Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Greg Becker

It’s usually expensive to hire the cheapest designer around.

Starting a business? You’re probably thinking of the design of your ideas right? The nitty-gritty strategy work comes with time and careful attention, but starting down the road of a good idea usually involves a sense of vision; maybe you see a specific logo in your head?

But you’re not a designer you say.

“My budget is small, I’m a startup.” you continue…

$15,000 for a logo? Why on earth would somebody pay that much money for something that you can bust out in an hour, right??

It’s very common, but people outside the design community often balk at the price of a logo (or much of anything) well made. Why spend thousands of dollars, when “designers” on Fiverr are ready to craft you 100 different options for a grand total of $15?

Design is not a cost

If you’re going to put tons of money towards building your business, the design and overall way you communicate your business to people cannot be an after-thought. It can’t be the cherry on top.

Quality design is a vital investment in the success of your business.

Design plays an integral part in discovering how your customers go about their day, and how your business plays into their life. That can’t be a guess. That can’t be something you just copy because company “x” is doing it.

If you’re hiring a designer, understand that you’re investing in the knowledge of someone who is in the business of customer satisfaction. Our job is to do our best to understand your business, craft a solution that engages your audience, and help them see why you matter.

This isn’t something you skimp on.

Make this mistake and you might run the risk of receiving something “pretty/sexy”, yet un-usable; something that looks good, but is completely out of touch with your audience.

What’s cheaper…a designer who makes something that looks good that has nothing to do with you or your customer’s vision and having to redo the original task over and over again? Or using someone who knows how to position themselves in the shoes of your users/customers from the get-go, delivering you options that drive 10 times further than you knew how to before hiring them?

Be careful who you hire

Before hiring “Joe-Shmoe” off the inter-googles for $15/hour, let’s start with some basics in hiring a designer.

There are those more senior, those more junior, and people who just suck who think they’re Massimo Vignelli (a really super famouse designer who crafted the NYC subway maps).

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and a lot of designers can be as pretentious as they are flashy. So when interviewing professionals, keep the following in mind…

Do they appear to be interested in understanding my business goals?
Are they asking to know about what speaks to my users/customers?
Do I want this designer marking my brand for 5, 10, 20, or more years?
Are they leading me in a process, or letting me do all the up front work?
Do they appear to have my best interest in mind?
Do they have an amazing portfolio?
Who have they worked for in the past?
Can they explain their design philosophy in simple terms?
Why are they so expensive?
Why are they so cheap?

Find someone who you feel genuinely gets you. You’re going to be depending on this person a lot for major value-points within your business. You don’t want to work with someone who annoys you or talks down to you. You don’t need that kind of distraction.

Quality design is an investment

A design partner can either make or break you, and there are a ton of amazing people who know how to navigate you towards success.

Just because something is cheap, does not make it a good deal! And just because something might be more expensive than you expected, it doesn’t mean that designer can’t figure out a way to work with you in a manner that works for both parties.

You have to remember, design is an investment. You’re gauging value here, not cost. You have to think of premium design as something that’s vital to your success, because it absolutely is!

If you knew you were going to make $1,000,000 from a new website, and the only way to get there was on the back, skill-set, and experience of a seasoned designer, does 10% of that million sound like an un-reasonable investment? It shouldn’t. That’s a 90% profit margin!

Regardless, small or large, designers can be an amazing asset to helping you build the business of your dreams in a manner that speaks to your target audience effectively and efficiently.

Yes, it can be expensive, but so is going to the doctor. Would you like to live longer? How about the life of your business or creative engagement of the people who give you their hard earned cash?

Design and strategy is the life-blood of any good company.

If you’d like to browse around and start your quest for finding a premium designer, check out www.designinc.com, www.dribbble.com, or www.toptal.com.

Signup here to get my most recent posts sent to your email once a week. I enjoy talking about small business, design, people, and quick tips for those who are just starting into the world of entrepreneurship.

I’m currently a User Experience Designer at eBay, where I work on the Native (iOS+Android) Selling team out of Portland, Oregon. I’ve previously rallied onsite with design teams at Nike, Bodybuilding.com, Intel, as well as freelanced with multiple businesses since 2010. I’m the co-founder of Northwest Beard Supply LLC with my beautiful wife Megan, an avid musician, and weight training junkie.

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or emailing me at hello@gregbecker.co –

Hiring a designer can make or break you! was originally published in Prototyping: From UX to Front End on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hiring a designer can make or break you!

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