Why choose a design agency for your project?
With the wide variety of design houses, ad agencies and printers out there, choosing the right supplier for your creative needs can be a daunting prospect. should you employ an in-house designer? Many types of company offer graphic design. Printers no longer just print, even many photographers are offering graphic design as a service, as are stationery suppliers, IT companies and many other businesses.
What is a design agency?
So what is a design agency, as opposed to these other options? A design agency is a specialist in creative design as a core business. At the other end of the scale, there are advertising agencies. Should you use an advertising agency for design work that is not advertising? The reverse situation is equally true, most design agencies will not be appropriate for producing broadcast or press advertising, and especially where media scheduling and buying are a factor. The set-up of a design agency can be very effective for some advertising, but usually for limited campaigns aimed at niche target audiences.
The right design agency?
• Is the agency doing many more web projects than design for print? Are the designers qualified designers for print, or web designers who outsource the print design?
• Is the agency willing to give references of satisfied customers other than pre-printed testimonials?
• Can the agency provide quantitative results for work, what evidence can they provide for return on investment and accountability?
Web site design has now become a standard part of a design agency’s portfolio and it is a natural progression for clients’ to expect their web sites to have the same level of branding as any other marketing communications tool.
The main benefit of using a design agency to design your web site is that a graphic designer can integrate your site’s branding with that of all your other marketing items. It is true that many design agencies have to buy-in technical back-end functionality for their sites, but this is only like using a printer to print a brochure that has been conceived and designed by a design agency.
In-house versus Agency?
Many businesses have taken the decision to employ graphic designers for themselves as in-house creative teams. Using a design agency has certain key benefits over an in-house creative studio. Design agencies work in a competitive environment, their designers must constantly deliver the highest standards of work, as clients have a choice of suppliers who will often compete on a project by project basis.
As in football, to maintain a ‘first team place’ it is in the interests of all design agencies to constantly come up with exceptional creative for clients as there are consequences for not doing.
In house designers very seldom have that competitive pressure to drive up their creative efforts. Unlike in-house studios, where the projects may only involve the products and services of one company, designers within an agency work for many different sectors and business types. This constant variety leads to many fresh ideas and the honing of cutting edge creative talent.
This variety benefits the client as the designer in the agency is far less likely to become stale over the longer term. Experiences with new design challenges and constant use of the imagination for new products and services, means that when the designer comes around to working back on a certain client’s project, he has all the experiences from other client’s work to bring to the table.
Although the trend for in-house design will continue due to pressure on budgets, working with a good design agency may still be the better option, as long as your agency can deliver cost-effective services, and offer you a measurable return on investment.
A. Style - How it Affects your Career as Graphic Designer
Few years ago, I had an opportunity to discuss with one of Indonesian well-known ‘branding expert’ about “how we can survive as a graphic designer, specially a freelance graphic designer. Does style affect?” He said, “What is style?! Style is killing designer!” His answer really shocked me, because I am a graphic designer who likes certain style of design, and without I realized people recognized my work by that style.
Do I have to change my style?
I have been 10 years working on graphic design field, during that time I always design with a certain style which more oriented to German style that has a certain characteristic such as ‘neat, compact, well alignment with strong square or rectangle geometrical shape’. That makes me sure that graphic design style is not always about era, just like many people think. In other word, a certain style won’t kill designers’ life. On the other way around, a freelance graphic designer will be able to survive with his/her own style.
A freelance graphic designer, who has his/her own style, unconsciously would create his/her own target market. With their portfolios, prospect clients would see the characteristic of their artworks.
Explore and strengthen the style in order to get the personal touch, that way our style will be our identity in graphic design industry.
B. So You Think You Don't Need To Use An Outside Graphic Design Agency?
It seems there are a large number of Companies out there that think it is an extravagant and unnecessary expense to hire an outside Graphic Design Agency to do their work for them. Their beliefs are that they already know what they want and they have a member of staff that is able to do the work in-house, or perhaps they are simply unwilling to pay for outside graphic design services that they 'think' are too expensive when costs are an overriding concern.
Companies may well be saving on costs 'doing-it-themselves' but at the expense of the quality of design, skills and experience an outside Graphic Design Agency can bring to bear on a particular project.
Marketing and Communication is essential to every Company's ability to grow their client base. Well, Graphic Designers plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They consider cognitive, cultural, physical, and social factors in planning and executing designs appropriate for a given context. Bottom line, they get the Clients message out to the public with the intention of selling said Clients products or services. Simple!
In most instances a Company will turn to an established outside Graphic Design Agency for help in creating bespoke solutions for their specific marketing and communication needs. In some Companies though, in-house Designers or existing staff with some design skills are often used to create the marketing materials. Cost is a major consideration with Companies and they often think that it is cheaper to keep everything in-house by hiring their own Designer (or doing it themselves) and acquiring all the software and hardware required to produce the projects in-house. For most smaller companies these are expenses that are just not viable.
Smaller companies that produce the artwork themselves do not necessarily have the skills or knowledge required to create artwork that is ready to print, so when the files are sent to the printer, additional costs and time delays are incurred whilst the printer sorts out all the problems. The outside Graphic Design Agency has the advantage here, being already experienced in all the software programme's commonly in use and will fully understand all the design and production tricks of the trade that helps to achieve effective design with the fewest problems.
Design itself. An in-house Designer will often have a problem moving the company forward into new territories, because their imaginations and creativity are being stifled working within the same business sector, using the same stories and visual solutions again and again. An outside Graphic Design Agency has a huge advantage here, working on a variety of different briefs, from different clients within different industry sectors.
The Designers within the Graphic Design Agency are constantly exposed to the ongoing evolution of design ideas with colleagues, client interactions and the design media, whilst continually drawing on the years of training and development acquired whilst actually working within the Design business for a number of years. Perhaps cost-cutting is not the over-riding factor after all. Perhaps effective design is more important.
With the wide variety of design houses, ad agencies and printers out there, choosing the right supplier for your creative needs can be a daunting prospect. should you employ an in-house designer? Many types of company offer graphic design. Printers no longer just print, even many photographers are offering graphic design as a service, as are stationery suppliers, IT companies and many other businesses.
What is a design agency?
So what is a design agency, as opposed to these other options? A design agency is a specialist in creative design as a core business. At the other end of the scale, there are advertising agencies. Should you use an advertising agency for design work that is not advertising? The reverse situation is equally true, most design agencies will not be appropriate for producing broadcast or press advertising, and especially where media scheduling and buying are a factor. The set-up of a design agency can be very effective for some advertising, but usually for limited campaigns aimed at niche target audiences.
The right design agency?
• Is the agency doing many more web projects than design for print? Are the designers qualified designers for print, or web designers who outsource the print design?
• Is the agency willing to give references of satisfied customers other than pre-printed testimonials?
• Can the agency provide quantitative results for work, what evidence can they provide for return on investment and accountability?
Web site design has now become a standard part of a design agency’s portfolio and it is a natural progression for clients’ to expect their web sites to have the same level of branding as any other marketing communications tool.
The main benefit of using a design agency to design your web site is that a graphic designer can integrate your site’s branding with that of all your other marketing items. It is true that many design agencies have to buy-in technical back-end functionality for their sites, but this is only like using a printer to print a brochure that has been conceived and designed by a design agency.
In-house versus Agency?
Many businesses have taken the decision to employ graphic designers for themselves as in-house creative teams. Using a design agency has certain key benefits over an in-house creative studio. Design agencies work in a competitive environment, their designers must constantly deliver the highest standards of work, as clients have a choice of suppliers who will often compete on a project by project basis.
As in football, to maintain a ‘first team place’ it is in the interests of all design agencies to constantly come up with exceptional creative for clients as there are consequences for not doing.
In house designers very seldom have that competitive pressure to drive up their creative efforts. Unlike in-house studios, where the projects may only involve the products and services of one company, designers within an agency work for many different sectors and business types. This constant variety leads to many fresh ideas and the honing of cutting edge creative talent.
This variety benefits the client as the designer in the agency is far less likely to become stale over the longer term. Experiences with new design challenges and constant use of the imagination for new products and services, means that when the designer comes around to working back on a certain client’s project, he has all the experiences from other client’s work to bring to the table.
Although the trend for in-house design will continue due to pressure on budgets, working with a good design agency may still be the better option, as long as your agency can deliver cost-effective services, and offer you a measurable return on investment.
A. Style - How it Affects your Career as Graphic Designer
Few years ago, I had an opportunity to discuss with one of Indonesian well-known ‘branding expert’ about “how we can survive as a graphic designer, specially a freelance graphic designer. Does style affect?” He said, “What is style?! Style is killing designer!” His answer really shocked me, because I am a graphic designer who likes certain style of design, and without I realized people recognized my work by that style.
Do I have to change my style?
I have been 10 years working on graphic design field, during that time I always design with a certain style which more oriented to German style that has a certain characteristic such as ‘neat, compact, well alignment with strong square or rectangle geometrical shape’. That makes me sure that graphic design style is not always about era, just like many people think. In other word, a certain style won’t kill designers’ life. On the other way around, a freelance graphic designer will be able to survive with his/her own style.
A freelance graphic designer, who has his/her own style, unconsciously would create his/her own target market. With their portfolios, prospect clients would see the characteristic of their artworks.
Explore and strengthen the style in order to get the personal touch, that way our style will be our identity in graphic design industry.
B. So You Think You Don't Need To Use An Outside Graphic Design Agency?
It seems there are a large number of Companies out there that think it is an extravagant and unnecessary expense to hire an outside Graphic Design Agency to do their work for them. Their beliefs are that they already know what they want and they have a member of staff that is able to do the work in-house, or perhaps they are simply unwilling to pay for outside graphic design services that they 'think' are too expensive when costs are an overriding concern.
Companies may well be saving on costs 'doing-it-themselves' but at the expense of the quality of design, skills and experience an outside Graphic Design Agency can bring to bear on a particular project.
Marketing and Communication is essential to every Company's ability to grow their client base. Well, Graphic Designers plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They consider cognitive, cultural, physical, and social factors in planning and executing designs appropriate for a given context. Bottom line, they get the Clients message out to the public with the intention of selling said Clients products or services. Simple!
In most instances a Company will turn to an established outside Graphic Design Agency for help in creating bespoke solutions for their specific marketing and communication needs. In some Companies though, in-house Designers or existing staff with some design skills are often used to create the marketing materials. Cost is a major consideration with Companies and they often think that it is cheaper to keep everything in-house by hiring their own Designer (or doing it themselves) and acquiring all the software and hardware required to produce the projects in-house. For most smaller companies these are expenses that are just not viable.
Smaller companies that produce the artwork themselves do not necessarily have the skills or knowledge required to create artwork that is ready to print, so when the files are sent to the printer, additional costs and time delays are incurred whilst the printer sorts out all the problems. The outside Graphic Design Agency has the advantage here, being already experienced in all the software programme's commonly in use and will fully understand all the design and production tricks of the trade that helps to achieve effective design with the fewest problems.
Design itself. An in-house Designer will often have a problem moving the company forward into new territories, because their imaginations and creativity are being stifled working within the same business sector, using the same stories and visual solutions again and again. An outside Graphic Design Agency has a huge advantage here, working on a variety of different briefs, from different clients within different industry sectors.
The Designers within the Graphic Design Agency are constantly exposed to the ongoing evolution of design ideas with colleagues, client interactions and the design media, whilst continually drawing on the years of training and development acquired whilst actually working within the Design business for a number of years. Perhaps cost-cutting is not the over-riding factor after all. Perhaps effective design is more important.
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