With the number of small businesses in the UK growing significantly in recent years, so too is the number of design agencies – and the number of businesses requiring their services. But picking one design agency for your project or campaign, out of the many available to you both locally and online, can be difficult. This guide will give you tips for picking the best design agency, depending on your budget and needs.
Examine Portfolios
Your first step should be to draw up a long list of agencies local to you and scrutinize their portfolios. If you have a firm idea of the kind of campaign or design you need, you can look for evidence of relevant skills and equivalent work; if your needs are looser, you can look to the portfolios for inspiration or evidence of a team you’d be happy to trust with creative vision.
You might be tempted to jettison the more expensive businesses outright, and instead search for good portfolios amongst a sea of new, emerging, and competitively priced design agencies. However, you could be searching for a long time – whereas the judicious use of a secured business loan to retain the services of a more prestigious agency could pay dividends in the longer term.
Check Their Reviews
Your next step should be to take a look at any available reviews of their services, whether on Google Reviews or private review sites such as a Trustpilot. Reviews and testimonials are a great way to get a feel for the way an agency works with their clients – and can throw up red flags as to missing deadlines or withholding finished work. For a more in-depth search, take a look at Glassdoor reviews and see what the agency’s internal ethos is – positive employee reviews can mean your brief will be in safe, enthused hands.
Evaluate Their Web Page
Treat the websites of these design agencies as extensions of their portfolio; if they are a full-service design agency, chances are their website has been built in-house – giving you interactive evidence of their skills. This can be especially useful if your needs include the building of a website; otherwise, you can use the site’s UX to understand their design choices.
Arrange an Informal Meeting
Once you have found agencies you’re interested in working with, reach out to them and ask for a meeting. By speaking to representatives from each agency face-to-face, you can get a clearer idea of each agency’s abilities, workflow, and budgetary requirements.
Things to Look For
At this point, you will have a shortlist of agencies you are interested in working with, and your meetings with them will have resulted in an agreement for some kind of pitch or proposal. The last, most difficult step is choosing the right agency to work with from this shortlist. Each will have its own compelling appeals – and price points – making it crucial you pick wisely.
A good design agency will have tailored a proposal to your business’s specific needs; no generalized “plan” or broad list of services to pick from, but rather an evaluation of your needs and the presentation and recommendation of a course of action. Another sign of a professional agency is the setting out of a realistic timeline, with concrete goals and deadlines throughout.
