Design is all around us. It’s in our clothes, devices, books, food packaging, and so many other places. We see it when we’re safe at home or out driving on a busy freeway or in the mall. Design matters because it brings meaning, order, and function to the things around us.
And it’s hard to separate the cruciality of graphic design from the whole design experience. People see graphic design all the time and make decisions based on them, whether we realise it or not. That’s why hiring a graphic designer virtual assistant could do your business well if you want to influence people to make decisions in your favor – whether it’s getting them to follow your social channels, remember your brand, or make a purchase.
Over the years of working with entrepreneurs, we see that they outsource to graphic designers all the time. But what significance does hiring a graphic designer have on business success, and why is it necessary to invest in a business? We talk about all that and more, beginning with a conversation with a graphic design virtual assistant named Alaila.
Meet Alaila Alvarez
Graphic designer and Virtual Assistant professional Alaila Alvarez has spent the last four years working for clients from all types of industries. She has worked with businesses in wellness, beauty, fashion, news, and so much more. In addition, she has worked on all kinds of designs, including web banners, social media content, branding, and fashion pieces, to name a few.
Our founder, Linh, took the time to talk to Alaila, who has provided virtual assistant graphic design services to many happy clients on how to succeed as a graphic designer in the virtual world or what traits and skills to look for in a design virtual assistant. If you want to listen to that conversation, you can check out the video.
Why Outsource to a Graphic Design Virtual Assistant?
When it comes to working with graphic designers, there seems to be a growing number of professionals, managers, and business owners who outsource design work to a Virtual Assistant. For example, because we work as an outsourcing company in Australia, people from all over the nation and world come to us to hire designers from developing countries like the Philippines.
Working as a virtual assistant company, we’ve heard many reasons why businesses like to outsource graphic design to a freelancer or virtual professional. Let’s talk about some of the major bases.
Streamline marketing efforts — One of the first reasons people in business and marketing outsource design work is to streamline marketing operations. 49% of marketers will admit that visual design plays a vital role in marketing. However, graphic design can be tedious work that consumes a lot of time and creative juice from Marketing Managers and business owners. So to proverbially buy more time and energy, people choose to outsource work like graphic design externally.
Design is getting expensive — Designers are starting to get quite expensive wage-wise. And while there’s nothing wrong with getting paid more, not all businesses have that luxury. This case is most often true for solopreneurs or startups that don’t have enough cash flow to hire locally. In response to the rising graphic designer rates in first-world countries, companies outsource graphic design to the Philippines and other developing countries where the cost of living is cheaper, and wages are not as high.
Outsourcing exposes a company to the global talent pool — Sometimes, people hire graphic designers virtually, not because they’re cheaper. In many cases, they can actually be better. For example, let’s say a business owner is going through a portfolio website like Pinterest or Behance, and they chance upon an artist who lives in another country. Through the power of digital technology, that entrepreneur can now connect with the artist and start working with them even if they’re thousands of miles away.
Benefits of Working with a Graphic Designer
To outsource graphic design isn’t always a default decision. Too often, managers and entrepreneurs tend to think of design as a task anyone can do. But as Alaila shared in the video, there’s a lot more to just putting shapes and text together when designing a graphic. One has to conceptualize, think of case scenarios, consider your audience, and develop multiple graphics in short periods.
Working with graphic designers has many advantages. Here are some of them.
Faster and better output
There’s an old tale of a boat company that called a skilled mechanic after failing to fix one of their biggest boats. The mechanic tinkered with the boat for five minutes and billed the company a hefty fee. In shock, the managers objected. But the mechanic simply responded, “it took me years to learn how to do this fast.”
Hiring a graphic designer gets us better output faster, and that’s always worth paying for if it means you get to accelerate your company’s campaigns, launches, and product development.
Clearer communication
Some of the most successful graphic designs are those that we’ve become so accustomed to that we barely notice them. For example, you see a red circle with a diagonal line across it, which means stop. You see a picture of a man over a doorway, and you know that’s the men’s restroom.
Good graphic design communicates messages better. And that can do much good for a business that wants to clarify its offering, opinion, brand promise, or unique value proposition.
Lower risk and higher guarantees
will leave a website with poor graphic design. Sometimes, we can’t afford that hit or miss lest we lose leads for the rest of our lives because of bad sites, social media channels, or marketing materials. So when we hire skilled graphic designers with proven track records, we’re lessening our risk and improving our chances of winning people over to our brand.
Design plays an essential part in branding, a process that could pay many dividends in the future if we play our cards right from the beginning. We do this by ensuring quality visual experiences consistently over long periods.
Positive impact on the bottom line
It’s hard to deny that good graphic design makes more sales. Our inclination to good packaging, eye-catching social media graphics, and sleek-looking logos will attest to the power of good design. Accordingly, paying for good graphic design could be an investment that will grow your company’s bottom line. Significantly
Looking for an experienced and reliable Virtual Assistant?
Our Outsourcing Specialist is here to talk about all your business needs so that we can find you a Virtual Assistant that meets your expectations and fits seamlessly into your business.
What Kind of Graphics to Outsource to a Graphic Designer
When companies outsource graphic design work, an important consideration to clarify at the onset is what kind of graphics the company will need. Many graphic design Virtual Assistants can be highly versatile in the kind of content they can create with their visual magic.
Here is a list of collaterals and materials that you can outsource to a graphic design virtual assistant:
- Social media graphics — There are a lot of visual elements that go into social media platforms.Facebook pages might need a good profile image and a cover photo, to begin with. Then there’s the added demand for post content. When asked what kind of content they preferred on social media, 68% of the respondents said images were the ones they gave attention to most.
Social media is quickly turning into an extended universe for us all. If your business isn’t pushing out content on social platforms, you’re leaving money on the table. And a graphic design Virtual Assistant keeps that operation going.
- Branded content and materials
A company’s brand is an intangible asset with so much intrinsic value. It’s the reason why people pay more for a bag or pair of shoes with certain logos attached to them.
Nowadays, people don’t just buy products. They buy the visual experience that comes along with it. Hence, creating branded content and materials should be non-negotiable for any company. That’s most especially the case for companies that want to be remembered and patronized by clients for a very, very long time. Branded content and materials could include:
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- Business cards
- Branded merchandise
- Letterheads
- Notepads
- Signages
- Menus
- CVs and Bios
- And more
- Websites — Superior websites are often those that have better user experiences. A graphic designer can optimise the UX and UI of a site, given their understanding of design hierarchies and how certain elements tend to affect people. Hiring a graphic designer to also provide images and graphics for blog posts and company updates is also an intelligent recruitment decision over the long term.
- Learning course materials — If a business is in the education space and looks to develop curricula or online courses, graphic designers will be pivotal to the course development puzzle. Graphic designers can create keynote slides, worksheets, posters, trainer’s manuals, participant packs, onboarding materials, and more.
- Books — For anyone who has ever written a book, it will be obvious how crucial a book cover design plays in the publication’s success. There are also loads of pages that need to be laid out well so that readers get to experience every page more optimally.
- Email banners — Email marketing is a powerful marketing tool that can help nurture leads and encourage repeat purchases over time. Having a graphic designer create visually appealing email banners, posters, and covers could help improve conversion rates.
- Advertising materials — People today advertise both online and offline. Whether a business needs a billboard or Facebook banner ad, a graphic designer plays an essential role in ensuring that those ads convey a message clearly and compellingly. Therefore, graphic design outsourcing is essential in all forms of advertising.
- Thumbnails — Thumbnails serve as a preview to video content online. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube videos allow for custom thumbnails. Don’t just choose a screenshot from your video. Create a beautiful thumbnail that catches people’s attention and interest at first glance. 70% of the most high-performing YouTube thumbnails had some explanatory text on them. There’s a chance you won’t be able to do that well without a designer on your team.
- Packaging — Are you selling a physical product? That item is going to need some form of packaging. Of course, you could always go for a paper bag or bubble wrap, but first impressions last in product packaging as with people. Hiring a Virtual Assistant graphic designer gives a business access to someone who can create stunning packaging designs.
- Print materials — Some businesses print other materials to promote their products and services, such as brochures, flyers, catalogs, in-house magazines, and so on.
Should my Designer Use Canva or Photoshop?
Potential and existing clients ask us all the time what tool works best when hiring graphic design virtual assistants. So we talked to Alaila to walk us through the two most popular design tools available to designers and the general public today, namely Canva and Adobe Photoshop.
Canva
is a more recent innovation that has made graphic design, video animations, and presentation creation all the more easy. The site contains many templates for all kinds of uses, including social media graphics, presentations, logos, A4 documents, and so on.
As Alaila shares, however, these templates are available to millions of users now and could risk having matching graphics with other brands out there. Instead, the tool can serve as a good guide for a Canva virtual assistant or when a company needs fast graphics. They’re also great in times where you want to collaborate with another designer or a creative business owner or stakeholder over the cloud.
Photoshop
is an older and more advanced graphic editing software that has stood the test of time. Working with a Photoshop virtual assistant might enable your business to take on more complex design work that could entail photo warping, manipulation, text renderings, and so on. However, Photoshop can be more expensive than a long shot.
In the end, both tools have their own pros and cons. However, whatever tool your graphic designer chooses, what matters most is the outcome of the software and whether it meets its required specs well.
Graphic Design: A Specialist Virtual Assistant
When companies hire a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines through Outsourcing Angel, one of the first phases we’ll bring people through is determining whether they need a general Virtual Assistant or a Specialist VA.
Graphic designers fall under the category of a technical virtual assistant as their skills require a lot of mastery, study, and practice. So, hiring a graphic designer could be a little more costly, but it will become a worthy investment when you hire right. To ensure that you find the best graphic design Virtual Assistant, talk to us today. We would love to guide you through the process. Book a FREE discovery consultation now.
Looking for an experienced and reliable Virtual Assistant?
Our Outsourcing Specialist is here to talk about all your business needs so that we can find you a Virtual Assistant that meets your expectations and fits seamlessly into your business.
