Should You Outsource or Hire A Graphic Designer?

Table of Contents:

● Why Do You Need A Graphic Designer?

● What are the Benefits of An In-House Graphic Designer?

● When Does Having An In-House Designer Become Challenging?

● When to Outsource Graphic Design?

● Pros and Cons of Hiring Graphic Designers

● Conclusion

●FAQs

To outsource or hire? It is a dilemma many businesses face regarding graphic designer hire. Before you decide, there are a few important factors to consider that might help with your decision-making.

While having an in-house designer is efficient, you may also want to outsource graphic design altogether to save your internal resources. Let us look at how you can decide whether to outsource or hire.

Why Do You Need a Graphic Designer?

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The benefits of hiring a graphic designer – in-house or outsourced – can be traced to the all-pervasive digital presence that brands need to have in today’s marketing world. The rising importance of visual strategies entails that you either outsource graphic design or hire graphic designers to join your team to boost your brand awareness. This is important in making your presence felt in the market and tapping potential customers.

According to 3M Visual Systems Division research, human beings can process images 60,000 times faster than any text. Do you need a better reason to bring a graphic designer to your team?

No matter what kind of business you are in, you either need to outsource or hire graphic designers who have the expertise and talent to meet your visual marketing objectives. They can deliver tailored designs, create brand collateral, and consistently deliver branded materials for advertising and marketing purposes. 

What are the Benefits of an In-House Graphic Designer?

An in-house graphic designer can be a significant asset to any business. Indeed, the role requires a specific set of skills and expertise, which translates to careful hiring at the outset. Still, the benefits of hiring a graphic designer are huge and go a long way in dictating the outcomes of your marketing strategies. Here are the top reasons why you should hire graphic designers.

Brand cohesion

While promoting your brand, you would want the collateral and marketing materials, even the logo, to be consistent with your brand image.

To achieve this, you need someone who can establish a long-term rapport and who understands the brand. Since they work over a period of time, unlike freelancers, they can belt out consistent outcomes in the form of designs.

Ownership and accountability

In a dilemma about whether to outsource or hire a graphic designer, a good question to ask is how much accountability will either bring?

Ideally, you would want someone who can own the entire piece of graphic designing for your brand and the invariable accountability that comes with it. This is more likely to happen when you have someone as part of the internal team than when you outsource graphic design.

Seamless communication

When you have an in-house designer, the chances are that things will get done more quickly and without too many iterations. This stems from the fact that since the designer works closely within the team, the communication is more streamlined and quick, reducing the amount of back and forth you need to do when it is outsourced.

When Does Having an In-House Designer Become Challenging?

Given the benefits of going for an internal graphic designer hire, it might be difficult to point out the challenges of having one. But two very critical challenges need to be considered before deciding whether to outsource or hire.

Challenge #1: Finding the right fit

Finding the right graphic designer who fits the exact role you want them to play requires time, money, and effort. Ideally, you would want them to stick around for a long time and build a team that can strengthen and deliver on your vision. In the current world of the gig economy, this might be difficult.

Challenge #2: Recurring costs

The average annual salary of a graphic designer in India is around 3,00,000 LPA. If you compare this with the fees charged by freelancers, it might be a little too much, especially if you are not going to engage them throughout the year. So, the company budget also becomes a deciding factor in whether to outsource or hire.

When to Outsource Graphic Design?

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A lot of companies today are choosing to work with consultants and freelancers to bring in specialized talent and expertise. This reduces your costs because you only end up paying the experts for their services on a project basis. If you want to outsource graphic design, the following factors can help you decide.

● You want to hire experts but don’t want to engage them throughout the year.

● You want your internal team to focus more on your core activities.

● Budget only for special projects that require new designs.

● Have a clear plan for reporting and accountability of external designers.

In some cases, if the company is small, then it makes more sense to outsource rather than hire full-time graphic designers.

Pros and Cons of Hiring Graphic Designers

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When you decide to outsource graphic design, consider important advantages and disadvantages. Without this, it becomes a rushed decision to outsource or hire in-house.

Advantages of outsourcing graphic design

Many businesses are moving away from the traditional thought process of working with in-house designers. The main reasons to outsource graphic design include:

● Costs are reasonably reduced when you work with freelance designers on specific projects, as against employing full-time designers.

● Outsourcing offers more flexibility in expanding the scope of work, depending on the business needs.

● You can tap into a vast pool of talent and expertise and choose the right fit for your design needs.

● Outsourcing allows new ideas and fresh perspectives that add newness to your brand designs.

Disadvantages of outsourcing graphic design

Like everything in the world, the choice to outsource graphic design also has two sides to it. Along with the benefits it offers, there are important cons to consider as well.

● The biggest disadvantage of working with freelancers is that they are working on multiple projects and brands simultaneously. So, you never really have their undivided attention and focus on working solely on your designs.

● It can be difficult to find the right fit for a particular project. Because you hire freelancers on a project-to-project basis, you are bound by strict timelines. So, your choice is narrowed down and restricted, and you usually have to go with the best fit you find in the shortest time. This may not always be the best for your project.

● With freelancers, it is challenging to ensure accountability. This stems from a lack of ownership that an in-house designer would have

Conclusion

So, it is quite clear that the decision to outsource or hire graphic designers is not as simple as black and white. Both have pros and cons, which need to be considered carefully before making a judgment call.

Remember that this has serious implications for your brand image and will define the realization of your goals. So, choose wisely using the parameters outlined above.

FAQs