Much like animated content, graphic design injects life into otherwise bland bits of content. Readers and consumers alike love it, and it’s no wonder when some corporations dedicate staggering amounts of their branding and marketing budgets to graphic design.
If you’re here, you’re probably looking to inject some form of captivating graphic design into your brand or business. Fiverr’s graphic design platform allows you to pretty much hire a graphic designer as you would shop for groceries on Amazon.
In this guide to hiring a graphics designer on Fiverr, I outline all you need to do to make sure you hire the best graphic designer available for your business on Fiverr.
First things first, Is Fiverr a good place to hire graphic designers?
That’s a question I get all the time, and it stems from Fiverr’s somewhat shoddy online image. The platform started as a place to hire freelancers at dirt-cheap prices. Since the phrase you get what you pay for generally holds true, a lot of people got really crappy graphic design jobs when they first shopped cheaply priced graphic design gigs on Fiverr.
A lot has changed, and Fiverr as a whole is pivoting to a more premium business model. You now have Fiverr Pro with vetted graphic designers who, as you would expect, charge ‘pro’ fees. These guys and many other non Fiverr Pro certified graphic designers put out amazing graphics content.
You just need to know how to find them in the literal sea of cheaply priced and less-than-excellent graphic design gigs.
How to find a skilled graphic designer on Fiverr
Graphic design can be a simple logo, infographic, flyer, or more complex UX/UI design. The first step in making sure you hire the right person is to figure out your needs. If you’re not sure of what you want yet, check out my guide to hiring a freelance graphic designer for more info.
But to summarize, graphic design is broadly grouped into the following four categories;
- Generic graphic content
- Illustrations
- Cartoons
- Logos
Each has a specific section on Fiverr.
1. Use the Fiverr search bar to identify potential graphic designers
Every freelancer listing page on Fiverr is an ordered list of the best freelancers for that particular segment ranked based on a set of performance benchmarks. Fiver uses a sorting algorithm to show only top-performing freelancers based on their assessment when you search for a freelancer.
Not all of them are actually ‘top performing’ because top performance for Fiverr is not exactly top performance for the consumer. A graphic designer who can complete more gigs albeit of moderate quality is a better performer for Fiverr than someone who completes fewer, but higher quality graphic designs.
All that said, search on Fiverr is still a good way to find your first handful of graphic designers. It sieves off the many hacks that lurk the Buyers’ request section for graphic design.
2. Shortlist your preferred candidates
Make your shortlist based on the following criteria:
The graphic designer’s portfolio
It’s pretty easy to tell apart shoddy work from the kind of graphic design pieces you should allow to represent your brand. If you need extra guidance on how to identify the good stuff, check out my guide to hiring a freelance graphic designer.
Their past clients
Fiverr now has a new showcase feature that allows you to easily see a designers’ past clients. The logic is if they’ve worked with top brands who usually have a much more stringent hiring process, they have the skills to produce top quality graphic design work.
Some freelancers might not have their showcase feature set up. Politely ask for their work experience after contacting them.
Their review profile
The more positive reviews they have, the better. But that said, you want to focus on the negative reviews. What do they say, and is there a theme around multiple negative reviews from different buyers? That’s never a good sign.
You’ll find that some graphic designers never have reviews of clients complaining about the same thing. Their positive to negative review ratio is also very high, with few negative reviews compared to positive ones. Those are the Fiverr graphic designers you should be gunning for.
Make your final selection based on the fit
From your shortlist, assess the following;
- Graphic designers who have samples and art styles that relate to your brand.
- Also check out their gig prices or quotes to see if it matches your budget.
Fair warning here, you’ll ALWAYS get what you pay for. If you go for dirt cheap graphic designers on Fiverr, especially when they don’t pass the selection criteria I just outlined, you’ll get cheaply made graphics.
Does that mean the most expensive graphic design gigs are the best? Not exactly. Ideally, pricing shouldn’t be too cheap or too expensive. You want the middle ground, but whatever you do, make sure to screen as I’ve described. I go into more details on screening a freelance graphic designer in this guide.
Negotiate payment and sign a contract
If you’re just making a simple flyer or Instagram infographic, then there’s really no need to sign a contract.
However, if you’re looking to commission a significant graphic design project that will define your brand image, something you’re committing significant resources to, it makes sense to cover up your ass with a well-defined contract. I talk about contracts in the contract session of this guide.
Basically, you want exclusive rights to whatever graphics a designer creates for you. That would mean they don’t resell it to other clients (which could be your competitors), and they don’t plaster it all over the pages of social media and portfolio sites. It also means you have the right to use the design however you deem fit as your property.
A contract assures all of this.
How much should you expect to pay for a graphic
It pretty much depends on the type of work you want done. But just so you have an idea:
- Basic logo $50
- Animated logo $400
- Flyers $20
- Infographic $20
- Basic illustration $40
- Custom illustration up to $1000
- Cartoons up to $1000
Is your payment secure on Fiverr?
Fiverr runs a rather reputable buyer protection program. That means your money is held in escrow until the graphic designer completes the job. Even after then, the money doesn’t get released to the freelancer for another two weeks.
If you have any issue with the graphic, you can file for a rework of the job or an outright rework. Fiverr’s dispute resolution team steps in to mediate when you want a refund. If your complaint is valid, you’ll get your money back.
I go into the details of how this works in my Fiverr freelancer hiring guide.
My recommendations of the top graphics designers on Fiverr
If you’ve read up to this point and would rather skip the hassle and just head straight into hiring a graphic designer on Fiverr, you can use this recommended list. I screened the freelancers here myself, so you should be good.
Mount design
I know I said to avoid the cheap stuff on Fiverr, but logos are one of the most basic forms of graphic designs you can get. Except you’re Coca Cola to need something insanely custom, you’ll be fine hiring a pocket friendly graphic designer like this dude to spit out a nice, not-custom logo for your business.
If you’re a big brand like Coca Cola or aim to be one, I have another option of a graphic designer on Fiverr for you on this list.
Anyways, what set this guy apart? The simplicity and fluid designs he churns out are picture-perfect. It’s the ultimate definition of value for money spent. He’s also designed logos for top brands, including Fiverr (who are on-brand for picking out the cheap stuff), and manages to have a turnaround time of one day, which tells you he’s mostly using templates and stuff.
But that’s not bad. This guy knows what he’s doing, and I reckon if you wanted something custom and don’t mind improving your budget you’ll get the kind of amazing designs brands like Coca Cola use.
What sets this designer apart?
Cheap
At $15 for the base gig, this is the cheapest graphic design gig on this recommended list.
Value for money
Despite the price, you still get good graphics. Just don’t expect anything bespoke.
Great turnaround
Always makes sense to commission an artist and have your project complete in a day.
The drawbacks
He’s most likely using design templates. If you want a nice and cute logo, that works. If you need something bespoke to really command that bit of brand excellence, you need to pick the other guy on this list.
Ksenlapo
Now, if you wanted a bespoke logo (or any other kind of graphic for that matter) of the kind to rival the customization and subtle sophistication of big multinational brands, this is your guy. At first glance, his logos might seem like every other random logo on the internet, but closer inspection will reveal the so many subtle on brand customizations guaranteed to make a design ‘stick.’
That’s mostly down to his build process. Rather than use design templates and stock clip art, everything is crafted from scratch with your brand and what makes it unique in mind. Let’s assume you’re Twitter, and you don’t have a logo.
You want it to carry the imagery of a bird, cause tweeter-tweet-bird. It’s hard to find a stock photo for a bird that obeys the golden ratio rule with a custom shade of blue. For that, you need a hand-drawn design done by a skilled professional.
That’s what you get with Ksenia – someone to take your ideas and conceptualize them in the most artistic way possible.
At $500 apiece, however, this designer costs a pretty penny to hire. So certainly not the guy you’d take your business to if you’re on a budget. If you’re a top brand looking for artistic clarity and sophistication befitting of top brands, then this is your fit.
What sets this designer apart?
Bespoke, personalized graphics
On brand and bespoke logos and graphics
Utmost attention to detail
Even the minutest details matter to this designer, and you can see how much he captures the very essence of brands in their logos.
Better customer service
For the ‘premium’ $500 charge, you get prompt replies to messages and all the support you’ll need
The drawbacks
Might be too expensive for some businesses
Nadia
There’s so much focus on minimalist logos and graphics these days, but minimalism doesn’t work for every brand. If you wanted graphic pieces that combine minimalism with a bit of the zest that made memorable designs of yesteryear catchy, Nadia is one way to do it.
Over ten years spent creating some excellent designs makes this artist a tried and trusted hand in the business. As I said, compared to other designers, this artist packs up her designs with just about enough color and contrast to make them stand out uniquely and endearingly.
Delivery periods are a bit longer (7 days) when you work with this artist, which is not bad for the quality of work you get. Her base package will set you back by about $1500, which is again not bad for the quality of work you receive. It’s almost at the level of Ksenia (the designer before this), but without the extremely on-brand customization and attention to detail.
What sets this designer apart?
Contemporary design
Fusion between the minimalist movement and poppy, catchy designs of the past
Value for money
Not the cheapest or most expensive option on this list, but you still get excellent graphics worth every penny spent.
The drawbacks
Pricey
At $1500 this might be too expensive for many small businesses
Sarahroseandrew
If you wanted the full graphic design suite required for a head-to-toe business branding project, Sarah’s customized logo and branding gig offers quite a lot for the $1050 asking price.
Of course, there are cheaper full branding graphic design gigs on Fiverr, but it’ll be hard to find something cheaper or in this same price range to rival her quality of work squarely. It’s exceptionally good.
Her art style is also very representative of the modern brand. You get all the sleek shapes and design cuts, plus the effervescent style palettes that puts your brand in the 21st-century limelight. Past clients for this designer include top brands like Fiverr (again), and Unilever, which says a lot about the kind of graphics you’ll get from her service.
The only noteworthy downside is the month-long delivery schedule. You can drop it to about 14 days, but that’ll cost you an extra $500. Worth the wait anyways if you ask me.
What sets this graphic designer apart?
Professional and courteous
Extremely dedicated professional with a proven track record for creating groundbreaking designs.
Modern artist
Highly skilled in the business of creating ‘modern’ art and brand designs for modern businesses.
Custom graphic elements
Custom graphics to set you apart from the crowd.
The drawbacks
Long ETA
One month might be too long a wait cycle for some people.
Estediablo -money no object pick
I saved this for the last because he’s hardly the graphic designer most people will hire. At $3950 extending to $4950 for a single logo design project, I guess it’s fair to say that this is one of the more expensive graphic design gigs on Fiverr.
For that lump sum, however, you get a seasoned professional who’s worked with famous industry names like HBO, EA Sports and Netflix working on your design project. And the extra edge in terms of skill and creativity from this graphic designer really tells. First look at his work, and you’re bound to notice the simple sophistication practically every one of us loves and would like to have.
They’re clean, they’re on-brand, on point, and still manage to have all the catchy coloring and texturing to make them outstanding graphic design pieces in every right. If I had the money and needed the absolute best work done, this is the graphic designer on Fiverr I’d go with.
Sadly, I don’t have $3950 to spend on a logo, at least not yet, and I’m guessing you don’t have either. For the few odd lots who do and are reading this, you can’t go wrong with this dude. I’m so sure about it.
What sets this graphic designer apart?
Top draw quality
Probably the best graphic designer on Fiverr at this price point
Professional service delivery
You get an actual consult before the project starts to explain your needs and everything else you’d like captured on the design.
Fully customized graphics
None of that template stuff and certainly no reused designs
To conclude
Yes, you can hire a skilled graphic designer on Fiverr. Yes, your money is safe. And yes, there are scam artists on the platform as well.
If you noticed, I didn’t talk about posting a graphic design job request on Fiverr, which is something you can do with the Fiverr Buyers request section. That’s because when you post a job request, you really have no control over what kind of graphic design artist responds to your request.
In my experience, it’s usually not the better selection of graphic designers on Fiverr, so I really don’t recommend towing that route. Instead, just make a selection based on the steps I’ve outlined, or if you’d rather skip the hassle, use my recommended list of top graphic designers on Fiverr.
Frequently asked questions
Are the cheap design gigs on Fiverr worth it?
Except you’re looking for something generic to act as a placeholder, I’d say it’s not really worth buying the overly cheap $5 design gigs on Fiverr. Most artists offering these types of cheap design gigs use design templates that they recycle among clients.
Quality design takes time, creativity and skill. No graphic designer on Fiver who has all three will price their services cheaply.
