When looking for a graphic designer, clients and recruiters always have the habit of asking an applicant their experience, portfolio, technical and software skills, and area of expertise.
It is right and imperative to know the answers to these questions because they want to make sure that their creative style and mastery is what they are looking for.
But beyond numbers and flashy qualifications and dossiers, what you really should look for in graphic designers are qualities to not just move projects forward, but also to build a harmonious working relationship that is good for you and your team’s growth.
Sometimes, looking for a quality graphic designer can be quite a challenge because most graphic design needs are urgent or rushed.
Even though you are scurrying to find a graphic designer, here are the qualities you should look for in your next go-to graphic designer.
1. Professional and Respects Your Time
Creative people are known to be enclosed in their own world and lack structure. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Quality graphic designers are professionals who make sure that they deliver quality creative outputs on or ahead of time. They understand that their teams and clients also have their own deadlines to observe and make it to a point to help them by responding and delivering fast results.
If they see that a project will take more time than expected, professional graphic designers will tell the team or a client in advance, communicate the challenges, works it through with them, and let them know when they can expect the artwork done — most likely in the soonest time possible.
2. Collaborative and Responsive
In the same way, a graphic designer who is good at communicating with a team is an ace.
What you want to look for is someone who appreciates and works well with the team, and responds to client queries or minor concerns right away.
This quality builds trust and rapport between the designer and the team, in a way that demonstrates the value of the designer and his works.
3. Understands Your Needs
It is unquestionable that artworks from creative talents and minds like graphic designers should be respected.
But what really sets apart a good graphic designer is flexibility and the ability to balance both the product of the creative mind and understanding the needs, wants and inputs of the clients and team.
The key here is to observe if the graphic designer’s works meet the visualizations on your mind. Of course, clients, teams and recruiters alike should provide detailed descriptions and guide the designer to their thought process in order for them to materialize through their artworks.
4. Quality Designs
Quality designs do not only mean aesthetically pleasing. A graphic designer who has an extensive portfolio of artistic designs, as well as knowing what is suitable to their audience’s tastes and preferences is a cut above the rest.
A graphic designer who loves what they do, is passionate, continuously improves their craft, and is able to move their audience to action and emotion is a great asset.
5. Receptive to Feedback
Whether we have a creative orientation or not, we sometimes feel ownership with our work and output to the point where we don’t want them altered in another way. It’s part of being human.
When it comes to creative talents like graphic designers, it might be hard to take in major comments and revisions, especially when they took so much time and effort in building the project.
But a good graphic designer can take these comments constructively and use them to further improve from that point on, or communicate ideas together with the team and clients in order to get the best results.