It gets frustrating every time a small business starts and the owner got no additional capital to produce good ads and logos for their start-up brand.
The problem with local graphic designers is that they’re too expensive to afford for the newbie, let alone the bucks required for federal documents, resources to be used by the industry, and manpower compensation. Probably, that’s the main reason why only the big names have the brilliant marketing strategies. But if we take time to reconsider, the problem might not be financial, but lack of information that they have the option to venture outsourcing for their graphic design.
If they just look farther than their fence, there is a plethora of talents that can offer quality solutions to their limited resources. And the fact is that, they have plenty of options other than borrowing money just to avail the services of an artist for their branding.
1. Crowdsourcing: The One-Way
The crowdsourcing system is simple. You will pay for a measly amount and the site will host a contest for the logo or any graphic design you want. The results from the contenders often go up to a thousand choices and you’ll only pay for the one you’ve chosen. They call it spec work. And often times, you get fast and quality results from this type of setup. However, you won’t be able to know the identity of the authors of the choice designs.
2. Freelance: The Two-Way
Freelance is like hiring. The only difference is you won’t get to meet your contractor personally. You will have communication, though, through e-mails and web cameras. Freelance work is set up depending on the agreement of the contractor and the client. You may be asked for upfront payment or not. You may pay by hours or by results — as said, it will all depend upon your mutual agreement.
3. Outsourcing: The Three-Way
There are three entities involved when you opt for outsourcing your graphic design: you, the graphic designer, and the outsourcing company to which the designer is working for. Everything will be documented and will be based on a contract you both acknowledge. And all these for a cheap price that is slightly higher than what you will pay for a freelancer.
Outsourcing vs. Crowdsourcing and Freelancing
At a first glance, crowdsourcing seems to-good-to-be-true. You will pay a very small amount and a thousand designers would put all their efforts just for a strip of chance that one will win among the other nine hundred ninety-nine. However it feels a bit delusive, not to mention fishy. Of course, who wouldn’t want to win your dollars? But unless these ‘anonymous contestants’ can produce a layout or a logo within a sweatless five minutes, we will have second doubts before we ever find out that out of the thousand spec works, none is utterly original.
Freelancing is also a good option if you can distinguish at first introduction which designers will stick to the deadlines and who will not. There is some difference between contract and verbal agreement. In case any of you violates the agreement, you won’t be able to take legal actions.
But all these are safe when outsourcing graphic design. The thing with it is that there will be a concrete proof of transaction, and that your contractor’s name is at stake if ever they give you a crappy layout or logo out of the cookie cutter.
When considering affordable services, you must learn to distinguish the phonies from not.
