Nowadays, custom graphic designs are needed by just about every type of business.

From small, start-up businesses up to the largest Fortune 500 corporations; graphic design is used by these entities as effective tools for marketing and advertising. 

As a result, the demand for high-quality custom graphic design just keeps on growing—and it won’t stop anytime soon.

This is why the design industry as a whole is flourishing and graphic design services keep popping up everywhere. 

These graphic design services and graphic designers come in many forms: while some make graphic designs in-house, some prefer to outsource graphic design services to professional agencies.

In this article, we will discuss the difference between freelance graphic designers and on-demand graphic designers to help you decide which one works best for your particular business and current situation.

 

Freelancers 

Freelance graphic designers are independent and self-employed creators who serve themselves as their own boss. Think of them as creative one-man bands; if you will.

Freelancers are known for their flexibility.

They have flexible work schedules and rates, which means that their working and charging methods can change per project or by the hour. This even varies depending on the type and complexity of the graphic design project assigned to them.

Because of this flexibility, freelance graphic designers are rarely bound by contracts.

Their employment is not permanent, but rather, they work for a set timeline or until a particular project is done. This makes them great partners for short, one-off projects.

Freelancers are also known for being a low-cost alternative to creative agencies or in-house graphic designers. 

Most graphic designers start out as freelancers to gain skills and experience and to improve their portfolio, and these creative rookies charge less than usual to attract more clients.

Though consequently, some designers charge at questionably low rates to compensate for their lack of skills or inexperience. 

It’s up to you as a client to gauge these kinds of arrangements or situations.

Along with these benefits, however, recruiting freelancers could pose some disadvantages for your business as well.

Read this article to know more about the basic red flags that should warn you not to hire a designer.
 

Though there is a surplus of graphic designers out there and you have the freedom to choose the freelancers you’ll be employing, the problem lies in managing the entire employment process.

To hire freelance graphic designers, first, you have to find them yourself.

This means you have to come up with and post job offers on multiple recruitments and social media platforms to attract available freelancers. You also have to check these platforms regularly and correspond with applicants. 

Then if you’re lucky, you have to filter all applicants (if you have one) by checking their portfolio or work samples, experiences, and references and make your desired candidates go through several interviews and/or skill tests.

When you finally decide to choose one, you need to find out if both ends agree on terms, like pay and work hours. Then finally, you onboard them by laying out brand guidelines, among other stuff.

The tremendous amount of time and effort you need to exert through this whole process can be a huge problem for your company, especially if you’re a small start-up business. 

This is an opportunity cost when you can instead allow the time and effort for other things to improve your business.

Read this blog to understand how you can set a budget for graphic design. 
 

And for most instances, you have to repeat this entire process for every new project or whenever you decide to cut ties with your freelancer and vice versa.

Not only is this process strenuous and repetitive, but it could also hurt your business due to design inconsistency if your graphic designers keep changing. 

This can affect your company’s overall brand identity and could end up with your consumers not recognizing your brand, resulting in a decline in sales.

 

On-Demand Graphic Designs

Truth be told, we currently live in a society that has a constant need for instant gratification. 

We’ve grown impatient and accustomed to being fast-paced that we want everything given to us with no delay.

Not only that, but time is gold in business. Each minute counts and every time wasted is a wasted opportunity cost for your business. 

One solution to this problem is the subscription-based business model of online on-demand services; like Netflix. 

People used to watch movies in cinemas or get them in stores, now we can get them wherever we want, whenever we want.

This service providing trend paved the way for services that provide on-demand graphic designs like Graphics Zoo.

On-demand graphics design services provide graphic design almost instantly, mostly delivered within just 1-2 business days. Because it’s instant, you can have a design anytime you need it.

For instance, when there’s a sudden situation in your business wherein you need a design to be provided to you immediately, on-demand graphic designers will work right away to provide you the design that you need as soon as possible.

This is in contrast with freelance graphic designers. 

Freelancers often follow a timeline for creating and finishing tasks, and you can’t really rush them to make graphic designs for you the moment you need them.

Aside from being instant, on-demand also offers unlimited graphic design for any graphic design work that you might need. 

Their graphic designers also have varied skills, so you can request any design your business needs; from logos, banner ads, web design, shirts, branding, print, business cards, letterheads, posters, infographics, packaging design, and much more.

Meanwhile, freelancers have limited skill sets and therefore offer fewer types of graphic design.

In addition to unlimited graphic designs, on-demand also has unlimited revisions.

This is to ensure that every client is satisfied with each design they receive, without additional cost. Freelancers can charge you extra based on the number of revisions or the hours they spent on revising.

Like any subscription model, on-demand graphic design services have a fixed rate that is charged to their users on a monthly or yearly basis. The service also bills clients automatically for seamless and worry-free transactions. 

And because of this model, on-demand graphic design services don’t tie you up with contracts. You can unsubscribe from their services whenever you want and resubscribe if you need to.

This works best for small businesses that have a tight budget and companies that just want to reduce costs and save money. If you’re struggling with finances or if you’re just not satisfied with their services, you can back out anytime you want. No questions asked.

Unlike the strenuous employment process that comes with hiring freelancers, getting on-demand graphic designs are fast and easy to set up.

It takes only a few clicks and you can get started within minutes. These services will do all the finding, screening, and hiring process for you.

 

Freelance vs On-Demand Graphic Design Services - Which one to choose?

Though the impermanence of freelance graphic designers can be a problem in the long run, on-demand graphic designers, on the other hand, are not recommended for single, one-off projects because the service is paid for the entire month. 

So it’s recommended to employ a freelancer if it’s a one-time thing and an on-demand graphic designer for something more long term.

But all in all, on-demand is your best bet if you want professional graphic designs that are fast, stable, efficient, inexpensive, and high quality. 

If you need on-demand graphic designers, then look no further, send us an email now at support@graphicszoo.com to get started.