What is a visual designer?
A visual designer is a communications professional who is responsible for designing and maintaining the visual aspects of a company’s brand across each of the platforms. They can work anywhere from large, multi-national corporations to small, local businesses. They can also work as sole-proprietors, taking on companies as temporary or permanent clients.
Roles and responsibilities of a visual designer
Here are some roles and responsibilities that visual designers might have according to HR recruiting firmRobert Half:
- Collaborate with IT and marketing professionals to fix issues and establish goals
- Design production assets, infographics, logos and other items using creative software
- Design interfaces for web and mobile applications
- Research company history and current company offerings to create a reflective brand identity
Benefits of hiring a visual designer
As mentioned by Dooley and Associates, here are some potential benefits you could receive by hiring a designer for your business:
- Allows you to focus on other business aspects:By hiring an experienced visual designer, you can rest assured knowing that they have the expertise to help you market your business. This could potentially give you more time for employee development, establishing internal policies and procedures and other important tasks to support your business and its success.
- Provides an opportunity to save money:By using a professional service to establish your brand identity, you can potentially save money you could have lost on less effective branding and marketing efforts. This is because aprofessional designer can help create a brand identity that generates sales.
- Establishes your company among the competition:A visual designer can help you create a uniform color palette, logo and other brand components that further helps you distinguish yourself among industry competitors who already have an established brand identity.
- Generates new customers:When a visual designer helps you with your brand image, they support your efforts to create a brand that the public recognizes and wants to buy from. This could help you generate new customers.
How to hire a visual designer
Hiring the right designer for your company requires some research and preparation. The following steps can serve as a guide for your own process:
1. Establish your company’s needs
Before you create a job post and start searching for candidates, it is important to establish your company’s needs. For example, maybe you just started your company and don’t know what colors or fonts to use in your logo. Make a list of the areas where your company needs the most help so that you can create a specific job description.
2. Write a job description
Next, create a job description that you can post to job search websites. This should include the professional title of the job (visual designer), your company name and a short description about your company, a list of qualifications the candidate needs, and a description of the job duties expected of them. You can include salary estimates if you want.
3. Use an ATS to filter candidates
An Application Tracking System or (ATS) is a type of software program that enables you to enter keywords and phrases to match candidates with the same keywords and phrases in their application. This can help you filter through job applications to select the most relevant candidates.
4. Prepare ahead of interviews
Before you interview a candidate, make sure you review their resume, cover letter and design portfolio if provided. Write down questions you can ask them about their previous experiences as well as some other interview questions to learn about their personality.
5. Write a job offer letter
After you interview a candidate you want to hire. You should write a job offer letter. This can be a one-page document stating that they received the position. You can also include salary expectations here if you want to.
