Don’t Hire A Brochure Designer Until You’ve Read This Guide

Last updated on July 1st, 2022

Brochures are used everywhere and for every business. These thick sheets of paper carry information about products or services and can be distributed easily. Almost everything we buy has a brochure (digital or physical) that lets us know about the product/service and the company. A great brochure design should communicate the information quickly at first glance. This is where brochure designers can help. But there are some essential things that you must take into consideration while hiring one.

Today, brochures are no more just simple pieces of paper to educate people, but marketers now manipulate brochures to make a lasting impression on their target customers. So, when someone goes through information in a brochure, it also reflects a brand’s personality and values.

Brochure designers want to create a lasting impression for their audience. Therefore, they use colors, typefaces, images, and more elements to build a trustworthy relationship with customers.

Marketing brochures are powerful tools for marketing products or services. That is why the significance of brochures has not diminished a bit in the digital age. Traditionally, brochures are either a single sheet of paper or are multi-fold documents holding a piece of detailed information. Nowadays, brochures have attained different shapes, and many of them resemble a pamphlet. Some of them are A4-size pieces of paper.

Now, if you are a business owner who wishes to explore the potential of brochures to engage your target audience, ensure that you hire the right brochure designer. The designer should be experienced enough to apply the right skills and elements to make the design noticeable.

So, hiring the right designer is not easy since hundreds of designers are accessible on the web these days. This guide will help you pick a suitable designer who can create a brochure design that meets your brief.

Here Is What You Must Know Before Hiring A Brochure Designer

Know What To Expect From A Brochure Designer

First, know what a brochure designer does so that you do not set unrealistic expectations from the designer. A brochure designer is actually a graphic designer who develops designs to support your business.

So, the designer is not supposed to be working as your web developer. Instead, a graphic designer will create your website pages‘ desired look, layout, and feel.

Graphic designers are also not responsible for deciding on your brand identity and will not be developing your creative strategy. That is something you will determine. Also, a graphic designer is not necessarily an illustrator.

So, before hiring a brochure designer, you must clearly define what you aim for through the design. You should know about your brand identity elements such as colors, fonts, etc.

Creating your inspiration board is one way to know what to expect from a brochure designer. Point out all those things you should be telling your designer as part of your brief.

Also, ensure you know your target demography well so the designer can create your brochure to address a specific set of people.

Where to find designers?

Once searching for qualified graphic designer professionals was a tough job in the pre-digital era. Now, the designers are well within easy reach of the business owners to meet their different design requirements. There are plenty of platforms online that you can explore to hire designers.

Crowdsourcing marketplaces such as Designhill are popular with clients when they need to hire designers. Designhill is a creative marketplace where thousands of graphic designers, including brochure designers, are actively looking for work. These designers have put their brochure design works and other work samples in their portfolios on Designhill.

All you need to do is visit their portfolios and see their work samples, work experience, and testimonials to find out who you can depend on to do your project.

Evaluate Design Portfolios

You must go through different brochure design portfolios available online. When you visit Designhill and other design marketplaces, you will access portfolios of the designers looking for clients. But focus on the designers who specialize in brochure designing and have a lot of sample brochure design works listed in their portfolios.

Pay attention more to designers whose portfolios include different brochure design styles. Such portfolios let you get a hint of the designer’s range. But most importantly, scan those sample works to know which designer will best suit the brochure style and aesthetics you have in mind.

So, relevant samples are the first things you should look for in a brochure designer’s portfolio. There should be a good range of brochures pertinent to the contemporary designs.

Also, compare many designers for their level of experience and pick one who can understand your design brief and know how to create a brochure to your satisfaction.

Time Management

A professional brochure designer should also be efficient in managing time to complete a project within the deadlines. Most design projects are time-critical, so meeting the deadline becomes a skill.

However, the designer should not be compromising on design quality while keeping an eye on the deadlines. So, choose brochure templates that are good enough to save your time in completing a project.

Look For Experience

Make sure you find an experienced brochure designer to get the design per your business needs. A professional designer is well equipped with design skills, practice, and techniques. Working with such a designer will mean you do not have to spend much time explaining your project in detail.

Instead, the designer will develop an idea that best matches your brochure design goals. Most importantly, find out if the designer uses the latest graphic design tools that help create fantastic brochures as per your brand requirements.

Know What Others Have To Say About The Designer

When visiting a designer’s portfolio, do not forget to read the reviews and testimonials to know how the clients have reacted to the designer’s works. You can see how the clients assess the designer’s skill and overall work. Testimonials can give you an idea of how your personal experience with the designer will be when working on the project.

Consider These Hiring Details

Once you have pinpointed a brochure designer for hiring to create your unique brochures, then start the hiring process carefully. You should focus on these aspects of hiring:

Contact The Designer

First, reach out to the designer you want to work with. Tell the designer about your design requirements and the basic framework of your project. Next, ask the designer about their availability to work on the project.

Negotiate The Pricing

If the designer is willing to work, negotiate the pricing. Know how much a brochure design costs. Your pricing offer should be respectful to the designer. However, the pricing will depend on the designer’s experience, competitive rates, and the scope of your project.

You should also get to know if the price is hourly or project-based. Find out if you will pay 50% upfront and the rest on completion or if there is another payment plan. Will the payment be made by check or digitally? But the prices will depend also on the brochure size.

Look For Potential Red Flags

When hiring a brochure designer, do not just blindly believe in what the designer is saying and projecting through their portfolio. Instead, look for potential troubles the designer will likely give you after hiring.

You can get hints if a designer is going to trouble you. Avoid hiring such a designer if the designer takes many days to respond to your email messages. Such a designer is likely not to respond to your design-related queries.

Avoid hiring a designer who demands the entire fee before working on the project. Also, if a designer is unwilling to give samples or references, do not hire.

So if you know these red flags, you can ignore such a designer and look for the other in your list.

Check The Logistics

If you are hiring a graphic designer for the first time, know the logistics you need to work smoothly with the designer.

Put In Place These Things:

Contracts

Make sure that you sign a contract with the designer when hiring. The agreement will take care of both parties’ financial and other interests during and after the project.

When writing the contract, ensure that it has all the terms and conditions for you and your designer. It should include the deadlines and overall timeline of the project. In addition, mention the number of edits/revisions the designer will accept during the project.

The contract with the brochure designer or flyer maker should also mention your pricing terms and structure. And do not forget to include that you own the rights to the design work. In addition, the contract should also include any confidential agreements you want the designer to be part of.

Taxes

While a company has to pay taxes for its employees, that is not the case with freelancers. You will not be paying taxes for freelancers. Still, you should keep a record of your tax payments for the season.

So, when hiring a brochure designer, ask the professional to fill out a W-9 form in the U.S. Follow the rules regarding taxes in your country.

These are the tips you must consider when hiring a brochure designer. Make sure that you compare several designers so that you can have the services of the best designer.

Wrapping Up

A brochure designer creates an easier way to provide information about a product or service to engage customers and readers. But hire a brochure designer carefully by first evaluating and comparing many portfolios. Other tips include negotiating prices and terms and conditions, reviewing testimonials, and looking for the experience.

Find a Brochure Designer