Do you have a creative project on your horizon? Don't know where to start? This informative, sometimes tongue-in-cheek will help you realize your brand potential, select a great creative design partner and produce a vibrant piece of graphic design in line with your creative brief.

1. Mike Beard
mike@mikebeard.com
ALLCONTENTSCOPYRIGHT2013–MIKEBEARDANDASSOCIATESINC.
Do you have a creative project coming up?
Wondering where to start?
This presentation is for you.
Finding the right designer can be the first, most
critical step to success, both for you and for your brand.
This guide sets out ten steps - real, useful ideas to help
you find and hire a synchronistic creative partner.
The first step is always the toughest. Here we go.
Ten e s ohirin a
graphic
st tp g
designer

2. As a business manager, ask yourself,
‘What would my brand think?’
What does your brand stand for? Can you
‘believe’? Do your personal values align
with those of your brand?
Is your brand welcoming? Positive?
Forward-thinking? Is it open to new ideas?
Do some soul searching before trying to find
a like-minded graphic designer. Is ‘creativity’
in your brand’s DNA?
How will new graphic projects expand, yet
remain faithful to, your brand’s core values?
How will you introduce specific brand
characteristics to your new designer?
As brand manager, what is it about your
working style that might be especially
relevant to prospective design partners?
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Become
our
brand.
y

3. A Creative Brief is necessary.
Do not attempt to do all this in your
head! The act of writing will clarify
your thoughts. Once it’s complete,
you can share it with your team, any
prospective designers you may have
in mind and other suppliers.
If a prospect disregards this, please
disregard them.
1. Marketing Objective
2. Budget and Project
Management
3. Target Audience
4. Creative Overview
5. Advertising and Branding
Guidelines
6. Deliverable Required
7. Success Definition
8. Detailed Sign Off Plan
9. Project Recap: What can we do
better next time?
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tWri e a
com lete
creative
rie .
p
b f

4. My guess is you’ve already made a decision or two
about the guy on the right.
His ‘brand’ comes across fast… in 3 images flat!
That’s how quickly images can connect. Marketers must
make sure they are sending the right signals.
My friend Chris asks, “How much is good design worth?”
His answer, “Invaluable.”
How much does bad design cost? “Incalculable.”
Is strategic design of real value to your company? If your
answer is yes, proceed to hiring a good designer.
A good designer will challenge your ideas.
A good designer has life and business experience.
A good designer will deepen customer loyalty
to your brand, your products
and your company.
What’s that worth?
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Ask yourself,“What’s a first impression worth?”

5. To sit and casually chat with a
prospective designer is more than a distinct advantage. It’s a critical step. Here’s
how to set about finding local creative talent.
Look around town for an ad, sign or brochure you like. Call the Chamber of
Commerce or other local business groups. Ask your friends and business associates.
Search for nearby talent on Google. Be open to social media like LinkedIn,
Facebook, Pinterest, Behance and Slideshare. Find the best designers in magazines
like Communication Arts or sites like Logo for a Day.
If you’re lucky you’ll find a local designer who blogs and shares relevant content!
If not, find one online who is comfortable getting to know you on Skype.
Business is based on relationships that
are up close and really quite personal.
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Sear hlocal
earchsocial
c
S
l

6. Are you looking for a specific style or are you
searching for someone who can interpret - and
bring new resonance to - your brand?
If you can look at a piece and recognize its maker, the
designer may not be the fresh thinker you
are looking for. You may be about to purchase
their style. This can be a good thing,
especially if you want to ‘plug them in’.
However, if you are hiring a designer to bring their
best, most innovative thinking, someone who can
slip on any number of skins , make sure at the outset,
they are perfectly at ease in yours.
When viewing a portfolio, look for someone who is
comfortable in a variety of skins.
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Look for a design chameleon.

7. Get references – lots!
Call and chat. Prepare a
list of questions. What
went right? What went… awry? Would they use this designer again?
Was the bill fair? Ask, ‘What would I do in similar circumstances?’
You may soon be put to the test.
Present a non-disclose contract. Assure yourself that sensitive
marketing information stays private. Loose lips still sink ships.
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Get comfortable.

8. Check your graphic professional for the ability to listen.
It’s an increasingly rare functionality, forming an inverse relationship to the abundance
of prosthetic devices like those illustrated below. Their employment impedes the natural
function of that other pair of listening devices - ears. The usage of sound deadening
technologies hinders rational thought and inhibits real communication.
If your prospective designer peeks under the table, check to see if he is concealing their
companion piece, the conversation-killing ‘smart’ phone.
Now might be the right time to bring up eyeball-to-eyeball topics like honesty,
connecting with the brand, timing and feedback.
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9. Saatchi & Saatchi create
‘lovemarks’, iconic brands that
resonate with consumers
- who return that love with
loyal purchasing over time.
You should be looking
for a designer with heart,
because that’s where the best branding comes from.
Your brand should be cherished by both your customers and your employees.
As in marriages, divorces are messy. People don’t like them.
Don’t suddenly ditch your logo or ‘refresh’ your brand’s tone of voice.
Proceed with caution. When considering a designer, think long term.
The law of unintended consequences definitely applies.
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A rand is
forever.
br
f

10. A lot goes into making a design project successful.
Clear understanding on both sides is paramount.
Beginning with the Creative Brief, each step in the design and production process
must be anticipated, monitored and controlled.
Timing, cost and labour considerations call for project management expertise.
Don’t let your pet project end in finger pointing.
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Good design is no accident.
Get it in writing.
gd

11. 10
Once you have chosen a design professional, do not present them with the
rather impossible challenge of discovering that image you’ve had in your head all
along – so perfect for this project– if only your new designer could see it!
.
Don’t fall in love with your own lightbulbs.
ALLCONTENTSCOPYRIGHT2013–MIKEBEARDANDASSOCIATESINC.
Please toss previously held ideas.

12. May all your leaps
be leaps of boundless faith!
But don’t close your eyes.
Never jump into anything,
especially design engagements.
You are the master of your creative project.
Think ahead!
ALLCONTENTSCOPYRIGHT2013–MIKEBEARDANDASSOCIATESINC.

13. ALLCONTENTSCOPYRIGHT2013–MIKEBEARDANDASSOCIATESINC.
Mike Beard
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
mike@mikebeard.com
May this rather irreverent presentation help entrepreneurs, marketers and
designers in their pursuit of mutually beneficial relationships and
creative success.
Please join me here, between Toronto’s tall buildings and
the beach, for my latest local marketing and branding
adventures, at graphicdesigninbarrie.com