I Hired Offshore Graphic Design Teams: My Honest Take

I’m Kayla, and I’m picky about design. I run small brand projects from my kitchen table, most days with cold coffee and a sticky note stuck to my sleeve. I’ve hired offshore graphic designers for the last two years. Some wins. Some hard lessons. You know what? It was worth it, but not magic.

Let me explain. (If you’d like an even deeper play-by-play of the experience, check out my detailed recap in I Hired Offshore Graphic Design Teams: My Honest Take.)

Why I Tried It

I needed help fast, and my budget was tiny. Local shops quoted me $1,500 for a logo refresh. I didn’t have that. So I tested a few designers in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. I used Figma, Slack, Trello, Loom videos, and Google Drive. I paid with Wise. Simple setup. Not fancy.
Before I pulled the trigger, I skimmed an excellent overview of offshore graphic design services that mapped out price ranges and common engagement models.

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Real Projects I Shipped

  • Streetwear tees: I worked with an illustrator in Dhaka for a small drop. I sent a mood board, two rough sketches, and a Loom video. He sent three vector drafts by morning. One had a hand-drawn snake with a clean stroke and a little grain. Perfect. We tweaked the kerning on the wordmark (just the spacing between letters), and he exported AI, EPS, and print-ready PNGs. Cost: $180 for three designs. Turnaround: 3 days.

  • Coffee bag packaging: A team in Ho Chi Minh City mocked up a matte black bag with a bold color band and a tiny mountain icon. They added a die line, bleed, and CMYK swatches, which printers need. First pass had the barcode too close to the seam. My fault. Bad brief. They fixed it that same night. We printed 1,000 bags. No smudges. Cost: $320. Time: 1 week.

  • Ad set refresh for a spring launch: A designer in Cebu built 18 banner sizes from one base design. He kept the headline lockup and adjusted for odd sizes, like 300×600 and 320×100. He also gave me a Figma file with autolayout, so resizing later was easy. Cost: $95. Time: overnight.

  • Founder pitch deck cleanup: A designer in Kraków rebuilt my messy slides in Figma. He used a simple 4-column grid, matched my brand colors by hex code, and fixed the charts. One chart had the wrong y-axis label; he caught it. That saved me in the meeting. Cost: $220. Time: 4 days.

The Good Stuff

  • Speed, for real. I sent feedback at 6 p.m. my time. I woke up to new files. It felt like time travel.
  • Price that didn’t sting. I saw rates from $8–$20 an hour. Flat fees worked best for me. Logos ran $150–$400. A monthly plan ranged from $500–$1,200.
  • Lots of styles. I found clean tech looks, cute icon packs, gritty textures, and sharp type. If I gave clear samples, they matched tone fast.
  • Process that kept me sane. Figma for design. Trello for tasks. Slack for chat. Loom for feedback. Wise for pay. It wasn’t fancy; it worked.

The Hard Parts (I Tripped Too)

  • Words get messy. I wrote “make it pop” once. That means nothing. I had to show two sample posters and give hex codes. Then it clicked.
  • Time zones cut both ways. Late-night calls? Not fun. I now keep one overlap hour, three days a week. That’s enough.
  • Print files came back wrong a few times. RGB instead of CMYK. No bleed. Missing fonts. I made a checklist. Now I ask for CMYK + 300 DPI + bleed + outlines. Every single time.
  • Stock photos and fonts can be tricky. One designer used a font with a personal license only. We fixed it and bought the right license. It cost $49. Cheap lesson.
  • Revisions hit a wall. Some gigs allow two rounds only. I learned to batch my notes and keep them in one message. Less back-and-forth. Fewer hurt feelings.

Reading a balanced breakdown of the pros and cons of graphic design outsourcing helped me anticipate most of these pain points.

A Small Fail (And How We Fixed It)

I rushed a holiday promo label. I sent the copy late. The designer guessed the roast date format and used DD/MM. My printer used it as-is. We caught it on a test run, thank goodness. We redid the label with MM/DD, swapped the PDF, and kept the print slot. It was tight, but we made it. My take: never assume date formats. Write it out.

What I Ask For Now

Here’s the thing. A good brief saves money.

  • A one-page brand guide: colors (hex and CMYK), two typefaces, logo clear space.
  • Three visual samples I like, and one I don’t (with why).
  • Plain goals: “We need 5 ads. Focus on clicks. No tiny text.”
  • A 2–3 minute Loom video walking through the file.
  • A file list: source (AI/PSD/Figma), PDF, fonts, and a simple handoff note.
  • Print specs from the vendor (size, bleed, color profile). I paste them, word for word.

Where Offshore Shines

  • High-volume banners and social posts.
  • Vector work, icon packs, and flat illustrations.
  • Photo cutouts and background cleanup.
  • Deck cleanup and layout polish.
  • Packaging once the brand look is set.

Where It Struggles

  • Same-day rush with many live edits.
  • Deep brand strategy or naming.
  • High-concept campaigns that need long workshops.
  • Messy briefs with lots of “make it bold” and no examples. That’s on us, not them.

Money, Time, and My Sanity

Most projects landed in 2–5 days. Big ones, like packaging, took a week or two. I saved about 40–60% versus local quotes. Not always. Once I spent more fixing a rushed mess. But with a clean brief, I came out ahead.

Honestly, I still mix local and offshore. If I need a big idea session, I book local. If I need 30 ad sizes by Monday, I go offshore. It’s a nice little one-two punch. (For a peek at what a top-tier local engagement can look like, see I Hired Michelle Chen in Irvine for Graphic Design—Here’s How It Went.)

One pro tip: if you want a curated roster of offshore designers without gambling on random platforms, check out Moon and Back Graphics — their boutique approach pairs you with pre-vetted creatives so you skip the hiring slog.

Final Take

I’d give offshore graphic design a 4.3 out of 5. When I’m clear, it sings. When I’m vague, it hurts. The talent is there. The files can be clean. And yes, the price helps when you’re scrappy.

Would I do it again? I already did this week. And my coffee bag looks sharp. (If you’re polishing your own portfolio and wondering whether to feature class assignments, my thoughts are here: Should I Include Class Projects in My Graphic Design Portfolio? My Honest Take.)