How to hire the right graphic designer for your business
- Written byArts Temps
- Published date 26 July 2026
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Hiring a graphic designer: Find the talent your business needs
Key takeaways
- Graphic design is an umbrella term covering several distinct disciplines, each suited to different projects.
- A clear brief shapes everything that follows, from which specialism you need to how you assess candidates.
- Freelance, contract, and permanent hires solve different problems, and marketplaces aren't the only route to any of them.
- A recruitment partner can take on the brief, the search, and the shortlisting end-to-end.
Most businesses still need graphic designers, and that hasn't changed with the rise of AI. What has changed is what businesses need them for. 82% of hiring managers report that their organisation's need for designers has increased or stayed the same over the past year, with nearly half saying it has increased and AI cited as a driver of renewed momentum in design hiring rather than a reason to cut back.
That shift matters for anyone planning to hire. The question isn't whether your business still needs a graphic designer. It's what kind of graphic designer your business needs now and how to find them in a market that's moving faster than it used to.
How the creative hiring landscape is changing
AI tools have become part of most design workflows, but they haven't replaced the people behind them. 90% of businesses rely on graphic designers in some capacity. Of the 88% now using AI design tools, only 18% say it has cut their need for designers, and most point to AI taking over simple production work, leaving brand strategy and original creative direction with the people who already do it.
London's creative sector adds to that picture. The capital's creative industries contribute over £51 billion to London's economy and account for one in five jobs in the city, a rise of 200,000 jobs over the past five years.
Put these two trends together, and the picture for employers becomes clearer. AI has changed what designers spend their time on, and London's creative economy keeps growing. Finding the right type of designer and the right way to hire them matters more than ever.
Types of graphic designers
A graphic designer covers a wide range of disciplines, each with its own focus, skill set, and typical output. Before starting a search, it helps to know which one your business actually needs. Some projects call for a brand specialist, others for someone fluent in digital design software, and many businesses need a mix of skills across campaigns.
Specialism | What they focus on | Best suited for |
Brand and visual identity design | Logos, colour palettes, typography and the visual elements that define how a brand looks and feels | Businesses building or refreshing a brand identity, including those looking to hire a graphic designer for a logo |
Digital design | Websites, apps, digital ads and other on-screen graphic design services | Businesses with an active online presence or digital product |
Marketing and campaign design | Adverts, flyers, banners and assets for specific campaigns | Businesses running regular marketing pushes or product launches |
Presentation design | Pitch decks, reports and data-heavy visual communication | Businesses pitching to investors, clients or stakeholders |
Content and social media design | Social posts, short-form graphics and content for digital channels | Businesses with an active social media presence |
Motion graphics design | Animated graphics, video overlays and motion-based content | Businesses producing video content or animated campaigns, often requiring a motion graphics designer |
Packaging design | Product packaging, labels and unboxing experiences | Businesses developing or updating physical products |
Editorial and publication design | Layouts for books, magazines, brochures and digital publications | Businesses producing printed or digital publications |
Some roles span more than one of these areas. An apparel designer working on a fashion brand, for example, may need both packaging and brand identity skills. Once you have a sense of which specialism (or combination) fits your project, the next step is putting that into practice.
A clear project brief makes this far easier. Setting out the scope, deliverables, and timeline before you start looking gives you a much stronger foundation for finding the right person.
How to hire a graphic designer
- Define the project brief and scope. Set out what the designer needs to deliver, the timeline, and any specific formats or platforms involved. The clearer the brief, the easier it is to assess whether a candidate's experience fits.
- Confirm which specialism fits the brief. Use the breakdown above to match your project to the right type of designer. If your project spans more than one speciality, decide whether you need one versatile designer or several specialists.
- Decide on your hiring route. A single campaign or one-off project points towards a freelance hire. Covering a defined absence, such as maternity leave, points towards a fixed-term contract. Ongoing design needs, where brand consistency builds up over time, point towards a permanent in-house role. A specialist recruitment partner can place any of these and adds a layer of vetting that searching alone doesn't.
- Review portfolios for relevant experience. Check that a candidate's work matches the specialism you need and shows familiarity with the design software your business uses. 39% of businesses rank creativity as the trait that matters most in a designer, well ahead of speed (7%) or affordability (7%), so weigh originality and problem-solving alongside technical fit.
- Assess process and communication. A designer's portfolio shows what they've made. How they handle feedback, manage deadlines, and explain their decisions shows how they'll work with your team, and on a collaborative project, that second part counts for just as much.
- Use a practical task where appropriate. A short, paid test project shows more about a candidate's process than a portfolio alone, particularly when the role involves a specific graphic design job with clear deliverables.
- Confirm ownership and onboarding details before starting. Usage rights, file ownership and handover requirements should be agreed before work begins, not negotiated once it's finished.
Where to hire graphic designers
Once you know what kind of designer you need and which hiring route suits your business, the next question is where to find candidates. A few channels tend to come up most often.
- Open freelance marketplaces. General platforms and a graphic designer website put a wide pool of candidates in front of you fast, which suits businesses needing to hire a graphic designer UK-wide at short notice. What they don't do is vet anyone for you, so that work falls back on you, and the quality between profiles varies widely.
- Job boards and direct postings. A direct posting works for permanent or fixed-term roles, but expect a high volume of applications with no pre-screening built in.
- Referrals and professional networks. A strong recommendation from someone in the industry can surface a candidate faster than any search. The catch is that this route only works as well as your existing contacts.
- University and graduate talent pools. Specialist art and design institutions produce graduates and alumni with up-to-date skills across the disciplines covered earlier, from brand identity to motion graphics. These pools are often underused by businesses outside the creative sector.
- A specialist recruitment partner. This is the marketplace's speed and the referral's quality control in one place. A recruitment partner sources and shortlists from a vetted talent pool on your behalf, so you're choosing between candidates who've already been checked, not starting from scratch.
For businesses hiring graphic designers London-wide, the breadth of the city's creative talent pool means the challenge often isn't finding candidates; it's finding the right ones efficiently.
Choose UAL Arts Temps: Recruitment partner for creatives
UAL Arts Temps is that specialist recruitment partner. We connect employers with creative talent from the University of the Arts London, giving you access to designers trained across the specialisms covered above, from brand identity and digital design to motion graphics and editorial work.
Our process starts with your brief. From there, we source and shortlist candidates from UAL's students, graduates and alumni, so you're reviewing a shortlist instead of working through an open marketplace.
A freelancer for one campaign and a permanent addition to your team are both within scope. We place across temporary and permanent roles, so the engagement type doesn't limit who you can access.
Every placement we make is paid at the London Living Wage, and we're a corporate member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. This is part of our approach to values-led recruitment: pay and practice standards that benefit the businesses we work with as much as the talent we place.
Start your search for the right graphic designer
The right hire isn't just "a graphic designer." It's someone with the right specialism, brought on through the right hiring route for your business, whether that's a quick freelance project or a permanent addition to your team.
If you're ready to start that search, submit a hiring brief and our team will help you find the right creative talent for your business.
