best solution to not having existing guidelines is clear communication with your designer and everyone involved in the asset creation process. 

Schedule a call with your designer and team for an exploratory call. They may want to find images or graphics/examples that resonate with what you want to see in your branded assets or schedule a follow-up to go over a first look or even a mood board to keep future projects on the right track. If you need graphic design help, contact our team at Rise Marketing Group today.