Graphic Designers freelancers

Graphic designers aim to give a visual identity to each product or project. They transform ideas into images using various types of DTP software and for any medium, whether website or print. Need a freelance graphic designer? Search for them by skill: print, digital, visual identity, etc. on Malt.

Graphic designers help showcase your company with branding.  They use tools like Adobe Photoshop to create and build your brand. That way, your message is seen, understood and retained more easily.

Graphic designers can work on 2 types of mediums:

Print: business cards, posters, flyers, etc.

Digital (online): visuals for social networks, websites, banners, etc.

Graphic designers specialising in digital are called web designers: they take into account the constraints of web media (dimensions, weight, resolution) to ensure optimal quality of online visuals.

On the other hand, there are graphic designers who specialise in print, whether for business cards, flyers, etc. Here again, there are technical constraints to consider in order to create clear printed visuals!

Within a team, it’s the Art Director (or AD) who coordinates the work of a team of graphic designers, illustrators, web designers and UI/UX designers. More experienced, they are also responsible for the brand’s visual identity. A distinction is sometimes made between ADs for strategy and graphic designers for delivery; both are in fact capable of strategic thinking and implementation. It is therefore common to see the headline ‘AD – Graphic Designer’ on Malt profiles.

Graphic designers create the visual elements of your latest projects: company, brand, products… They’re the freelancers to go to create your visual identity! As a visual identity ensures you’re immediately recognised, it’s important to properly define it with a graphic designer.

Here are a few examples of what they can create:

A logo

A graphic charter

Business cards

Flyers

Graphic designers can also help you produce materials for special events: Chinese New Year, promos, etc. The Beautyst, for example, hired a freelance graphic designer for a campaign for International Women’s Rights Day.

Here’s a few of the things they can offer:

• Banner ads
• Newsletters
• Visuals for social networks
• Greetings Cards
• Posters

When creating visuals, graphic designers must ensure that they are appealing and more importantly, that the underlying message is understood. A delicate balance between aesthetics and meaning. This balance is achieved through a proper understanding of the client’s needs making it essential to clearly specify them. This can be done via a brief that includes:

• The context: is it a promo campaign? A logo for a company?
• The objective: what is the message that needs conveying? What is the desired result?
• The target audience: who is it for?
• The medium: where will the visual be shown? What are the constraints of the medium?

Positioning: what is your company’s identity, how does it communicate?

Providing the designer with some sources of inspiration will also help them to better understand your expectations.

It’s also a good idea to provide them with your graphic charter if you have one. This document sets out the visual codes of your company and ensures visual consistency. If you don’t have this document, don’t worry! The most important thing is to show the graphic designer the visuals you’re already using, for example for your website, banners, flyers, etc.

You could also ask a graphic designer to create a graphic charter for you!

Lastly, it’s important to come up with a deadline! We recommend that you agree on the delivery date and any milestones.

Choosing a graphic designer can be easy if you follow these steps:

Judge their graphic design skills

When getting in touch with a freelance graphic designer, it’s worth ensuring that they’ve got the skills you need. Not yet an expert on the various roles? Don’t worry, most graphic designers include their specialisation on their Malt profile whether art director, web designer, illustrator, UX designer…

You can search freelancers who’ve got the skills you require by using the search engine.

Make sure to look at their portfolios to get a feel for their work. It’s a great way to see their experience and style.

Consider their Average Day Rate

In the UK, the average day rate for graphic designers is £261 (March 2017). This rate varies from city to city. Freelancers decide on their rates based on their skills and experience. There are two types of payment:

Hourly: you pay the graphic designer according to the time spent on your project. Example: A freelancer who estimates that your project will require 4 hours of work will charge you half their day rate.

Fixed price: you pay the graphic designer according to the result, based on a quote agreed on beforehand. Example: A freelancer may have a predefined rate for the creation of a flyer, logo, business card.

Evaluate the designer’s reputation

Reputation is very important on Malt. That’s why we’ve set up a dual recommendation system:

External feedback left by the freelancer’s professional network, outside of Malt projects

End of project reviews, left by clients who’ve worked with the freelancer on Malt

The average day rate for experienced freelancers is £311.

Freelancer day rates vary depending on the city they’re located in. For example, the ADR of a graphic designer in London is £356, while in Leeds it is £313 and in Edinburgh £273.

Based on your brief you’ll agree on the project details: delivery date, constraints, number of revisions and any other important information.

If not already the case, we recommend you ask the freelancer to include these details on the quote they’ll send you: this’ll ensure that you get off on the right foot.

If you’re happy with the quote, you can accept it online and pay for the project directly. This amount will be held in an escrow account at Malt to which no one has access until the end of the project. Once the project is complete, you and the freelancer confirm the end of the project on your respective dashboards.

For the freelancer, this ensures that the funds will be made available soon after the project. For your part, you don’t have to pay a deposit and are sure of the result.

Thanks to the online quotation system, Malt acts as a trusted third party. This also allows you to benefit from the free AXA professional liability insurance that we’ve negotiated for you.