A moment will come — if it hasn’t already — when you’ll need a logo that isn’t a randomly chosen Google font. Or a concert poster that doesn’t look like it was made in ten minutes on Canva. Or a complete visual identity you can apply consistently to everything you do.
At that point you’ll need to hire a graphic designer. And if it’s your first time, you probably won’t know where to begin.
Here’s what you need to know.
First: define exactly what you need
Graphic designer is a broad term. There are designers specialising in brand identity, editorial design, poster design, web design, packaging, motion graphics. Many do several things, but each has a main focus.
Before looking for anyone, define precisely what you need:
Complete visual identity
Logo, colour palette, typefaces, brand guide. This is the most complex and lengthy work, requiring a designer with experience in branding. The result must be a system you can apply for years.
A logo or visual signature
More contained. May or may not include palette and typefaces. Make sure the designer delivers files in editable formats (AI, EPS, SVG) in addition to PNG/JPG, both in positive and negative versions.
One-off materials
Concert poster, album cover, artist press kit, social media templates. Here the designer doesn't need to be a branding specialist — they need to be good at the specific format you need.
Web design
This is often a separate discipline. Some web designers don't do branding and vice versa. If you need a website, look for someone with specific experience in designing sites for artists or creatives.
Where to find designers for artists
There are several channels, each with advantages and disadvantages:
Direct recommendation. The most reliable approach. Ask other artists in your network which designer they used and whether they’re satisfied. Recommendations filter a lot: the person recommending has been through the whole process and knows whether the result was good and the collaboration went well.
Portfolio platforms. Behance and Dribbble bring together thousands of designers with their work published. You can search by style, speciality or keywords. The downside is that you see the best of each designer, not the real work of a commission with real constraints and a real client.
Freelance platforms. Fiverr, Upwork, 99designs and similar platforms offer designers from around the world at very varied prices. You can find real talent, but you need to be very careful evaluating portfolios and reading reviews. Very low prices often imply low-quality work or poor service.
Instagram and social media. Many designers publish their work on Instagram. If you see materials from artists you admire, look up who designed them. There’s often a credit in their bio or in the comments.
Specialised consultancies. There are visual identity services designed specifically for artists, who already understand the context — press kits, posters, digital presence, social media formats — without needing a full briefing from scratch. Ressona works with Pocallum for artist visual identity: logo, palette, materials and digital consistency.
How to evaluate a portfolio
You open a portfolio for the first time and you’re faced with dozens of pieces. How do you assess whether this is who you need?
Look for diversity of clients, not techniques. A portfolio with fifteen pieces in the same style for similar clients suggests the designer has a strong personal style — which can be good or bad depending on whether it fits you. A portfolio with very diverse clients all well resolved shows versatility.
Look at the refined pieces, not the spectacular ones. Animations and effects catch the eye, but what reveals a good designer is the quality of the typography, the balance of white space, the logic of the colour system. Zoom in on the images and look at the details.
Check whether there are projects similar to yours. It’s not essential, but if the designer has made concert posters, artist press kits or visual identity for musicians, they understand the context and specific formats. You’ll save yourself a lot of explaining.
Read reviews if they exist. On freelance platforms, reviews speak to punctuality, communication and whether the client was satisfied. A designer with great pieces but poor process reviews is a risk.
Red flag: the portfolio has no real projects
Some designers, especially those starting out, fill their portfolio with "personal concepts" — fictional brands designed to show style but with no real client. This isn't necessarily bad, but it means they've never managed the constraints of a real commission: client revisions, limited budget, specific formats. Always ask whether portfolio projects were for real clients.
Questions you must ask before hiring
When you speak to a designer for the first time, the answers to these questions will tell you a lot:
“What is your working process?” A professional designer will explain the stages: briefing, research, initial proposal, revision, delivery. If the answer is “I’ll make you a design and you tell me what you think”, walk away.
“How many revisions are included in the price?” Revisions must be defined. Typically: 2–3 rounds of changes. If there’s no limit, the price often rises or the quality falls.
“What format will you deliver?” You must receive files in editable vector format (AI, EPS, SVG), not just JPG or PNG. If they won’t give you the vector files, you don’t actually own the design.
“Have you worked with artists or in the cultural sector?” Not essential, but revealing. A designer who understands the art world knows that materials need to work in very diverse contexts: from an Instagram post to printing a large-format poster.
“Can you show me an example of a project from start to finish, including the revisions?” Most portfolios show the final result, not the process. Seeing a complete case helps you understand how they work.
Red flags: when to be wary
They ask for 100% payment upfront
The standard freelance payment is 50% upfront and 50% on delivery. If they ask for all the money before you've seen anything, it's a risk. If they ask for nothing upfront, be equally wary: they may abandon the project halfway through.
They ask no questions about your project
A designer who asks nothing about you, your art, your audience or your goals cannot design anything specific for you. They'll make something generic that could be for anyone.
The price is very low for the work described
A professional logo with a minimal brand guide will cost between €400 and €1,500 or more, depending on the professional. If someone offers you "complete logo with 10 variants for €80", the work will match. What looks like a saving can cost you much more in redesigns and bad impressions.
You can't speak to them directly
All communication via automated forms or platform chat with no option for a call or video call is a bad sign. Identity design requires real conversation.
Realistic budget
To be honest with you: quality design costs money. But here are some rough ranges:
- Simple logo (without full system): €200–500
- Basic visual identity (logo + palette + typefaces + guide): €600–1,500
- Complete visual identity with applications: €1,500–4,000 or more
- Poster or one-off material: €150–400 per piece
- Social media templates (5–10 formats): €300–800
Junior designers will charge less. Senior designers or professional studios, more. The difference isn’t always quality, but experience in project management and client communication certainly shows.
How to prepare a good brief
The brief is the document you give the designer to explain the project. The clearer and more complete, the better the first proposal will be. Include:
Who you are and what you do. Artist name, discipline, style, geographic context, how long you’ve been working on the project. It doesn’t need to be long — three or four clear lines are worth more than two vague paragraphs.
Who your audience is. Your public and the spaces where you perform. Small jazz venue, contemporary circus festival, art galleries, electronic clubs. This greatly conditions the visual tone.
Exactly what you need. Logo only, logo with palette, complete identity. What delivery formats. Expected uses (web, print, social media, posters).
Visual references. Two or three examples of things you like (they don’t need to be from your sector) and one or two things you absolutely don’t want. Concrete images are worth more than adjectives.
Deadlines and budget. When you need it and how much you can pay. Put this upfront — it avoids long conversations only to reach a price that can’t be met.
A good brief doesn't take ten minutes
Spending an hour preparing a good brief can save you weeks of revisions and misunderstandings. If you can't answer the basic questions (who is your audience, what is your style, what do you want to avoid), the problem might not be the designer — it's that you still aren't clear on what you want to communicate. In that case, consulting on your identity before the visual design is the first step.
How we can help
Ressona works with Pocallum for artist visual identity: from your first logo to a complete brand system, including digital and print materials. If you don’t know where to start or want an initial conversation about your visual needs, get in touch.