I’d like to talk about buying graphic design.

Buying graphic design is tough. Whether you’re doing it for the first time or one hundredth time.

You know your brand needs work but who you commission to do that work can often feel like a leap of faith.

This is what I’ve learnt – buy the process of graphic design as much as you buy into a portfolio.

Portfolio work is useful to see, but it’s work for other organisations. It’s not necessarily what you will receive and, well, everyone puts their most polished bits in their portfolio anyway.

So ask about a prospective designer’s process. The experience you will have.

Creating graphic design that’s going to change things for your brand should be coloured with the kind of ambition that seems daunting at times.

You must go on a journey from everything being possible to what is right for you.

The process must be generous towards your particular organisation’s needs. It must balance the pragmatic and the poetic. Moments of beauty and moments of business, blended carefully.

It should be a process in which you’re listened to. People don’t get listened to very often. Listening leading to conversation. Pulling things apart and rebuilding. Crafting that becomes something unique and powerful for you.

That’s everything I believe you should look for whenever you’re buying graphic design. Now tell me where you want to take your business.