Choosing the Right Designer

The Pros and Cons of Selecting a Designer

DESIGNER	PRO	CON
Do It Yourself	Fiddle with it all you like until it looks exactly like you want it Save out-of-pocket costs Take pride in your creative genius	Disk might not survive "transition" to the printshop Learning curve can be steep Good software is expensive Time you spend designing your piece takes you away from your business, your family, and/or your free time Maybe you don't have any creative genius
Freelance Designer	You don't have to do the work If it's a family member, can keep family harmony (assuming they're talented) Can create beautiful, easy-to-work-with pieces	Can be very expensive They don't always understand printshop capabilities any better than you do They don't have to have any kind of expertise before they "hang out their shingle" May take a couple of tries to get the exact look you want
In-House Printshop Designer	You don't have to do the work Does design work all day, every day, compatible with the printshop's technology Knows printshop's capabilities and can suggest cost-effective changes to take advantage of them Already has excellent software/hardware and knows how to use it If you are a loyal customer, sometimes a printshop won't charge you for all the hours they spent on design work If you are a loyal customer, the printshop will already have your previous pieces and they can utilize design aspects of them	Most printshops charge about $60/hour ($1/minute is just so easy to calculate!) May take a couple of tries to get the exact look you want