Stop Hiring Transactional Designers
Updated: Dec 31, 2021
If your brand design is yielding poor results for your business, it’s your fault.
You likely chose a transaction designer and not a strategic designer.
Picture it this way, one of these designers is a white belt - the other a black belt (in the equivalent of their experience & discipline)
Strategic designers have typically been around the block, seen it all, and developed a better way to conduct business.
Transaction designers, on the other hand, are typically trying to establish themselves and are ripely happy to take any money to get their hands on.
I know this because I was one 2 years ago, but now I’m battle-hardened. I've earned my belts and found a better way to truly help business owners embark on their journey.
Designers aren’t just those who make pretty things, slap a color, a logo & wave you on your merry way. They’re problem solvers who need to diagnose a deep understanding of what you’re attempting to communicate.
The market is tough, relentless, noisy & extremely competitive. So you need the right designer in your corner - teaching you every possible maneuver possible to gain the advantage.
Transaction
Designers:
Ask you what you want
Charge you an hourly rate for their design work
Ask for your feedback
Do what you tell them
Design what they think looks good
Generally work on all the steps alone
Believe the job is done when the client says they're happy
Strategic Designers:
Diagnose your business challenges & goals
Charge you a project price to solve the problem
Present the strategy behind their design conclusions
Council you through their framework & process
Design what will captivate your target consumer
Generally collaborate with specialists for the best outcome
Believe the job is done when they validate their work to fil the target client + project brief
Founder & Principle of rivyl