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29 Ways to know if your designer is a great fit for your business

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Happily ever after with Deer Designer

Years ago, my aunts used to tell me that if I wanted to get married, I should look for a tall, dark, and handsome man. I thought it would be easy because my crush was tall, dark, and handsome. I was 12 at the time.

Now that I’m much older, I’ve learned that a woman needs more than three superficial attributes in a life partner. Surely, being tall, dark, and handsome isn’t enough to make a strong, happy family.

Each person has their own list of characteristics they desire in a partner. 

On the other hand, it is much easier to find good design partners using the list I provided below.

You’ve worked with designers to make designs for you and your clients. Each one is different and has their own skills and habits. 

Design skills aside, you should be on the lookout for their soft skills, which help turn your vision into a real design quickly and with less stress.

Your designer is a great fit for you if:

  1. You feel less stressed when working with them.
  2. You don’t have to chase them for deliverables.
  3. They do their best in every design ticket – and it shows.
  4. They keep you updated on the progress of your designs.
  5. They created a branding guide just for you even if you didn’t ask for it.
  6. After completing a couple of tickets, you send just one piece of inspiration and they immediately know what to do with it.
  7. When you forgot to indicate the size in the form and they created size variations for you to choose from.
  8. They spot misspellings in your copy.
  9. They suggest marketing collaterals for the next holidays.
  10. They look after your digital presence and urge you to post more designs if you’re inactive.
  11. They are fans and followers of your brand.
  12. They empathize with your target market.
  13. They know your (and your clients’) design preferences.
  14. You have minimal to zero revision requests.
  15. You can finally simply say: “make it pop” and they will actually “make it pop”.
  16. You end up using the out-of-the-box design variation they made.
  17. You feel more confident to take on more clients because they support you.
  18. They make you proud for wowing your clients.
  19. You want to tell the world you’re partners with them. (ie. put their photos and names on your website)
  20. They always want to hear from you.
  21. They revise exactly what you need.
  22. You reference a past project and they know what to do and what not to do.
  23. They are reliable and always available.
  24. They will gladly revise the output for the (n)th time without complaint.
  25. They submit deliverables on time, if not, they will keep you updated.
  26. They know a variety of design tools you can also use if needed.
  27. They love collaborating with you.
  28. You love the way they execute your vision.
  29. They are knowledgeable in basic design theory.

Other fishes in the Deer Designer sea

Not all partnerships work out because of many factors. Each party’s circumstance may have changed over time and they grow apart. The first designer assigned to you may not be a fit but I have great news.

With Deer Designer, your designer is part of a squad. In this group, there are other highly skilled professionals who share ideas with your designer.

If you feel that you need to change your designer, you can simply ask your account manager and they will find another, more suitable for you. No hard feelings!

The feeling is mutual

Both you and your designer have to work together for the relationship to flourish. 

This means that you have to be clear to them so they know how to create the designs you like. Share your ideas, your likes and dislikes. Remember: they’re not mind-readers.

Most importantly, there must always be open communication. Tell your design team what they did wrong and they’ll fix it and even try to impress you again. Or, let them know what you liked best about what they did so they can do it over and over again.