What Does a Design Agency Do & Should You Hire One?

What is a design agency and what does it do? Is hiring one worth the money? 

A few decades ago, most businesses got their graphics from professional design and marketing agencies. You may have heard of design firms, such as Pentagram and Landor, and their iconic works (WWF logo, Levi’s, and Amazon to name a few).

Nowadays, there’s a vast number of design agencies catering to almost every niche and type of client. 

So, let’s dig a little deeper to understand the answer to the question “what does a design agency do”. We’ll also look at the pros and cons of working with a design firm. Scroll to the end to see how you can get all the perks of a professional design agency at a fraction of the cost! 

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What is a design agency?

Before getting ahead of ourselves, let’s establish an answer to the question, “what is a design agency?”

A graphic design agency is a creative firm that focuses on the aesthetics and feel of a brand to make products and services more enticing to a specific target audience.

It’s often a full-service deal, with broad teams consisting of much more than just designers. Full-service agencies don’t just create graphics - they will help you develop a marketing strategy, create copy for your website and ads, implement details such as search engine optimization, and oversee the running of your ad campaigns.

What does a design agency do?

This leads us to the following question: “what does a design agency do?”

Of course, a design agency can take multiple graphic design services out of your hands. They usually have a team of versatile, skilled designers who can tackle any design project you think of.

Here are some common design projects you can request from a design agency.

Logo and visual identity design

The design of logos and branding is probably the reason why most businesses hire graphic design agencies. If done well, a logo and brand design can last for decades, if not forever - the Coca-Cola logo is the longest-running logo design at 125 years!

Besides a logo, graphic design agencies create a complete brand identity guide that outlines the details of designing for a brand, such as a color palette, typography, icons, imagery, and more. 

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Web design

What does a web design agency do? A lot more than your regular web designer. Besides creating the look and feel of your website, mockups and interactive prototypes that you can assess, a web design agency often launches your site.

This might include custom development, or working within an existing framework, such as Webflow or Wordpress. Depending on the agency, they also might do SEO, keyword research and other types of optimization needed to boost your online presence. 

Marketing design

Marketing design comes in all shapes and sizes, from social media posts, to ads, print marketing collateral, such as flyers, and much more.

Top marketing design agencies work with existing brands to help them level up their marketing efforts with custom made visuals. 

Of course, these professionals can also help with creating a brand from scratch.

Print design

Printed materials aren’t all simple flyers and leaflets used for promoting your brand. If you need a high-quality publication, album cover, or cutting-edge billboards there are many print design firms that specialize in this area of design.

Another popular task that these design agencies can handle is packaging design that is in line with your branding, but also provides adequate protection for your products. 

Digital art and illustration

Illustrators possess a very specific skill set that lots of graphic designers aren’t required to have. So, if you need very complex illustrations or digital artwork, it’s best to hire an agency that specializes in this area.

Alternatively, there are many illustration agencies that represent freelance artists looking for work. These are often top-rated digital artists that you can only get in touch with through the agency that represents them. 

Animation and motion graphics

Before asking yourself the question “what does a design agency do”, it’s vital to understand your design needs. For example, if you need something very specific, such as motion graphics and animation, don’t assume every agency will have the capacity for this kind of work. 

Some of the best motion graphics companies have vast portfolios that include everything from simple animated ads to mindblowing animated videos for major ad campaigns. If you require this type of service, it’s important to understand the complexity of your project, and how much you’re willing to pay.

How much does a design agency charge?

Design agencies don’t have an industry-wide fixed cost per graphic design service. However, it’s safe to assume you’ll look at the higher scale of pricing, especially for small businesses’ budgets. 

For just a logo, a small design agency could charge anywhere from $5000 to $30,000. A renowned branding agency’s bill could go well over $100,000. With the thought in mind that you’ll need more design than you think, costs will rack up fast.

Some design agencies also calculate costs based on the number of hours their designers work. Since it’s often senior designers with lots of experience, these hourly rates stand at around $75 to $100 an hour.

Compare that to an average freelancer’s hourly rate ($25), hiring an in-house designer ($50,099 annually), or opting for unlimited design ($550 a month with ManyPixels). So, a design agency is the most expensive option to get design.

How to hire a design agency?

It must be pretty easy, right? Just google ‘graphic design agency near me”. 

A digital agency can bring a lot of benefits to the table. However, it is expensive and only worth it if you hire the ideal agency for your business. Here are a few things to consider before you decide to hire a graphic design agency. 

Check the scope of service

There’s a wide range of agencies out there. So, you must know what their services include. Are you doing your own market research or do you need help with that? Are copywriting services included in the offer?

Consider what you can/should outsource and which tasks are better left in-house. For example, you might want an agency to help you create a digital strategy, but you’ll keep the execution to yourself (creating and running ads, writing the copy, etc). You can also work with agencies regularly and outsource all your digital marketing.

Remote or not?

There’s a reason “design agency near me” is a popular Google search term. Many people prefer a personal experience with their brand and meeting the team members who will handle their account. This is perfectly fine.

However, this can become limiting and, potentially, cause considerable strain on your budget. Expanding your search can help you find a more suitable and affordable agency for your business. This is especially true if you're in big cities like New York, San Francisco, or LA. 

Of course, whichever route you opt for you should still know who specifically is handling your account. Every agency has people of different seniority and expertise on your team, so it’s only fair to let you know who will work on your designs. This isn’t to say that an entry-level designer can’t deliver awesome designs. For complicated projects like user experience or complex websites, it's better to work with someone more experienced. 

Write a detailed RFP

A request-for-proposal (RFP) is a document made by the client to explain the project. It helps the agency create a proposal with the timeline, deliverables, and budget.

When you’re urgently looking for someone to create your new website or brand identity, it can be tempting to just throw around RFPs, hoping you’ll get the best deal. But without understanding your needs, agencies can’t give you a precise estimate of the costs, So, you could easily end up with additional charges you haven’t taken into account.

Inspect their portfolio

Just like you would hiring a freelance graphic designer, it’s important to understand some of the agency’s previous projects. This will help you understand their strengths and weaknesses, and areas where your team might be a better match. 

Of course, part of every agency's portfolio are detailed case studies and reviews from previous clients. You can also search for additional reviews on review platforms such as TrustPilot or G2. 

Sign an NDA

Another small, but vital piece of administration when working with an agency is a non-disclosure agreement. If you’re letting someone else handle your brand design, or you want them to design products that you are selling, you should be confident this sensitive information won’t end up in the wrong hands.

This is especially important in case the agency works with freelancers. First of all, don’t freak out. This is a standard practice, which allows agencies to expand their offer and work more effectively. Many agencies even work with other agencies or graphic design firms like our unlimited design company.

Nevertheless, your NDA should outline the responsibilities of third parties, making vital information accessible to the smallest number of people.

Why you shouldn’t hire a design agency

Professional agencies usually provide cutting-edge design that will help your business thrive. If they also offer marketing services, you’ll get a significant portion of your workload taken care of.

However, the one obvious con of these companies is the price tag. A single project or monthly retainers will set you back several thousands of dollars.

Another minor point of frustration could be a lack of a personal connection. If you like to be heavily involved in the design process, this might not always be possible with a design agency. Communication with designers often goes through several people (account or project managers), so it often takes a lot of time.

The best design agency alternative

There’s no beating around the bush: hiring a design agency simply isn’t worth it in the long term. Sure, paying a few thousand dollars for a cutting-edge website or logo design might be worth it. But getting your daily graphics at that price point? Probably not.

For a much more affordable and simpler alternative, give our unlimited design company a try! Work with a team of 40+ designers on a range of projects. Communicate with designers directly and manage all your requests through our simple platform.

Our pricing plans start at just $549 - no design agency can beat that! This includes unlimited design requests and revisions, so you never need to worry about additional costs that will break your budget. 

Have any questions? Book your free 1:1 consultation and we’ll be happy to answer them!