Best interview questions for Graphic Designers

Graphic Designer Interview Questions

To ‘love design’ is a great start to being a graphic designer, but unfortunately this doesn’t make the cut when looking for a good candidate.

To really succeed in this position potential employees will be able to focus on:

Communicating your brand and your company’s vision to external sources.
They should be clear in their creative process and be able to work in cross-functional teams.
Have a good understanding of layout, animation and design tools.

Interviewing a Graphic Designer

Are you searching for an excellent Graphic Designer? Then it will soon be time to get to know the candidates a little better in an interview. With our Graphic Designer interview questions, your interview is prepared quickly and easily.

Please note: Our interview questions are suggestions for the earlier stages of the application process and for candidates with average work experience. They are therefore a little more general.

How to open the job interview

Interviews naturally breed nerves, so the first part of your interview should aim to make the candidate feel comfortable speaking with you, you’ll get much more information out of them and a better sense of the person they are if they feel like they can trust the environment they are in.

To do this you can ask some fun and interesting questions linked to the role, they should be open-ended and encourage conversation.

Job Description available

See our Graphic Designer Job Description here

For the interview

A positive opener to start

What made you want to become a designer?

What do you love most about your job?

Behavioral Questions

What made you want to become a designer?
What are your favourite sources of inspiration?
Do you have any favourite brands that you think have a great design?
What is your favourite piece from your portfolio?
All the above questions will give you a good idea of character and how passionate they are about their job.

Soft Skills

How do you keep your design skills updated? How do you stay up to date on the latest trends and software?
A good designer should be willing to learn and understand the importance of staying up to date with the latest technologies in their industry.
What does your ideal team look like and what kind of management style do you best respond to?
This will give you a good idea of where they will sit within the team and if they will gel well with the manager and teammates.
How do you work together with copywriters, developers and product managers?
Good graphic designers will be able to work in cross-functional teams and be great communicators.
Can you walk me through your design and creative process?
Demonstrates the candidate's understanding of the important steps in a creative process.

Hard Skills

What are some questions you always ask before beginning work on a new project?
Often designers and stakeholders will miscommunicate on a project, so asking lots of questions is a good way to avoid this. Usually a good graphic designer will always ask a few of the same questions that they find especially important.
If you’re tasked with designing a new logo for our company, what would you change about our current one?
This shows creative flair and an ability to think outside the box.
Which design tools do you have the most experience using?
Should be able to use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Sketch would be useful but not essential.
Do you have any experience working with UX designers?
This isn't an essential part of graphic design, but designers should have at least some understanding of user experience and focus on improving it.

Operational / Situational Questions

How would you deal with a stakeholder that continuously had negative feedback on your designs?
This is about positive communication and problem solving skills.
Can you think of a time that you made a mistake on a project? How did you deal with that?
Here we are looking for ownership and accountability with methods to fix issues.
How would you explain your process to an individual or team member that has no experience in design?
This will give a good indication of communication skills.
How do you usually deal with creative blocks?
Here we’re looking for awareness and strategies that have worked for them in the past.