Your starter guide to agency white label design - everything you need to know and how to get started
My take as an agency Art Director in charge of deciding when and who to hire as a freelance designer for our agency, and what work to give them.
What is White Label design?
White Label design is when an agency hires a designer to do work for them for their client on a freelance basis rather than as a full team member.
In order to understand the pros and cons, you have to first look at it from their perspective: an agency is looking to outsource typically when they have more work than they can handle. They’re overloaded, timelines are tight, and they just can’t make it all happen with only their current team members. So they delegate some of it to reliable outside parties.
Some of the perks of the job:
Consistent work
If you work well together and your styles match, then they’ll start to rely on you and send work your way consistently. At that point you could even switch to a retainer model so that your hours are booked for them. This is a great system for your cash flow as a buffer against slow client months, and helps diversify your income streams.
Creative fulfillment
As an agency, they work with larger projects and clients than freelancers usually do. As a part of their team, you’ll get to partner in some pretty massive undertakings and opportunities you might never have experienced otherwise.
Professional processes
As you get familiar with them, you’ll see how they work, what processes they use for client presentations, copywriting, strategy, etc. that you can learn from. (That's also one of the big advantages of starting out your career at an agency - learning how to run a design business from someone already doing it before you struggle through it yourself from the ground up).
No client management
Love designing but hate having to manage client expectations, deal with sales calls, getting clients on board with your designs, and all the more business-y aspects? Working for an agency means way less project management on your end - you get to focus on design while they focus on keeping their clients happy.
Sounds like something you would be interested in?
Let's check if you fit the bill -
Here’s what agencies are looking for:
Someone who produces good work the first time
Remember when I said they’re tight on time? They don’t have time to redo your work or they would have just done it themselves in the first place. They want you to be able to take the initiative on the project they hand you and get it done well and right the first time with minimal revisions necessary.
Someone who can take direction easily
And is experienced enough to understand what they’re looking for without too much back and forth. If they have to hop on multiple Zoom calls and long email trails with you for clarification, then it will be too much of a headache for them. They want to place everything in an email and have you good to go as soon as possible, the less back and forth, the better.
A flexible process
They might need you to work in specific phases that they can present to their client, or to set up your presentations in their usual format, or to take over mid-project. If you’re going to insist on your regular process every time, it’s going to be too much of a headache for the agency.
While working for an agency can be a great experience and creatively fulfilling, you’re working on their terms.
Keep these points in mind:
You’ll charge less than a regular freelance rate
The typical price/hour when freelancing for an agency is less than the regular hourly rate you give your clients. This is because freelance rates usually cover the additional overhead of marketing, sales calls, client management, writing proposals, etc. which you won't have to cover in this case.
The agency, on the other hand, is used to a lower scale of hourly rates they pay their in-house design team in exchange for the stability of a steady paycheck, and not having any of that overhead. They build out their pricing packages for their clients based on those salary expenses, not your hourly rate which can easily be 2-3x what they pay in-house designers.
So keep in mind the agency’s expectations and the value you get (the buildup of a steady workflow, no marketing or sales calls or proposal drafting…) and try to find a middle ground that’s not too high for them, but still worth your time.
The timelines might be tight
If the agency is desperate enough to outsource, then they might be short on time as well. Be sure to confirm all deadlines for deliverables before accepting the project to make sure it works for you.
They’re not going to train you in
A lot of designers consider working for an agency at the beginning of their career to gain experience. And I’m very much in favor of this! You learn a ton when working for and with people who know more than you do. Plus you'll get to do a lot of design work in a short amount of time, building up experience fast.
However, white label is not the same thing as working in-house. The art director is not going to spend her time patiently giving you feedback over multiple rounds of revisions to help you level-up your skills. Once the initial design is done and maybe 1 round of revisions, they’ll just take it in-house to wrap up faster. They’re not going to waste time and resources training in someone who isn’t going stick around long-term to provide a return on that investment.
You’ll have two parties to satisfy
Working to understand your client and provide what they’re looking for (and what they need) is hard. Working with 2 bosses - even harder.
Working with/at an agency (whether white label or in-house) essentially means having 2 bosses - the agency and the client. You'll need to find a way to balance their possibly conflicting thoughts and tastes. It’s a juggling act that requires a deep understanding of human nature and interpretation of emails to find a design solution that satisfies both sides of the project (and yourself as well, when possible).
Your portfolio won’t grow
Although your skills will improve with practice, most agencies won’t allow you to showcase work you’ve done for them white label so that their clients don’t know that they’re outsourcing. So, while it might be a great source of practice and income and you might produce some amazing work for big-name clients, you won’t be able to use these projects to bring in more income through your website/portfolio. So make sure to leave yourself some time for other freelance work or personal projects to buff up your portfolio and show off your new skills.
Interested in trying it out for yourself?
Before you start reaching out to agencies, make sure your work and portfolio is up to scratch.
What agencies are looking for in your portfolio:
Strong typography and layout skills
They want to see that you can do more than logos. They'll most likely be handing over the multitude of assets that are part of a larger campaign where the branding is already completed and approved. They want to know that you can trust you to follow a branding and create design variations that are well-executed and well-structured.
Similar projects to their industry
If you can design well then you can design for any industry. But some industries have certain focuses in their designs and marketing that they would like you to already know.
For example, non-profits tend to do a lot of direct response such as fundraisers and dinners so their designs usually have excessive amounts of text and can be very action-oriented (ie. cta larger, more energy needed in the designs, etc.). Product-based businesses might focus more on awareness and vibe. Luxury brands focus more on balance, minimalism, and elegance in their designs.
Having done this type of design before makes it more likely that you'll get their project right the first time with minimal revisions, which, remember, is what the agency is looking for.
Style match and/or variety
When working at an agency, as opposed to freelancing and niching by your personal style ala Nichy Silber, you have to adapt to many different types of design styles based on the client or project. Therefore, an agency might specifically look out for your design style flexibility as a sign that you'll be able to handle whatever they send your way.
Some agencies, on the other hand, have a bit of their own style or flair, in which case they'll be checking if your style matches theirs.
Ready to start?
Reach out to agencies!
You never know what's going on internally - they could be going through a busy season and need some extra help, someone could be going on maternity leave soon, or many other situations that could be alleviated by having an extra hand on deck.
It always pays to reach out if you love their work and think you'd be a good fit. Worse case scenario, they keep your info on file for the next time they need someone.
For a list of agencies, check out our Job Board. Check out their websites, see if they’re design style and type of work is a good match for your skillset and then reach out!
You never know where the connections your form and relationships you build might take you.
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