Graphic Designer for Commercial Printers
As a print shop owner or manager, have you ever had a client come in with a file that you just know is going to print poorly? You know there’s a fix, but you may not have the time, software, or talent to correct the file within the client’s deadline. A freelance graphic designer for commercial printers can help you and your clients achieve the quality and look required for their marketing projects, without extra-high costs.
Why a Freelancer?
Freelance graphic designers are great for commercial printing, vehicle wrap companies, and promotional product purveyors. Even if you have on-staff talent, freelancers can be a great asset.
Increase productivity
Stay focused on your printing services and customer service rather than prepress tasks
Use as needed
Manage high workloads, new clients, or staff vacations with a a flexible team member. No long-term commitment.
Avoid hiring headaches
Skip the paperwork of hiring and training a new staff member.
Improve Your Network
Freelancers have their own network, which they can refer to you.
Save money
Save unemployment taxes and other employee benefit costs
Benefits of Hiring Local to Las Vegas
Working with a local graphic designer in Las Vegas provides a host of benefits as well, including:
- Personal customer service via phone, email, or text
- In-person or online meetings
- Potential long-term partnerships, while still staying independent
- No language or time zone barrier
- Good connections within the local business community
Choosing a Graphic Designer for Commerical Printers
Not all graphic desingers are the same, although they may use similar software and digital tools. Web designers don’t always understand the variables of print work, or how color profiles and inks impact the final product. Overseas designers sourced online may have a poor understanding of US print standards, delivering A4 files instead of letter, for example.
And now we have the rise of the Canva creator. Unfortunately, Canva documents often come in the wrong page size or image quality, with the web standard of 72 dpi instead of 300. Here are some tips on finding good, graphic designers for printing in Las Vegas:
- Understands print technology and the need for bleeds and crops
- Calibrates their monitor for print work
- Uses CMYK or Pantone colors and inks
- Uses professional software tools, like Adobe Creative Suite
- Delivers print-optimized PDF files
- Considers the impact of paper weight and finish on the customer's vision
- Has a strong portfolio of previous offset printing work
- Can share testimonials, reviews, or referrals from both other printers and from end clients
How to Work With a Graphic Designer
Graphic designers can adapt to your work style. Most often, a designer will work with you in a white label capacity, where they are seen as a member of your company’s team. In these scenarios, the freelancer works for you and will bill you for their services. Their cost is not transparent to the customer.
Print designers also accept referrals, where you give the client the designer’s information. The designer bills the client directly and sends you on the approved materials for print.
Communication is Key
Rick Rutherford, owner of Minuteman Press in Las Vegas, says, “As a printer, I hate being the third person away from the decision-maker. It’s critical for communication to flow between the client, the designer, and the printer. We love Aberlewest because they understand our customers‘ vision.”
Print designers work with information given by the client, usually in the form of a client brief. The brief should include the client’s brand guidelines as well as the vision for this particular piece.
If a client doesn’t have a branding guideline, then the designer may want to communicate with the client directly. Anna Aberle uses a 5-question model to create a good idea of what the client needs, including colors, brand identity, and fonts. This unique format sets customers at ease immediately, avoiding technical questions and yet finding the right information to fulfill the client’s needs.
What To Outsource
Freelance designers can help with a wide variety of print projects. Here are just a few examples:
- Carton and packaging graphics
- Banner and outdoor materials
- Business card and brochure layouts
- Advertising
- Large format signage
Prepress
A graphic designer for commercial printing is a great help with pre-press work. All the quality assurance checks for things like:
- Adding bleeds
- Adjusting margins
- Reviewing and embedding fonts
- Checking resolution
- Flattening images
- Checking for transparency
- Ensuring correct print size and final size
- How well the graphics meet the client’s vision
- Black checks – whether a CMYK file is 0/0/0/100 or 30/30/30/100, allowing you to invoice correctly
- Layouts
Moving the pre-press work to a graphic designer for commercial printers frees up you and your staff to focus on the actual work of print. You can focus on customer service, mainintaing toner and inks, registration and calibration of machines, and marketing your printing solutions to new customers.
Call Aberlewest to get help with your prepress and graphic design work today!
