How to Outsource Web and Graphic Design

Are you overwhelmed with how you will run your new business? First, you need a website to display your products or services and educate consumers. Then, graphic design work is to be done regularly to create your logo, business cards, and plenty of other visuals that become your brand identity. After this foundational work is put in place, you think of taking your business to people and converting them into loyal customers. 

Thanks to outsourcing everything in this digital age, you do not have to worry about having an impressive website design and other graphic design works done for your upcoming brand. But you should be aware of the ways to outsource your design jobs and, most importantly, why exactly outsourcing is crucial to your new business. 

Why is outsourcing so important? 

First, keep in mind that small businesses and even global brands like Apple use outsourcing as an effective marketing strategy. It has already outsourced iPhone manufacturing to other countries. 

Here is why you should promptly subscribe to outsourcing as your way to create your web and graphic designs: 

• Work with your niche experts: There are plenty of experts that know how to design your website specifically for your niche. Outsourcing is an effective way to locate those experts with a particular set of skills and work with them.
• Have unique and fresh design ideas: Since in-house graphic design employees do not tie you down, the sky’s the limit when you scout for experienced and talented graphic designers to create your website, logo design, etc., brand visuals.  This is a surefire way to incorporate fresh ideas into the designs. 
• Save your time: Outsourcing is also a great way to manage your time since an agency can handle that well and you can devote your time to some other aspects of your business. 
• Save money: You do not have to pay fixed salaries or pay upfront to the designers. You do not pay their taxes and health cover. Freelancers will do that for themselves. All you need to do is pay a small upfront fee to hire a freelancer. You can get your design work done per your schedule with the fee. This is less costly than hiring a designer for in-house work and regularly paying salaries and employment benefits. 
• Get the jobs done quickly: Unlike in-house teams that take months to complete a job, freelancers can do work in quick time. Just assign your website design job and other graphic design works to different freelancers, and you will get your entire lot of design jobs finished as per your scheduled time. 

Now that you know why outsourcing is so crucial to your business, find out how to explore this aspect the best.

Here are three effective ways to outsource your web and graphic design jobs: 

1. Search for the right freelancers yourself   

The first effective way to outsource is to search for professional freelancers yourself without taking help from any agency. This approach is best if you are a new business with a limited budget. If you can sense a good website design and graphic design such as a logo, you can judge the quality of work that a freelancer does for you. 

So, start searching the web for freelancers specializing in website designing or the design job you need to accomplish. With this approach, you save money that you will otherwise pay to an agency. 

Visit different platforms where freelancers frequently go to seek graphic design gigs. You should compare their portfolios, experience, and clients’ comments about their past works. You would be actively monitoring those freelancers you hire and checking their quality of design works. It may be a time-consuming process. 

2. Launch your design contest 

How about launching your design contest to design your website, logo, business cards, etc.? Many graphic design marketplaces allow business owners to start a design contest. Such marketplaces have hundreds of freelance designers looking for design gigs. They will try their best to win your contest and the attractive prize money you promise to the contest winner.  

This is your ideal method to get dozens of new ideas since the designers come from different backgrounds and have a wide range of skill sets. So, your single design brief will generate many unique design ideas for your website. You can, then, pick a design that best suits your brand personality. 

2. Let a supervisor handle this for you. 

If you do not wish to work with freelancers directly, just hire a manager to handle all the design-related aspects of the business. One such supervisor or manager will find the right people for the design jobs and collaborate. 

With this approach, you will have your entire time to run a business. The supervisor will bring fresh ideas and meet the deadlines. But you need to pay the supervisor a salary and taxes. 

Look for an outsourcing agency. 

An outsourcing agency is also a great alternative to explore when accomplishing your website and graphic design jobs. Many such agencies are out there who understand your precise requirements. They take charge of the design quality, and you have complete control over them in terms of checking their quality and workflow. 

But this approach could be a little expensive for new businesses with a tight budget. You need to pay the agency regularly, and it requires some investment.  

Considerations to make while outsourcing: 

If you have dedicated yourself to outsourcing your website and other graphic design works, ensure that you have kept its crucial aspects in mind. Here is what you need to consider:

• Decide the budget: You should set aside a budget for outsourcing the design jobs. Know how much your small business can afford to pay for creating unique websites etc. This will help in picking the right outsourcing method. 
• Determine who will manage: Outsourcing still requires you to have control of the things in your hands. So, you need to have a manager who will be monitoring every aspect of outsourcing from your company office. 
• Know how to handle conflicts: Conflicts with designers are not uncommon during the work process. So, decide beforehand about how you will deal with the payment schedule, design-related issues, etc. You may need to have a written contract with the designer so that everything goes by the signed deal. 

Conclusion 

Outsourcing your website design and other graphic design works can save your small business time and money. You also access expert designers with different skillsets from all over the world. But to outsource, you can look for the freelancers manually and deal with them in terms of their fees and other aspects. Or, start your design contest for hundreds of designers at a marketplace and get a winning design in a few days. Another option to outsource is to hire a competent design agency that will handle your design projects to free you from such worries. 

For freelancing VA companies, we would recommend Fiverr or OnlineJobs.ph. For graphic design specific companies, Penji and Design Contest are great options.

Check out our top rated graphic design companies here.