10 Types of Graphic Design Services Every Business Needs | THIENTU BPO

Not sure what kind of graphic design support your business actually needs? You're not alone. From logos to social posts to pitch decks, design plays a role in nearly every part of your brand—but that doesn't mean you need to hire a full-time designer for everything.

At THIENTU BPO, we've worked with global businesses for over 24 years, helping them scale their design capabilities strategically. We've seen companies waste budget on overpriced agencies for simple tasks, and others struggle with inconsistent freelancers when they actually needed dedicated support.

In this guide, we break down the 10 most common types of graphic design services businesses rely on, what each one includes, and when it makes the most sense to outsource through our offshore staffing model versus other engagement options.

Why Graphic Design Services Matter for Business Growth

Logos can say everything about a brand without saying a single word. Just think of the most recognizable logos worldwide—Apple, Nike, McDonald's. Graphic designers play a huge role in getting those right.

But a logo is just one piece of the puzzle. Businesses use a variety of graphic design services across all stages of growth, from early-stage startups building brand identity to established enterprises managing complex visual systems across multiple channels.

Knowing which service you need is the difference between hiring a suitable graphic designer and wasting time and budget on someone who can't deliver the results your business requires.

10 Essential Graphic Design Services for Growing Businesses

1. Brand Identity Design

Brand identity design sets the visual foundation for your business, building a cohesive look and feel that reflects who you are and what you offer. This is often the first major design investment companies make—and the one that influences every visual decision that follows.

What it includes:

• Logo design and variations
• Color palette development
• Typography selection and hierarchy
• Brand guidelines documentation
• Visual style standards

Early-stage startups often outsource brand identity work to access expert-level creative quickly. But once your brand is established, ongoing asset management and updates are usually easier with a designer embedded in your team who understands your brand evolution.

2. Social Media Design

Social platforms are where many customers first encounter your brand—so your visual content needs to be polished, on-brand, and scroll-stopping. Social media design covers all the custom graphics and templates that support your content strategy across platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.

What it includes:

• Branded templates for posts, stories, and reels
• Custom thumbnails, highlight covers, and profile visuals
• Animated assets for ads or stories
• Channel-specific graphics, including YouTube intros and video overlays
• Platform-optimized sizing and formatting

Outsourcing works well if you're running campaign-based content or ad promotions that need extra creative horsepower. But if you're posting daily or building a visual-first brand—especially on video platforms like YouTube—it may be time to hire a dedicated designer who can keep up with demand and consistently apply your brand across formats.

3. Marketing and Advertising Design

According to Crowdspring, nearly 80% of customers purchase products due to existing brand awareness. There are many ways to boost brand awareness, and creating attractive promotional content is one of the most effective.

This service includes various marketing and advertising materials, and the designer's role is to ensure your brand's message is clear, visually appealing, and consistent across channels.

What it includes:

• Social media posts and banner ads
• Display ads and email campaign visuals
• Print advertisements and marketing brochures
• Promotional graphics for websites and blogs
• Campaign-specific creative assets

For one-time campaigns or limited-time promotions, outsourcing to a specialized marketing designer brings fresh ideas and expertise. If your business has ongoing marketing needs with weekly or daily creative requirements, we help companies build dedicated design teams through our offshore staffing model—giving you full control with our infrastructure support.

4. Product Packaging and Label Design

We've helped e-commerce and consumer product companies create packaging designs that stand out on digital shelves and physical retail environments. While designers don't typically design the packaging structure itself, they create the branded visuals, layout, and information that go on the packaging and labels.

What it includes:

• Designing artwork for boxes, bottles, bags, or pouches
• Laying out product labels, ingredient lists, and usage instructions
• Creating visual consistency across different product lines
• Preparing print-ready files that align with dielines and vendor specs
• Collaborating with packaging vendors to ensure proper formatting

For new product launches or seasonal promotions, outsourcing to a packaging-savvy designer can bring fresh energy and help avoid costly print errors. But if you produce and update packaging regularly, having someone in-house who knows your specs and brand system saves serious time and ensures consistency.

5. Presentation Design

Presentation design is about making your message clear, convincing, and visually polished. Whether you're pitching to investors, presenting to clients, or sharing internal updates, your slides can make or break your presentation—especially in high-stakes business development scenarios.

What it includes:

• Investor decks, sales presentations, and pitch materials
• Branded slide templates for consistent internal use
• Visualizing complex data or processes clearly
• Formatting slides for live or virtual presentations
• Aligning presentations with your brand's voice and style

Tight deadline? A freelance presentation designer can polish your pitch fast. But if slide decks are a weekly staple for your team, having a dedicated designer ensures every presentation maintains your brand standards and communicates with impact.

6. Infographics and Data Visualization

Data visualizations and infographics make complex information easier to digest—a critical capability for B2B companies, SaaS platforms, and thought leadership content where clear communication drives credibility and conversions.

What it includes:

• Creating static or interactive infographics
• Visualizing survey results, timelines, or workflows
• Designing charts and graphs that match your brand
• Supporting blog content, whitepapers, and social media
• Translating complex topics into easy-to-follow visuals

Need to enhance a report or whitepaper? Bring in a freelance infographic specialist. But if data storytelling is core to your content strategy, a dedicated designer ensures every piece stays on-brand and clear—building recognition and trust with your audience over time.

7. Print Design

Print is far from dead. In fact, global print advertising spending is projected to reach nearly $33 billion in 2025. While digital marketing gets most of the attention, print design still matters in industries that rely on physical touchpoints to connect with customers.

Industries like real estate, hospitality, healthcare, and local retail often depend on print to effectively reach their audiences and establish tangible brand presence.

What it includes:

• Designing brochures, flyers, and posters
• Creating business cards and branded stationery
• Laying out print ads for magazines or newspapers
• Producing event signage or point-of-sale displays
• Preparing print files with correct specs and bleed

If you produce print materials occasionally—for trade shows, events, or product launches—outsourcing to a print designer makes the most sense. However, for companies relying heavily on print media for operations and marketing, having someone in-house or on dedicated contract who can deliver promptly may be more worthwhile.

8. E-Commerce Graphics

Visuals play an important role in e-commerce success. From product images to homepage banners and promotional graphics, strong design directly impacts how much people trust your brand and, ultimately, your conversion rates.

Businesses like fashion retailers, electronics stores, beauty brands, and marketplaces depend heavily on this kind of design work to stand out in crowded digital marketplaces.

What it includes:

• Editing and retouching product photos
• Designing promotional banners and seasonal graphics
• Creating icons, badges, and overlays for product listings
• Producing email visuals tied to product campaigns
• Formatting images for platforms like Amazon, Shopee, or custom e-commerce sites

If you run occasional campaigns, outsourcing to a reliable freelancer or agency can work well. However, if your online store frequently updates promotions and products, a dedicated designer becomes essential for maintaining visual consistency and meeting rapid turnaround demands.

9. Motion Graphics and Animations

Animated visuals help bring your stories to life by using movement to communicate ideas across videos, apps, and digital platforms. This specialized design discipline has become increasingly important as video content dominates social media and digital marketing channels.

What it includes:

• Creating animated logos and brand intros
• Designing UI micro-animations for web and app elements
• Producing explainer videos and product walkthroughs
• Making animated graphics for social media and YouTube
• Animated advertisements and promotional content

Since motion design requires specialized skills and tools, it's often best to outsource this work, especially for short-term campaigns. But if your content strategy relies heavily on video or animation, having a motion graphic designer or illustrator on retainer or full-time helps you stay consistent and speed up production significantly.

10. Internal Design Assets

Internal design assets support your internal operations, including HR documents, training decks, onboarding guides, and internal branding materials. Though not customer-facing, these materials shape your team's experience and foster a cohesive company culture—something we understand deeply after 24 years of building teams.

What it includes:

• Branded templates for HR or finance teams
• Training manuals and onboarding materials
• Internal newsletters or company-wide announcements
• Presentation decks for internal meetings or leadership
• Employee communications and culture materials

Internal design work often involves ongoing updates and a deeper understanding of your processes, so having someone in-house is often more practical. If a full-time hire feels like too much, a part-time or contract designer familiar with your brand can keep internal materials polished and on-brand.

How to Engage Graphic Design Services: Three Strategic Options

There are different engagement models to consider when deciding how to meet your graphic design needs. Should you bring on a freelancer, work with a graphic design agency, or hire an in-house designer? Each option has distinct advantages and ideal use cases.

Understanding which model fits your budget is essential, as graphic designer costs can vary widely depending on experience, location, and scope of work.

Freelance Graphic Designer

Pros:

• Flexible and project-based engagement
• Access to specialized skills for specific tasks
• Lower commitment than full-time hiring
• Good for one-off projects and quick turnarounds

Cons:

• Availability can be inconsistent
• Less familiarity with your brand over time
• Communication and coordination overhead
• Quality varies significantly between freelancers

Best for: One-off projects like logo refreshes, ad campaigns, or occasional design needs where you don't require daily support.

Graphic Design Agency

Pros:

• Full team with diverse expertise
• High level of polish and professionalism
• Project management handled for you
• Best for complex, multi-faceted projects

Cons:

• Premium pricing (often 2-3x individual designer rates)
• Less direct control over the creative process
• Longer turnaround times due to agency workflows
• Communication often goes through account managers

Best for: Complex initiatives like rebrands, product launches, or building comprehensive brand systems when you need multiple designers and services managed under one roof.

In-House Graphic Designer (Traditional or Offshore)

Pros:

• Deep understanding of your brand and business
• Immediate availability and faster turnarounds
• Better collaboration with internal teams
• Consistent quality and brand application
• Full control over priorities and projects

Cons (Traditional US Hiring):

• Higher salary costs ($50,000-$90,000+ annually in the US)
• Benefits and overhead expenses
• Limited to one person's skill set
• Requires ongoing work to justify full-time position

Best for: Businesses with steady design needs across areas like marketing, product visuals, and internal communications.

The Offshore Staffing Advantage for Graphic Design

If your business needs steady design support but full-time US salaries feel out of reach financially, our offshore staffing model offers a compelling alternative.

We help US companies build dedicated graphic design teams in Vietnam, delivering the same quality work at 30-70% lower costs than domestic hiring. Here's how we make it work:

You maintain full control: Your designer works exclusively for you, following your processes and priorities—just like an in-house team member.

We handle the infrastructure: From recruitment to workspace to equipment and compliance, we provide everything your designer needs to be productive from day one.

Fast deployment: We can have a qualified graphic designer working on your team in 10-15 days, not months.

Enterprise-grade operations: Our triple ISO-certified infrastructure (ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 27701:2019, ISO 27001:2013) ensures security and professional standards that match or exceed what you'd expect from US-based teams.

Time zone compatibility: Vietnam operates in APAC time zones, making it ideal for companies needing design support for regional campaigns or those willing to establish asynchronous workflows.

For example, we've helped e-commerce companies build design teams that handle everything from product photography editing to seasonal campaign graphics—all while saving $35,000-$55,000 annually per designer compared to US hiring costs.

Which Engagement Model Is Right for Your Business?

The right choice depends on three factors: volume, consistency, and strategic importance.

Choose freelancers when:

• You have occasional, project-based needs
• You need specialized skills for specific campaigns
• Design is not a core business function
• You have someone internally who can art-direct effectively

Choose an agency when:

• You're tackling a major rebrand or complex campaign
• You need multiple design disciplines simultaneously
• You have budget for premium services
• You lack internal creative direction

Choose in-house (traditional or offshore) when:

• Design is a constant part of your workflow
• Brand consistency is critical to your business
• You need faster turnarounds and direct collaboration
• You want to build institutional knowledge over time

Choose offshore staffing when:

• You need full-time support but want to optimize costs
• You're comfortable with remote collaboration
• You need to scale design capacity quickly
• You want dedicated talent with enterprise infrastructure support

Build Your Design Team with THIENTU BPO

Graphic design is often treated like a one-off task—but for most growing businesses, it's an ongoing need that touches nearly every part of your brand, from product launches to pitch decks to social content.

At THIENTU BPO, we've spent 24 years helping global businesses scale their operations strategically. We understand that knowing what type of design work you need—and when to outsource versus bring someone in-house—is key to growing smartly without overspending.

Our offshore staffing model gives you access to experienced, full-time graphic designers in Vietnam who deliver consistent output, strong collaboration, and professional quality at rates 30-70% lower than US market expectations.

Ready to explore how offshore graphic design staffing can work for your business?

Contact us today for a free consultation. Share your design needs, and we'll show you exactly how we can help you build a dedicated design team that delivers results without breaking your budget.

📧 Email: info@thientu.vn
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