Finding the right designer can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not a creative yourself. But fear not, for this guide unveils 10 essential design interview questions to help you discover the perfect match for your team. These questions delve into the candidate’s conceptual and collaborative skills, attitude, design mojo, and more, ensuring you find a designer who not only possesses the technical skills but also aligns with your company’s culture and vision.
1. “Where do you find inspiration?”
This question helps you understand the candidate’s influences and their ability to stay current with design trends Are they inspired by art, architecture, or the latest apps and websites? Do they have a keen eye for visual design principles? Their answers will reveal their passion and openness to learning from others
2. “How did you design your portfolio?”
This question goes beyond showcasing the candidate’s work and delves into their thought process Explore the organization of their portfolio, the rationale behind the chosen projects, and their involvement in each stage of the design process This will reveal their understanding of user experience and their ability to adapt to different projects.
3. “Tell me about the projects you’re most proud of and why. What was your role?”
This question lets the candidate talk about their best designs and how involved they were in the process. Ask for specifics about projects they worked on and what role they played in them, such as strategy, ideation, or execution. This will help you figure out what kinds of skills they have and how they can help with different parts of the design process.
4 “What software do you use?”
While soft skills are essential, understanding the candidate’s technical skillset is equally important Explore their proficiency in various design software, including Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, UXPin, and others Additionally, inquire about their knowledge of coding skills and their willingness to learn new programs.
5. “How do you work cross-functionally with developers, copywriters, project managers, etc.?”
Great designers are team players who can collaborate effectively with other professionals. Ask for specific examples of how they’ve worked under tight deadlines or interacted with diverse teams. This will reveal their communication skills, ability to incorporate feedback, and their overall collaborative approach.
6. “Are you typically involved in the strategy or ‘concept’ phase of a project?”
Look for designers who have experience in the strategic planning phase, from understanding the problem to developing concepts and presenting work. Bonus points for those who have worked directly with clients. These individuals bring a broader range of skills and a deeper understanding of the design process.
7. “What’s your creative process?”
This question digs into how the candidate works and how well they can fit in with your team’s process. Check out how they solve problems, how well they can ask questions, and how willing they are to get feedback. This will help you understand their level of collaboration, ideation, and execution.
8. “How do you deal with feedback?”
Great designers embrace feedback as a tool for improvement. Ask for specific examples of how they’ve used feedback to enhance their work, how they prefer to receive it, and how they handle differing opinions. You want someone who believes in their work but is open to constructive criticism and collaboration.
9. “How do you hand off a project?”
A smooth project handoff is crucial for future accessibility and success. Look for designers who provide clear instructions, organized files, and proper documentation. This ensures a seamless transition and future use of the design assets.
10. “What’s your dream job?”
This open-ended question can reveal the candidate’s personality and their aspirations. It may showcase their humor, their passion for specific projects, or their desire to work in a particular company. This helps you determine culture fit and their overall motivation as a potential team member.
Additional Resources:
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By using these design interview questions and exploring the additional resources, you’ll be well-equipped to find the perfect designer who aligns with your team’s vision and contributes to your company’s success.
Toptal sourced essential questions that the best visual designers can answer. Driven from our community, we encourage experts to submit questions and offer feedback.
Q: What do you think of (x) project?
Suggest a few projects, or ask a designer to select a project and then dissect it. The candidate should be able to pick it apart.
Listen for answers that explain the situation, the goals, the references, the influences, and the pure aesthetics. They should also list the problems, the solutions, and the outcome of the chosen direction. If the candidate can elaborate with quick solutions to a set of specific problems, that’s even better. 2 .
Q: What areas of your work or personal development are you hoping to explore further?
Discuss areas of personal development, with emphasis on visual design.
How could the designer get better or move into new areas of design?
Q: How would you describe your work and your influences?
Look for elaborate and interesting stories, search for passion for design and design-thinking. References to history, design history, art, culture, music and architecture are useful when describing choices, intentions and solutions.
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Q: Portfolio critique: Please explain the three best projects from your portfolio
The candidate has to talk about the whole design process, including the choices they made, their ideas, the situation, the whys, and the dos and don’ts by showing how they worked on a specific project.
Question the designer’s decisions to discover details of projects and the reasoning behind these decisions. Ask how the designer would have made those projects even better. 5 .
Q: Can you tell us more about your design background?
If we look into the designer’s background further after reading their general introduction, we can learn about the design school they went to, their current and past jobs, their design experience, the problems and projects they worked on, and how all of this relates to their current design career and future goals. 6 .
Q: Why did you become a designer?
The answers to this theme will give you an idea of the designer’s personality and spirit based on how creative and lively they are.
The interviewer can then ask more questions about the designer’s ideas and style preferences, as well as his or her influences, historical references, and anything else that drives his or her career. 7 .
Q: What is your design approach?
The design process is essential to how design candidates develop and create their work. Insight and the way they work can distinguish their quality. As the design process becomes more thorough, the results become more elaborate and detailed.
Also, budget and time constraints often affect the design process. It would be helpful to know how s/he and the design teams s/he has worked with before dealt with different situations and briefs. 8 .
Q: How would you describe your design research?
When the candidate talks about design research, it’s important to cover all the bases they know about it and explain why they chose a certain method, tool, or way of thinking to get a result.
However, if the data came from the client, a copywriter, a strategist, or a UX designer, the designer will need to do more research to back up what they said, which could lead to a better outcome. 9 .
Q: What software do you use, and when?
Standard skills are a must, from Adobe to Sketch, but look for the extra during an interview.
Processing, illustration, animation, video, art skills, and the like, that bring extra potential to specific clients and projects. 10 .
Q: What field, industry, type of work do you prefer?
Find out what candidates are interested in, whether it’s digital, print, or 360-degree solutions, social causes or luxury projects. Then, build the conversation around their personal and project goals and the things they want to do and make but haven’t had the chance to. 11 .
Q: What would you say will be future of design? Or the next big thing?
Open your mind and tell us your craziest and wildest ideas about what the design industry should do next. Extra points for storytelling!.
VR (virtual reality), for instance, is making a lot of room in the consumer world for games, virtual museums, and other kinds of virtual experiences. From a graphic and interactive design point of view, VR is one of the new ways to include visual design and interaction. 12 .
Q: What is your biggest design career moment?
We want to hear about everything, from awards to happy customers, clients, and social activists to clear evidence of skyrocketing sales and profits.
How did it start, what happened, and why did you succeed? 13 .
Q: What is your biggest design challenge?
If you were confronted by a tough challenge, we want to hear about it. What happened, what did you do to get through it, and what tools and methods did you use? Why was it the biggest challenge of your career?
Most design work goes unseen and behind the curtains in the design process. We want to hear your design hero story. Alternatively, describe your dream challenge and how you would design a process to help you deal with it. 14 .
Please explain why you want to work alone and with a group.
This is more of a character test. It can also show us how you work, how your design process grows, and what kind of work you want to do. Maybe you’d rather work with others, so show and tell us how you’d be good at leading or working with others.
Q: What are your strengths?
Tell us what you do best and list the areas where you want to be even better. Please do show off (but don’t overdo it).
Concentrate on all the positive qualities that you would bring to a project, client or a brand. Everyone knows you work hard and can work with others, but we want to know what great thing you can make. 16 .
Q: Design school never ends, at least for great designers. How do you learn and grow your knowledge and expertise?.
Designers are curious, and want to know everything and get better with each passing day. Share your design secret on how you expand and improve your knowledge.
- How did you learn from the mistakes other people made and the mistakes you made yourself?
- What books do you think people should read? How do you keep up with design trends?
- What are your influences in design?
- What magazines, design and creative blogs do you follow?
17 .
Q: What constitutes good design?
We all know that good design conveys information and communicates ideas.
Tell us about projects, products, visual identities, campaigns, services, or apps that inspired or influenced you in any way. This may seem like a general question, but you can answer it and show us what you know about good design.
Dieter Rams’s simple list of 10 design principles laid out important points and made it clear what makes a good design. This information is always useful and a good place to start talking about projects that use these ideas; it’s even better if a designer asks questions about them. 18 .
Q: What is the meaning of color and color theory in visual design?
Color plays a major part in the consideration of visual communication.
Big brands tell their stories through color. They connect with their consumers and the public with consistent use of color, color palettes and color systems. Color is a powerful tool that enables distinction and differentiation between brands. A brand that changes color with a new identity sometimes has dangerous results.
Tell us how successful brands communicate through color theory, and the meaning of color in design. 19 .
Q: What makes a great app in terms of visual design?
A great app requires a unique visual design, a fast and understandable user experience and interaction.
The user can easily understand what the app is trying to say visually if the information is displayed clearly and in the right order. Memorable visual identity and association of colour are just a few elements that make a great app.
Show us some great apps and explain what makes them good. Likewise, explain how some popular apps could be improved upon.
There is more to interviewing than tricky technical questions, so these are intended merely as a guide. Not every good candidate for the job will be able to answer all of them, and answering all of them doesn’t mean they are a good candidate. At the end of the day, hiring remains an art, a science — and a lot of work.
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Graphic Design Interview Questions with Answer Examples
FAQ
What is a layout designer?
How do you answer a design interview question?
Your answers will reflect your love for what you do, so don’t be afraid to show enthusiasm for your work. Additionally, general design questions are an opportunity for the interviewer to get a feel for what inspires you as a designer and the kind of work they might expect from you.
How do I prepare for a layout designer interview?
As you prepare for your upcoming interview as a layout designer, it’s essential to not only showcase your creative skills but also communicate your understanding of design principles and problem-solving abilities.
What is a layout design question?
This question is designed to gauge your technical skills. Layout design often involves using sophisticated software and tools. By understanding what you’re familiar with, hiring managers can determine if you have the necessary skills to execute the job effectively, or if additional training might be required.
Why do hiring managers ask a layout design question?
Hence, hiring managers ask this question to assess your understanding of the user-centric approach, your problem-solving skills, your creativity, and your ability to make the design work for the needs of the user, all of which are vital in a layout design role. Example: “One project that comes to mind is a website redesign for an e-commerce client.
