Frustrated by your graphic designer? Here are my 3 ways how to solve it!

I’ve been working in marketing and advertising for more than ten years and working with the team of designers and coders is my daily routine. Luckily we are living in the time of clever solutions and I’m a grateful user. Let me introduce You few of my secret weapons for the designer work battlefield.

If You are reading this article, You have probably recently faced following story. You needed a graphic design whether it was for a flyer, name card or web. Everything seemed great at the start. You hired a designer with a nice portfolio and lots of referrals believing in the best result.

But….

Things went a totally different way. You spent hours and hours on email, phone or meeting with the designer and the desired result seemed still far away. In the end, You were not willing to pay more money so You satisfied with a halfway result. Why was it so? This was not a mistake on either side.

Where is the problem?

It is really hard to transport the picture from one mind to another. Using examples or drawings can really help. But if You are not tuned to the same wave, there is a little chance to set up an effective cooperation.

There are four basic types of designers

Greenhorn - the rookie that can be enthusiastic and cheap but also overconfident and expensive. He is without much experience mostly in technical things that affect both speed and quality of output. He also does not have much experience in communicating with clients so You have to teach him. You can discover real talent this way, but it is one in a thousand cases.
Handyman - He is technically great. Can prepare print data and create perfect symmetrical layouts, but his lack of creativity.
Artist - Have great ideas and thoughts. But insist on what drafts and is hard to lead to different ideas. Also is not terms reliable and harder to reach and communicate.
Guru - Experienced in both technical and creative way so can be the best match. Also is reliable and precise, but really go on high costs.

There is no recipe for everyone. It is up to You to try the way that fits you. Here are three ways that can solve Your problem with the graphic designer.

1) Buy a ready-made design

This option can rapidly speed up the design process. Either You search and find the exact match according to Your ideas or You can buy and let the designer modify it. Last option is of course that You can inspire and create similar graphics. All ways help both You and the designer to be more efficient and complete the task in no time. The recommendation is to use Envato Graphic river - a stream of endless beautiful drafts starting for a few dollars.

2) Do it Yourself

It has been more than 3 years when I discovered this great tool for all small businesses. Many times I had to wait for even a little piece of design for more than a week. I only needed to change the Facebook cover or create a funny post or a banner. All this stuff and much more solves online app called Canva. You can widely use it even in a free version. there are a lot of ready-made beautiful templates. It can be also used by teams or as a space to work in with Your designer.

3) Collaboration tool

The last option is to use only the collaboration tool. The meaning app that provides a space to make Your communication with designer much more easier. It is visual, clear and fast feedback giving. It is also fun to use it.
These two are recommended:
GoVisually - for graphics
Pastel - for websites

Other tips

Sometimes a great picture is the only solution to try to find it on Shutterstock.
If You do not have a designer try 99 designs the market of proven professionals.
In conclusion, I would like to say, that I had tested all the services and it helped me a lot. But there is one more tip. Maybe the most important. Build a strong relationship with all Your team (not only the designer) and you will see how the work will thrive.