How To Find The Right Designer For Your Brand

Okay, so you know you need a designer. Awesome! That’s the easy part. The hard part? Finding the right one for you. And hey, before you get any ideas, we aren’t here to tell you 100% that you need us.

That’s not the point of this blog post. 

The point of this blog post is to help guide you in finding the right designer for your business. That might not be us, and we’re a-okay with that!

In fact, we only work with brands we know we can elevate to top dog status. We’re talking about #droolworthy brands that make your customers beg for more.

So...how do you go about finding the right designer for your brand?

That’s what we’re here to help with today! We’re listing below the most important steps and things to look for finding the right designer for your brand.

Do They Have Experience?

Not only do they have the experience, but is the experience more aligned with the things that are most important to what you’re looking for?

For us, we’re all about modern touches, bold designs, and functional creativity that bring out the best #droolworthy designs. The founder of Dox Design, Kaila, started in the corporate design agency world and just knew it didn’t serve her vision. While she gained wonderful experience in those roles, she also wanted to create her own experience doing what she loved - creating strong, compelling brands that flaunt clients’ stand-out qualities in fun and daring ways.

Learn more about us, our team, and our experience here.

Do They Have A BOMB Portfolio?

I mean, as designers, this should be a no-brainer. If a DESIGNER isn’t showing you their designs, we’d be a bit worried!

But, it’s also more than that. It’s not about just knowing they have a portfolio and that they’re a legit business. It’s about seeing if their design style is what you’re looking for.

Of course, a great designer can work with different types of brands, but that doesn’t mean they don’t specialize in something unique that you’re looking for.

We recommend browsing the designer’s portfolio to see if you can see pieces of your future brand within them. Do you see a lot of modern brands, brands with lots of interactive pieces, or maybe brands with a focused love? For us, you’ll see a focused love on dogs (can you blame us?). But, that doesn’t mean we just work with pet businesses. We work with many other types of businesses!

The best part is we commonly end up finding out that those clients (not in the pet industry) are huge animal lovers, or maybe some of their proceeds go to an animal rescue organization, etc. It all comes full circle and we end up creating some pretty great relationships and brands because of it!

In case you’re interested, check out our portfolio here.

Do They Resonate With You (And/Or Your Brand)?

This one is probably one of the most important pieces of the puzzle to finding the right designer for your brand. 

This has NOTHING to do with the text written on the website. Ignore the pricing, what the package includes, what the designer looks like, what their business name is, how long the package will take, etc. (I mean...don’t 100% ignore it. We’re just trying to make a point here).

We’re simply encouraging you to take a minute to see if the designer resonates with who you are. Do you think you’ll work well together? Does something gravitate you towards them? Does it just ‘feel right?’ We’re big believers in gut feelings. They end up telling you way more than any other piece of information. 

To do this, go through their website, their about page, their social media, their Facebook Group (if they have one), and other blog posts just like this one! Lean into your instincts and see what you feel. You never know what might come up. ☺️

Do They Push Concepts Just To Follow Trends (ICK)?

There are plenty of designers out there who think they need to simply follow the trends out there and that’s the solution to the branding equation. But, unfortunately, it ain’t that simple and it’s just not the case to see a real difference.

Regardless of the industry you are in, there are always additional factors to take into consideration like…

- Who are you speaking to?

- What’s your mission?

- What emotions do you want to portray?

- What action do you want your audience to take on each platform?

- What separates your industry or even your brand from others?

We at Dox Design focus on the customer the brand wants to attract and start there. It’s a big no-no to push concepts simply because they’re trendy. 

It’s about your business, your mission, and your audience. Build from there and you’ll see much bigger results.

Do They Listen To You? 

Oh man, you’d think that this would go without saying, but this is something we see missing SO often! We get many clients telling us that they typically don’t feel heard when hiring professionals, whether they are designers, marketers, or packaging experts. 

Yes, of course it’s important to take into consideration what will work best for your brand even if it doesn’t match up exactly with what you’re wanting. But, we do everything we can to design what clients are asking for, but with our Dox Design expertise spin on it! 

It’s about finding the fine line in between your preferences, the preferences of your ideal client, and what works best for your specific brand and business.

Do They Even Offer What You Need?

We recommend writing down both what you know you need for your brand, but also some ‘maybes’ or future items you may need.

Depending on where you’re at, you may know you just need the basics when it comes to establishing your brand identity, but you may need social media graphic support or packaging design in the future.

If so, it’s a good idea to make a comprehensive list of all the potential items and see if it’s listed as one of the designer’s services. Can they help with the things you may need?

For example, our Design Lab allows our past or current branding clients to have access to us after completing their original designs, so we can continually execute a thoughtful brand presence everywhere your brand lives on print and digital.

It’s all about making sure you feel supported, taken care of, and that you don’t have any missing pieces when it comes to investing in a #droolworthy brand with top dog status! 

If you do decide that what we’ve said sounds like the right fit for you, awesome.

Simply fill out this form and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible to talk next steps for you and your future #droolworthy brand!