“Trusting your Freelance
Designer”
A
recent conversation brought up a common concern that new or potential clients
express about freelance designers: Trust
Occasionally
we hear of horror stories of clients being left high and dry by individual
freelance designers, who over promised, under-delivered and missed key
deadlines. Then to make matters worse, they disappeared completely from the
face of the earth when their help was needed most.
On one
hand, this is music to our ears because our competitor’s professional
short-comings have brought this client to our door step. On the other, it is
concerning when their behavior reflects on us as a whole. As a freelance design
firm in business for almost 12 years, we are not most freelance designers. We
have built our firm around being responsible, responsive and respectful of our
client’s needs. When looking at hiring a freelance designer here are a few
questions to consider:
Team: The exhibit design industry is a fast
paced and deadline orientated business. When looking at a freelance designer,
consider the team not just the individual. How many people will work on your
project? How many designers do they work and collaborate with on a daily basis? How many are off-site “contractors” hired temporarily to complete your job?
Takeaway: Be careful that you are not
putting all your eggs in one individuals basket. Who will back them up if they are sick, on
vacation or overbooked? Most of all, do they have other designers in-house they
can lean on to make sure your deadlines are met.
Deadlines: As a freelance design firm in business for almost 12 years,
we have never missed a deadline. If we take on a project, we will move heaven
and earth to meet your deadline. Period. It is important to ask what steps they
will take to meet them. Everyone knows the right answers, so consider asking
scenario questions and have them confirm their track record meeting deadlines.
As designers, the concept of “deadlines” is beat into us in design school. If they
have ever missed a deadline, or show indifference towards one, kick them to the
curb. They don’t get it.
Takeaway: There is no excuse for
missed deadlines. If one is missed, more will follow. Maybe not today. Maybe
not tomorrow. But some day, this designer will burn you.
Confidentiality: This is the lifeblood of
our business, and we have taken steps that are borderline OCD to secure our
client information in-house. When you are looking at a freelance designer, you
need to consider how they will treat your sensitive information. Who owns the designs
you have paid to develop? Will they develop the same design/project for two
different clients? Will they provide CAD files of the designs upon completion?
Takeaway: Having them sign an NDA can
go a long way, but signing an agreement and adhering to it are two different
things. They should be able to explain what steps they have taken to secure
your information on their servers/workstations and staff.
The Why and the How: Why and How did they become
a freelance designer? Did they choose to become a freelance designer or are they
simply between jobs trying to make ends meet? In this economy, there is certainly nothing wrong with doing that or using them, but consider that there are many talented designers
working as freelancers by choice.
Takeaway: While some freelance designers would
prefer a full-time job and are doing this until they find one. Be certain you
are hiring someone who will still be there in 3 months when you need them.
Portfolio: Does their portfolio
consistently represent the talent and level of execution you are looking for?
If not, ask them why. Their work should be taken as a whole, not based on a few
projects. If there are only a few “quality” projects, ask them why.
Furthermore, ask them if they did everything in the designs. Did they do the project download,
organization, research, ideation, sketching, color roughs, estimate drawings and final computer
color renderings? Ask to see examples of their process.
Takeaway: Some designers will
represent an entire project as their own, when they only worked on a portion of
it. The idea here is to understand what their capabilities are. Just because
someone shows up in Formula One race car, doesn’t mean they are capable of racing
it in the Indy 500. Ask questions and make sure you’re hiring Mario Andretti
and not the Valet.
Availability: Be specific about a project when asking a
freelance designer what their availability is. Define the project. What is
their lead time based on these parameters? This is a bit of a trick question,
because it is all relative. Be less concerned with their ability to start
immediately, and more concerned with their confidence in meeting your
deadlines. They may be thinking in terms of nights and weekends to get the job done.
Takeaway: Ultimately, you are looking
for honest communication regarding their capacity. Beware of designers who never answer the phone or take days to return calls. Other warning signs are when they say they can turn around a project in 2 days with little or
no project information or that they are booked for a month.
Personalities: As freelance designers, we
probably know and understand “Freelance” types as well or better than our
clients do. We realize that some of our competitors walk a fine line between
greatness and barely keeping up with the day to day. Ultimately, a designer are
creative types, and with that comes a few quirks.
Takeaway: We are just this side of a
starving artist.The difference is we decided our creativity was worth getting
paid for in this lifetime. With that realization, comes a reasonable amount of
analytical and professional common sense that you can count on.
Trust & Confidence: Regardless of how our
competitors conduct themselves, we earn our clients trust and confidence the
old fashion way: One project at a time. Our reputation is everything, but
ultimately we could not have grown our design firm for the last 12 years if our
clients did not trust us to meet their deadlines and exceed their objectives.
If the designer you are working with does not give you the same confidence,
then it is time to speak with one who does.
Labels: core design group, Custom Exhibit, Custom Exhibit Design, exhibit design, Freelance Design, Freelance Designer, Trade Show Design, Tradeshow Booth
