Imagine that a new creative marketing project lands on your desk with a tight deadline. A couple of years ago, you would have stiffened and wondered how on earth you were going to get it done in time. Now, you simply forward the brief to your creative director and let them take care of it.
When we mention creative directors, we’re not necessarily talking about an in-house creative team. We could also be talking about Designity.
Traditionally, companies had a creative team on hand to handle those quick website changes or branding updates. We’re living in a post-pandemic era but it doesn’t mean that the effect of 2020 on creative teams has necessarily lessened.
Now, when so many creative teams were either furloughed or disbanded in the hopes of greener pastures elsewhere, marketing departments have to either outsource their creative work or try to re-hire new in-house creative teams. Yes, this is still a problem in 2022.
Before you dive into that stack of resumes on your desk, we’re going to make this a little easier for you. Here is Designity vs in-house creative teams.
About in-house teams
When you think in-house, you think of someone who is always available for your creative projects. This could also include a whole team of W-2 employees who take care of your design work.
Unless you’re a large company, your in-house creative team may look like a team of two people. One might be a graphic designer and the other might be a copywriter. In-house teams vary widely depending on company needs and the most pressing projects.
About Designity
Designity is a virtual on-demand creative platform that matches creatives with your biggest projects—all under the supervision of an experienced creative director. The best way to think of us is as a direct response to the needs and demands of marketing in the digital age.
Aside from the obvious differences between us and in-house creative teams, we also have some interesting similarities.
Let's compare…
A comparison at first glance.
Hiring process
In-house teams
Let’s go back to the introductory scenario: A creative project lands on your desk with a tight deadline. You know that you have five more projects just like it on deck, and instead of hiring another freelancer, you decide to assemble a small in-house team.
Step 1: Identify who would be worth hiring full-time and create three job listings for a graphic designer, a copywriter, and a web designer.
Step 2: Sift through the onslaught of resumes and portfolios.
Step 3: You’ve identified twenty potential candidates and set up interviews with them.
Step 4: Round X of interviews. Finally down to the three you’re going to hire full time.
Step 5: Send the necessary paperwork for signatures, onboard the new team, and train them in your product and tech stack.
Step 6: Finally get started on that project that was dropped on your desk three weeks ago.
The hiring process for in-house teams is almost the same as it would be with any other vacancy on the team, except you have to sift through portfolios on top off resumes.
Designity
This is going to be short! The very first step after requesting a demo or information is the initial discovery call. We take the time to understand your needs before suggesting the right package.
Before you sign the dotted line, we give you a two-week trial to make sure that we are a good fit for each other.
Your onboarding process includes a questionnaire where we ask you personality questions, industry-related questions, and deep dive into your needs. You are then matched with a creative director who has experience in your field (ie. healthcare specific, eCommerce, NFTs, etc).
Your trial begins when you meet with your creative director for the first time.
Oh, and all of this could be done in 48 hours.
But while they’re not the cheapest asset to bring on in-house, leveraging their knowledge and expertise is easy with Designity. Every virtual team is managed by a creative director for quality assurance, seamless communication, and creative mentorship.
Creative direction
In-house teams
This one could be answered in one sentence. Unless you specifically hire your own creative director, you are the one managing creative direction on projects.
Designity
We have creative direction down to an art. One of the most challenging parts of carrying a project to completion is providing creative direction to your team. On top of managing them throughout the process.
The good news is, not only does your creative director go to market and pick the right talent from our pool of vetted US-based creatives, but they also manage and guide them so that you don’t have to.
With Designity, you get weekly calls with your CD, an interactive dashboard so that you can review collateral and provide feedback, and you can give us more than one project. Your creative director is your one POC and constant throughout the creative process.
Scope of skills
In-house teams
The scope of skills that you get from your in-house teams largely depends on who you hire. A graphic designer may have web development skills, and a copywriter may have UX/UI skills but that isn’t a guarantee.
The scope of services that you get from your in-house teams is on your shoulders.
Designity
One of the biggest perks of working with Designity is the interchangeability of the creative teams. When you can’t predict what creative project will land on your desk next, full-stack skills are a must-have.
From web development to branding, from graphic design to marketing collateral, our skills run the gamut. To see a list of what we offer, check out our services page.
Trial period
In-house teams
The way that you hire your teams is completely up to your company. The majority of the time, the closest thing to a ‘trial period’ that you can legally get, is probably testing a potential candidate by hiring them as a freelancer first.
Or maybe you’ve already worked with them as a freelancer and know what they are capable of. Either way, you still have to pay for their services (of course).
Designity
We believe in an engagement before marriage. What we mean by this is after you sign up for our services, you get a two-week trial period so that you can see exactly what we are capable of before you sign the dotted line.
Get to know your creative director, give us a project to work on, let your creative director plug in creatives from our (highly) vetted pool of US-based creatives, and see a deliverable. Easy, no-risk, and efficient.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6369722e59155470b6840033_Potential-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Want to save money without sacrificing the quality?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Say goodbye to traditional, expensive agencies and unreliable marketplaces. Say hello to Designity.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/pricing" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Get Your 2-Week Trial</strong></a></div></div></div>
Total costs.
In-house teams
Hiring new in-house creatives or any employee is exhausting–for budgets, that is. It’s likely to cost you $6-$7k per month for an experienced designer, let alone a $3k intern. And while most think compensation takes it all, that’s actually not the case.
According to the S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, salaries account for just 70% of an employee’s wage package. The other 30% includes other costs like benefits, taxes, office space, equipment, training, and more.
Designity
Our pricing model is simple and straightforward: You choose one of three packages based on your project and the number of creatives that you’ll need, start your 2-week trial, and pay a monthly premium.
There are no giant retainer fees, unpredictable invoices, or unwelcome surprises. The higher your package, the more creatives and services you get. Let’s say that you decide on the Essentials package for the first month. Switching to a higher plan is as simple as pressing a button (literally).
The Verdict
Deciding on whether in-house teams vs. Designity would be a good fit for you is wholly based on your needs. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
