Blog, Working with designers, 6 min read

Freelancer, studio or agency: how to pick for the job you actually have

Each one is right for something. Here is how to tell which, without paying to find out.

This gets argued as though one is better. They are different shapes, and the shape should match the job.

A freelancer

Best for a single, well defined piece of work where you know what you want. One deck, one logo, one landing page. You get the person you hired, which is the main advantage: no account layer, no juniors, no telephone game.

The risks are real and manageable. One person gets ill, takes another job, or disappears. Ask what happens if they are unavailable, and keep your files.

A studio

Best when the job spans skills, or when it keeps coming back. A brand plus the deck plus the site. A monthly flow of work. You get more than one specialist and someone coordinating them, without the overhead of an agency.

Ask who is actually doing the work. In a small studio it should be the people you spoke to. If you are handed to someone you have not met after signing, that is an agency wearing a studio label.

An agency

Best when you need strategy, research and scale at once, and when there is a budget that can carry the overhead. Big campaigns, full repositioning, work that needs a dozen people moving together.

You are paying for capacity and process. If your job does not need either, you are paying for someone else to have a nice office.

Three questions that sort it quickly

• Is this one thing, or several things that have to agree with each other? Several means a studio or agency.
• Will this come back every month? Recurring work is cheaper and better with a team that keeps your context.
• Do I know what I want, or do I need someone to tell me? Needing direction pushes you up a tier.

What to check whoever you pick

Ask to see one project like yours, ask who does the work, ask what the revision terms are, and ask what you get at the end. Four questions. The answers vary more than the portfolios do.