How to find a professional graphic designer

Finding a professional graphic designer can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, especially if you don’t know where to look. Just when you think you’ve hit the mother lode you’re faced with an equally daunting task—sifting through the multitude of people laying claim to the title Graphic Designer.

Not all graphic designers are created equal

Technology has a sneaky way of delivering backhanded problems while solving them. Personal computing and the wide availability of desktop publishing software have made shade-tree designers of us all. Many people offer design services—ranging in experience from professional graphic designers with years of experience to high school students armed with pirated software hoping to make a quick buck.

Searching the Internet can be very time consuming and your efforts can leave you feeling confused and discouraged. Some business owners find this process so overwhelming that they eventually give up and try to do the work on their own.

Where to look for a professional graphic designer

1. Local graphic design organizations – The largest graphic design organization in the Fresno area is the Fresno Design Alliance. Their website (fresnodesignalliance.org) contains an extensive listing of Fresno area professional graphic designers. Currently the database contains 155 professional graphic designers, 131 of which are available for freelance, and more than a third have 10+ years of professional experience. You can search by freelance availability, professional experience, and areas of practice.
2. Referrals – Ask everyone you know. A friend or relative might know a professional graphic designer that would be a perfect fit for your business.
3. Inquire – When you come across a logo, printed marketing piece, or website that you like, contact the company and inquire about the design professional who produced it.
4. Post your project – You can post a description of your project online with a request that interested design professionals contact you. Go to Fresno Design Alliance’s website and click on the menu item Non-designer Resources, and choose Post a Job/Project from the drop down list or just click here.

“Yellow” reads “caution”

Sifting through the Yellow Pages and other traditional methods of searching can yield some successful leads but it’s risky, so be aware of these problems:

• Too many results. Look up “Graphic Designers” in the phone book and you’re bound to come across listings for pseudo-designers—businesses in related industries that offer “graphix” as part of their one-stop-shop repertoire. These industries typically include sign companies, printers, t-shirt printing companies, promotional product marketers, and the like.
• Not enough results. According to Ecomonist.com, at the “current rates the last landline in America will be disconnected sometime in 2025.” The world is ditching the landline in favor of mobile devices and so are many professional graphic designers. No landline? No listing.

Stay tuned for my next article, How to choose a professional graphic designer.

Further reading and surfing:

• The Ignite Series—a collection of workshops designed to teach businesses how to increase earnings through design.
• Central Valley Business Incubator—growing entrepreneurs through an integrated network of incubation and business development partners.
• Fresno Design Alliance—a collaboration of professional and student graphic designers devoted to developing Fresno’s design awareness.