There have been many discussion on which Nigerian freelance graphic designer or agency is the best to hire. I’m not surprise that so many so-called “best” have disappointed a few clients and these has created the mindset that most Nigerian graphic designers are not competent enough. But let me make it clear that this is a fallacy. Among the few, I've seen great designers who beginners can always learn from. It’s no surprise that the national carrier logo, Nigeria Air, was designed by a creative agency in Bahrain, regardless of the number of creative brains in the country.



Fact is that there are thousands of talented-creative minds who can be your ideal graphic designer but still needs to work towards their visibility so as to let the world see their craft.
Before you hire, please know that you are not really hiring a designer to do your “graphic” but rather, to listen to your needs and to build relationship to help your business growth, because your brand identity will determine your customer’s perception towards you or your business.

You first need to understand the importance for a logo or brand identity to your company or business. This is crucial because choosing the wrong person will greatly affect the success of your business. Also note that getting the best graphic designer to implement what you have in your head is very critical.

Even when you use professional medium like Fiverr or Upwork to hire a freelance designer or see enough convincing portfolios from various designers on Behance or Dribbble, you may still not get the 100% of result of what you envision for your brand. And at the end of the day, choosing the best graphic designer will be determined by you.

“Design is more than just a few trick to the eye. It’s a few trick to the brain”-Neville Brody

Now to hire the best graphic designer in Nigeria or even any part of the world, here are the 5 things you should know;

1. Set your Design Budget and Time Frame

Many professional designers work based on their client’s budget. This will highly determine the time and energy spent in researching and design thinking. Having a design budget before the ideal graphic designer quotes a price is a good way to determine the result of your work. This will give an expectation of what to come and value it entails of truly being the “best graphic designer in Nigeria (or other part of the world)” you can hire for your project.

“Hiring a cheap designer will cost you more. Hiring an expert will save you time and money”- Anonymous

It is a very wrong idea to rush the completion of a design project. Most brand agencies in Nigeria takes months to formulate an effective brand identity. Even many professional freelance graphic designers take minimum of 2 weeks before making conclusion on the final draft for a logo design. Reason is because logos are like human being. They have soul and identity to protect. A good logo design can’t be rushed because proper research and design thinking from both the designer (or agency) and the brand, has to be conducted before coming up with conclusions.



2. Distinguish among the Types of Designers you want to hire

Graphic design is a very broad term. It’s beyond designing a logo with all the clipart you find downloadable. When someone says ‘I am a designer’, it’s not actually clear what they really do.

Understanding the different creative positions will determine your hiring the right designer for your work. This is because, in the field of Visual art, graphic design is a general term used to describe several creative services in creating images for specific purposes. Graphic designers can work in print media or digital media or agencies. There are therefore various expertise in graphic design;

Logo designers
Web designers
Book designers
Marketing materials or Packaging designers
Brand Identity experts or strategists
UI/UX designers
Motion designers
3D Graphic designers


3. Check the Designer’s Personal Brand

Before you hire a graphic designer which you seems is best for your project, it’s advisable and cost nothing to Google search his name out. Aside his design portfolio, check his social proof and online contents. What are the things he posts about? How has his work or words be influential? What are people saying about his brand? Who are those in his circle? This is expedient because getting the best out of a graphic designer will determine building relationship with the kind of like-minds. You really need to do your home-work in looking out for the right designer to build your brand identity.

Personally, I always find it fun and easy to work with someone who has gone through the stress of searching “Damilare H. Oyekanmi” (http://creativedohl.com/about-me/) or “Creative DOHL Design”(http://creativedohl.com/) before sending me a mail.



4. Check the Designer’s Portfolio

Every design has a naturally style of fitting to your brand personality. Whether he’s good with the skill-set or not, sometimes, may not be fitting to your own style. Reviewing a designer’s online and offline portfolio is one of the best way to hire the best graphic designer in Nigeria or any other parts of the world.

Experience matters, and every creative expert should have an offline portfolio (e-books or pdfs, slides, file images) or online portfolio (links, websites). Check out past work to see the natural style that suits your taste. I have seen several designers who do only iconic logos and nothing else. That is their own style and they have built a brand over it for years. If you are hiring a web designer, request for links of the websites he has worked on. If possible, send mail to the owner of the brand to make enquiry about their personal experience with the designer. Check their designs on their social media handles and possibly people’s comments on the designers.

6. Based on Recommendations & their Communications

A designer who is ready to communicate your ideas, talk well in understanding your brief, talk to you on understanding your brand tone of voice, explain/lecture you on what it really entails to build a brand identity, is a designer who is transparent in communication and a good one to have a deal with. You maybe OK with not needing to talk on the phone to discuss the design project or you maybe OK with reading messages on the design progress and feedbacks. This is up to you determine which designer suits your time and resources. That is why it is required of you to ask as many question as possible till you get every details of him. There is also nothing wrong in letting him/her know what level or kind of communication suits you.

Based on recommendations, it’s not irony by saying “everyone is an expert in their field”. But you can only trust a graphic designer who is being recommended by a friend. Recommendations are valuable, if you know anyone who has a good logo designed, ask them for the name, details and work ethics of the designer. This gives you that feeling of sense of trust towards who you are working with.

Damilare H. Oyekanmi (Creative designer, Content writer & Branding expert)