Here's how you can identify the essential qualities when hiring graphic designers for a team.

Apart from creativity, major qualities include being able to stick to the brief, being receptive to feedback, brand guidelines and quick turnaround times. Before hiring I like to test their capabilities through a skill assessment.

A portfolio is even more important than a resume. If candidates can identify which work is done individually and which is done by a team, it would be better. In addition, giving the dates when the visuals are done could be beneficial for the hiring team.

A good portfolio is a key element in the development of a designer and the way to showcase their skills, past, present and future.

Portfólio é mais do que apenas um cart?o de visitas da sua marca, é uma ferramenta estratégica que pode influenciar significativamente sua carreira e oportunidades de trabalho. Um portfolio atualizado passa confian?a e ajuda a dar mais credibilidade ao seu trabalho.

When hiring graphic designers for a team, look for essential qualities such as creativity, strong communication skills, proficiency in design software, attention to detail, ability to work collaboratively, and a robust portfolio showcasing their versatility and problem-solving skills.

Do not be skeptical when candidates designs are different from other people's. Conversely, they might be considered as an advantage and a good addition when hiring them.

Look for someone who not only has creativity but knows how to pull it back depending on the audience or culture you are designing for. Also, make they understand that the design can never take away from what you are communicating.

A criatividade surge através de referências, pesquisas, conversas, leituras... é sempre um desafio inovar e em muitas vezes as melhores ideias surgem quando estamos relaxados e refletindo sobre. Para exercitar a criatividade: - tire um tempo para criar algo no papel, desenhe, pinte. mesmo que esteja feio e você n?o tenha essas habilidades, estará exercitando a criatividade. essa parte é por você. - leia novos livros, imagine cada situa??o e personagens - fa?a pesquisas e se atualize sobre o mercado

I agree and disagree with this. It is always fun to see how creative someone can be. But trust me some HR people will not get that. If the person can create super detailed vector graphics in Illustrator... then yes he or she can do buttons as well. I have had HR people look at my work and ask if I would be bored working for them because it is advanced stuff. It is a Catch 22. Also creativity is subjective. What one person thinks is creative another will think is horrible. I just tell artists "You Be You!" “Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” Andy Warhol

A great design will buck the trends and want to push your brand identity to places you don't expect. Give your designer agency to dream out loud.

It’s about balance. Find where your team is weakest and look for candidates that can both address the weakness while still being technically proficient overall.

Um bom designer deve ter fundamentada esses 3 pilares: ? técnica - entender a base do design, como Gestalt, semiotica, tipografia, percep??o das formas. - software - gerenciamento de cores - fechamento de arquivos para produ??o nas gráficas ? metodologia - traz seguran?a, agilidade e assertividade nas entregas ? qualidade - soma de técnica + metodologia geralmente resulta em entregas de qualidade - deve ser funcional mas também esteticamente agradável - ter um bom relacionamento com pessoas, afinal, design é sobre entender PESSOAS.

Como designer, ter o Adobe Creative Suite como ferramenta é um aprendizado contínuo. é manter-se informado sobre as últimas tendências e ferramentas na área de design. N?o hesite em pedir ajuda ou orienta??o de colegas mais experientes, assista um tutorial, tudo é válido!

Cada vez más, estoy convencido de que el software tiene poca importancia. Hay muchas herramientas disponibles y, desde mi experiencia, "obligar" a que un profesional trabaje con un software impuesto por la empresa, merma su creatividad y productividad. Es cierto que Adobe, por ejemplo, es un estándar en la industria, pero se pueden lograr resultados profesionales con software opensource o aplicaciones menos reconocidas. La herramienta es solo eso, y las capacidades y creatividad de quien la maneja es lo que realmente marca la diferencia. En definitiva, como responsable de un departamento de dise?o, exigiría que el resultado fuera bueno, pero daría total libertad para utilizar el software que le resultara más cómodo al profesional.

There is no substitution for the human hand. Ingenuity relies on it. Let the clean up process take care of the the digital nonsense. Show me what the designer can do by hand and I'll show you unlimited potential that the software can't come close to.

An effective communication is definitely the first main step. Strong communication would be the best strong bridge between client ideas and design made.

Esto es esencial. A menudo nos encontramos con dise?adores que padecen el "síndrome del artista" y que no aceptan críticas y no saben defender sus proyectos. El dise?o de diferencia del arte porque debe cumplir una función. Un dise?ador debe estar preparado para que su trabajo siempre sea discutido y criticado, por eso debe saber explicar y argumentar el por qué lo ha resuelto de esa manera. Me ha pasado muchas veces que, he presentado un dise?o que el cliente ha rechazado en el primer vistazo y, después de explicarlo, y el cliente entender lo que se quiere comunicar, lo ha aceptado. Esta labor pedagógica y de comunicación es clave para vender tus dise?os.

It is very important for a graphic designer to have strong communication skills because these allow them to clearly understand clients' needs and expectations, resulting in projects that are more aligned with their objectives. Additionally, good communication facilitates collaboration with other team members and the ability to explain and defend your ideas and design proposals. This not only ensures better efficiency in project development, but also helps build solid and trusting working relationships, key factors to being hired and maintaining a successful career in the field of graphic design.

A graphic designer must excel in understanding client briefs by actively listening and asking clarifying questions to ensure they fully grasp the project requirements. Once the brief is understood, we should confidently present their ideas, clearly articulating the design concepts and rationale behind their choices. This confidence not only helps in gaining client trust but also demonstrates our expertise and commitment to delivering effective solutions.

Communication is a two way street. The client can buzz word and dot point needs all day long. I don't care how my designers communicate verbally. I care about how the visually articulate to solve the design problem visually. Let the creative create. Let the sales team sell. Keep them outside of the room from each other.

You are hiring a creative to create. Assume up front that your culture needs changing and you are failing which is why you are bringing in a designer to visually change your culture translating to and update modern vision. Don't hire a robot. Hire a creative that tests and challenges you. Do you want to expand and grow or stay locked in place?

In my company, I would be looking for a set of personality traits that would assure that a) the designer would fit with the team and b) with the company as a whole. Ideally a creative director will look towards common grounds, such as a liking for music, art, sports, interests. Not hiring clones but hiring people who will share a link, a joke, a meme. Then we need a person who can work under pressure and pull everyone upwards rather than pointing errors or mistakes. In the world of newspapers, a very fast paced environment, everyone will forget to add a pull quote or a caption. Finally I look at a person's interest in the company. I need to see some effort and some homework. Granted we all apply because we need a ceiling and food, but...

I think there has to be alignment. One needs to share a similar mindset or believe in the company's core values. For me alignment is everything. When I have been interviewed in the past, I was also interviewing the people I talked to. If something did not align... then I would turn down the job, even if it paid well. Without alignment and fitting in culturally then one may not have a good experience at a particular company or agency.

As a creative you have to grow, evolve, adapt and learn more. Every year there are new software updates and new software... and new tech. You have to be willing to learn and push forward. Also you have to be humble. You may be an expert in something and discover there are still more tricks that you can learn. Experimentation is key as well. You can not sit in a box, you have to test things... try things. And do not be a ONE TRICK PONY! You can master multiple things. So go for it.

Charles Darwin already said it: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent that survives. He is the one who is most adaptable to change."

Cross-disciplinary learning is what I cherished. By exploring fields outside of traditional graphic design, such as psychology, marketing, or user experiences, we can gain new perspectives and skills that enhance the creative process. Understanding human behavior through psychology can improve user experience design, while marketing knowledge can help in creating more effective and targeted visuals.

Getting a candidate who is willing to learn and flexible with the changes that might happen to the market demands is essential.

Creatives with growth potential need to be constantly evolving and taking on fresh inspirations. Growing candidates will keep up with new technologies and stylistic forms both in the domestic and international industry. They will show curiosity and exploration towards graphics design styles that are new and unfamiliar to them. Their portfolio will show not only technical skill progression, but also continuous evolution of style, form, and theme.

My experience from production artist to graphic designer and finally print and digital media production manager, I see 5 areas that should always be considered: Passion - you see design all around and it gets your creative juices going Principles - know all you can of design rules and standards so you can think outside the box and break the rules when necessary Production - know how your design will be handled when you send it fruition as it helps you design better for it Tools - be familiar with everything from crayons to software; with paper to digital media Attitude - remember: you are seldom designing for you; its always for someone else. From director to private client, be ready, willing, and able to go back to the drawing board.