Want to learn more about how a graphic design virtual assistant can help your business? You’ve come to the right place!
No matter what type of business you have, you are going to use graphics sooner or later in one way or another. Whether used for advertising, branding, or engagement, graphics are a great way to hook attention and communicate your message. I mean, could you imagine if all marketing were done through text? That could get very old, very quickly.
So, you need to create these graphics but are either not skilled in that area or don’t have enough time to spend on it. That’s where a graphic design virtual assistant comes in.
What Is a Graphic Design Virtual Assistant?
A graphic design VA is essentially a freelancer that does graphic design work remotely. They aren’t tied to a specific brand or company. This means that they tend to work on multiple different projects for multiple clients at the same time. They are artists who sell their skills to help make all sorts of images, graphics, and even animations for companies and businesses to use for branding, advertising, or for commercial sales like on products.
From clothing to wall decor, art can be used in so many different ways. The sky is the limit for what a graphic designer can do for you. A virtual graphic designer can be industry specific with their skills. For example, one might specialize in graphics related to food. They might also have specialized tech knowledge or a specific art style. One set of skills will usually fit your brand tone more consistently than another. So, depending on your field, industry, and business-specific needs, graphic design virtual assistants can have specialties as niche as you need them to be.
20 Projects for Graphic Design Virtual Assistants
While the sky may be the limit, we’ve decided to bring it a little down to earth. We narrowed it down to 20 projects that we know a graphic designer can help you with.
Logos
Every company needs a logo that is eye-catching, non-generic, and recognizable. When outsourcing a logo designer, you need to make sure the person you’re hiring knows how to communicate your brand’s name and tone.
Infographics
Infographics are a great way to summarize and communicate information visually. You can use these in report format to show investors how much your business has grown and helped customers over the years.
Presentations
Similar to infographics, a graphic designer can help you make presentations using PowerPoint, Canva, Google Slides, etc. Communicate your points aesthetically and engagingly.
Web Design
Arguably one of the most popular projects to outsource to a graphic designer, everyone wants their website to be beautiful and intuitive. This includes user interface, colors, layouts, and other graphics you might want on your site pages. When you hire, make sure your graphic designer has some experience working with a web developer so they won’t create designs that aren’t feasible or too expensive to pull off.
App Design
This goes hand in hand with web design as more and more consumers perform actions on their mobile devices. UI design is key in a market that is stuffed with applications that essentially perform the same function.
Email Templates and Newsletters
Layouts are essential when working with a limited space such as email. A designer can help you get your messages across to your subscribers in a punchy way.
Social Media Graphics
Your social media presence is vital for, exposure, growth, and lead generation. Your designer can help you create images and graphics needed to hook the attention of the habitual “scroller”.
Brand Mascot
All of the iconic brand characters like Chester Cheetah, the Kool-Aid Man or Mr. Peanut all needed to be designed. You may already have an idea in your head for your brand but a designer can bring that fantasy into real life.
Animated Images
While animators are typically considered separate jobs, you can outsource limited animation needs to your designer. These can include a short loading animation for your site or a transition animation.
Editing
Maybe you’re happy with the graphics you or a previous designer you’ve worked with have done but want to tweak a few things. If you have the assets, your designer can edit these for you.
Product Packaging and Labels
I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover however, the way that a product’s label or packaging is designed is so important to draw consumer attention. This is especially true when you are placed in an aisle with tens of other products in the same category. Aside from aesthetics, a graphic design VA can also help you with the layout of the information on the packaging.
Books
Speaking of books, covers are actually quite important to convey information and tell you what a book is about while, yes, being pretty. Authors of any type of genre including guides or learning resources, or those who offer e-book formats should hire a graphic designer.
Ecommerce Store Front
Why stop at a well-designed package when you can make your storefront page look just as appealing to purchase from? You can do this for your store on your site or online marketplaces to a degree.
Art for Work Spaces
If you need something designed to decorate your office or retail spaces, whether wall or floor art, a graphic designer can help you create visuals you can boldly display for workers or customers to see.
Flyers and Brochures
These are effective ways to advertise an event or summarize your offerings as a business in a concise, optimized, attractive format. Even universities use brochures to advertise their schools to students.
Cards
From business cards to thank you cards, and membership cards. You can promote your business, lend a personal touch, and improve customer loyalty all while being stylish and brand consistent.
Shirt Designs
Whether employee shirts or merchandise, a graphic design virtual assistant can help you create clothing that builds recognition, community, and sells well.
Instructions and Manuals
Someone has to design those inserts you get with your phone, new TV, or fridge, that you never look at twice. And hey, maybe they can help you design one that makes people more inclined to read them!
Branded Stationery
This is more on the niche side but you’d be surprised how many companies have branded pens they use in their physical locations for employees or patrons to use. A local bank where I’m from went a step further and even changed the shape of the pen. It may not have been the most ergonomic design, but props for the brand consistency!
Other Brand Identity Stuff
Anything from mugs to mouse pads, welcome mats, and cars – whatever floats your boat – a graphic designer can help you create brand-specific graphics you can plaster on pretty much anything.
How Much Does a Graphic Design VA Cost?
What affects graphic designer cost?
- Type of graphic/scope of work
- Level of skill
- Level of experience
- Basis of work (per hour, per project, set rate)
- Specialized knowledge of design tools
- Country of living
- Number of revisions
When it comes to design you get what you pay for and generally around $15/hr is the lowest rate for entry-level designers. While the average range is between $15 to $50, some designers with more extensive portfolios could charge more than that. You can expect to receive decent quality results around the $40 to $45 mark.
Those who charge flat rates or fixed prices can charge hundreds to thousands of dollars for a single project depending on what it is. For instance, a logo can cost about $150 whereas a basic custom website can cost upwards of $5000.
When it comes to graphic designer cost, you need to determine which plan of payment makes the most sense for your business based on the above factors.
Can You Hire a Graphic Design VA Part Time?
As with any profession, there are advantages and disadvantages of hiring full-time and part-time.
Full-time Pros
- Work closer with your graphic design virtual assistant
- Maintain a greater amount of control
- Make more revisions
- Their focus is not split between multiple clients
Full-time Cons
- More costly
- If you’re not making graphics constantly, they will be left with little to do at times
Part-time Pros
- Less expensive
- Makes more sense if you don’t generate a lot of graphics to warrant a full-time salary or rate
- More efficient because there is greater pressure to produce great results in less time as a freelancer who is likely working on other projects
Cons Part-time
- You need to communicate complete brand information accurately and completely which can be difficult if they are only working part-time
- Fewer chances for revisions and will likely cost more if many changes are made
- More difficult to form long-term partnerships because there’s no guarantee they will be available to do future design work for you
What Are the Best Sites to Hire a Graphic Designer?
Once you’ve made up your mind that you need a graphic design virtual assistant, the next step is knowing where to find one.
Here’s a short list of 5 sites.
How Do I Assign Projects to My Graphic Designer?
Getting your communication and collaboration tools sorted out as soon as possible will make the whole process so much smoother down the line. Using project management software like Asana or Trello to help you keep everything in order. You can track your projects, plan, schedule, organize team members, automate certain tasks, and much more.
If you’re interested in how an Asana VA can get you more organized, head on over to that post after you’re done with this one of course!
What Is Outsource School?
Outsource School helps you to unlock the potential of virtual assistants and accelerate your business growth.
This is the exact system Outsource School’s founders, Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan, used to go from zero to 8 figures and 40+ virtual assistants with an exit in 2019.
Since being founded in 2020, Outsource School has helped 1,000+ business owners hire 2,000+ virtual assistants for their companies.
Schedule a free sales call to learn more
Free resources you might like:
- Outsource School Case Study: How We Scaled to 45+ VAs and 8 Figures in Revenue
- Free VA Calculator | See How Many VAs You Can Afford
- Free Training on 5 Keys to Working With VAs
- Learn Outsourcing 101 | Guides, Downloads, and Checklists
Conclusion
Brand color, fonts, images, graphs, websites, and more – all are things you need to consider when building your identity as a brand. These are what a graphic design virtual assistant can help you with.
