Brands are like people, they have personality and nuance.  Selecting the right agency or designer is like finding love or making a good friend – chemistry is important.

Here are five tips to help you be successful:

Look through their portfolio.  If you see some styles of logos and brand identity that you find appealing, then you’re on the right track. If nothing appeals to you, that’s telling too, and move on.

Who’s going to do your work? Sometimes, a slick agency will introduce you to their top designer, cute account executive or hip art director to wow you. But, none of them may actually end up working on your account.  Ask explicitly so that you don’t get duped.  Will they be designing or contracting it out (and marking it up).

For example, a website company may outsource all of their graphic design work or go through a Freelance agency. Then you’re working with a middleman, and communication can be slow.

How many revisions are included in the quote you’re given?  On a specific job that’s being quoted, you need to know how many revisions are included.  It’s no fun to be in the middle of a project and then be told that you’re out of scope and going to be charged more, when the job is not done and you thought that the quote was the price for a completed job.

Turnaround time. What’s the project timeline look like?  You need to know going in, how long it will take to see one or more variations of the initial design. Depending on the size of the company and the current workload, it could be days or weeks before you see version one.  Can you’re deadline handle that type of turnaround time?  Big agencies often have a person who handles “traffic” and they help organize what gets worked on when. If you’re budget is relatively low, you may receive work relatively slow.

Price and quality. In the automotive industry, you can pretty much see what you’re paying for. More money may be necessary to purchase a car with incredible horsepower or beautiful lines, but you can tell from the outset. In the service industry, there are good deals to be had and terrible deals to be had.  This brings us back to point number two. You need to know who’s doing your work.  Just because an agency looks cool and talks a big game, that’s no reason to believe that your work may not fall into the hands of one of their less experienced designers.  Likewise, an independent designer with low overhead may provide great value and yet carry the same experience as a senior level agency designer. There’s more and more of us working independently these days – as it should come as no surprise that artists enjoy independence.

If you’re reading this blog then you’re already familiar, or becoming familiar, with at least one designer who has the chops to get the job done…extremely well and within budget. So, check out my portfolio and if you see some designs that spark your imagination and make you wonder just how great your brand could look, contact me.