Choosing the right design firm is important. The firm you choose to work with will have an impact on the way your brand is perceived. Everything the designer works on is a direct reflection to the entire world of your company. That’s a lot of pressure to put on your shoulders when it’s time to choose the best firm for your company. Is your company in the market for a new Web design firm? Let’s explore some of the characteristics of the best design firms to help you make your decision.

Characteristics of a Great Design Firm

Design is growing in importance for all areas of the Web. Consumers are demanding quality design that is not necessarily pretty, but always relevant and effective for them. Design touches so many areas of your business (even SEO). You want to make sure your design partner is ready for the challenge.

1. Business First, Customer Second

Lots of people talk about customer first mentality. This is good, but the customer doesn’t always know what’s best. You want to find a design firm that is focused on what is best for your business first. Your company’s target customer can come second, but the decisions to be made should be about what is best for your business with specific attention to the bottom line.

2. Outcome Focused

Building on the thought of the business first mindset, outcomes are important with design. When discussing the project with a design firm be sure to get a feeling for what drives design inspiration and decision. Discuss the expected outcome of a general homepage design. Discuss the expected outcome of an email or maybe even the email sign-up area on the website. Focus on outcomes because outcomes pay the bills.

3. Prompt

Any type of project can get delayed for various reasons. You want a design firm that is prompt at all times. Give your prospective design firm a little project to test their prmptness. Give them a deadline. The best candidates will deliver a quality result ahead of schedule. This proves that the people at the firm value your time (and their own).

4. Recommendation Ready

If you’re like me then you understand that there is a lot to learn about design. I like working with designers that come prepared with recommendations. I don’t always know what I want for a landing page design or for an email design. I can give some direction, but I’m always blown away when a designer takes the time to think about my situation and comes ready with recommendations.

5. Inquisitive

I’m a fan of inquisitive people in general. Most designers are naturally inquisitive. They are creative thinkers. They are curious about things. Make sure that the firm you are working with has inqusitive people. You want the folks at the firm to ask about your business, about you personally. You also want to make sure they are inqusitive about the latest technologies and methods in the design world. This way they can make your design relevant and up-to-date.

6. Design Passionate

Obvious. You want your design team to love design. But believe it or not, this is not always the case. Be sure that even the salespeople and account reps are in love with design. Ask them what they do in their free time. Ask them if the designers paint in their free time. Do a Google search to see if they have personal websites or blogs or social media profiles. Find someone that loves design so much that they spend their free time designing. This means that design is more than just a job for them. The passion will show through in your company’s final designs.

7. Flexible-Steadfast Balanced

This one is strange, but hear me out. You want a design firm that is flexible so they listen to your input, but you also need to balance that out with a steadfast belief in their own ability. You want someone that will push back a little on your recommendations. Use your initial phone conversations to discuss design. Give your own input and see what kind of responses you get back. You don’t want your input completely disregarded, but you do want some pushback or even feedback on your input.

8. Organized

This one is obvious, but be sure to follow through where possible on this one. Does the contact at the firm have organized emails? Are phone conversations organized with agendas? Organization saves time and with projects like a website design or even an ongoing email design project time will be important.

9. Automated

Automation is the key to saving time and money. It’s strange to think about automating anything related to Web design, but there are areas where it makes sense. Ask your designer if they have any processes that are automated. This could include anything from a design method to an invoicing method. Customization and personalization are good, but some automation can speed up the process and bring results that are effective and meet a timeline. If a potential design candidate has automated processes it’s a sign they value their own time and will value yours as well.

10. Well Spoken

Most design projects will take some time. Depending on the nature of your project there could be just a few days to a few months or even a year or longer for your project to reach completion. Vital to this process is having a designer that is well spoken and versed in the art of communication. If you’re like me, design can be a foreign concept especially when someone is referring to pixels and HTML and Photoshop files. It’s confusing. If you can find a designer that can speak your language and is good at explaning what they are thinking so you understand you will save yourself a lot of headaches. You will also find yourself understanding more about the entire process, which is good for you and your company (and the designer as well).