Graphic Designer

Screening notes

Experience

4 years as a graphic designer, the last 2.5 at a US-based DTC skincare brand (Figma-first, mostly Figma and Illustrator). I worked inside their brand system every day: social ads, email headers, packaging mockups, and landing page sections. Volume was high — 15 to 25 deliverables a week — and the brief was often just a content block and a deadline. Before that I was at a Manila studio doing brand identity and print work. I am strongest on static digital: social, email, and web. I have done basic After Effects animation but I do not claim to be a motion designer.

Tools

Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects (basic animation), Canva for quick client-facing mockups when Figma is overkill, Google Slides for presentations

Scenario answer

Asked: A client rejects your third revision saying only 'it doesn't feel premium.' You have one revision left in scope. Describe exactly what you'd ask them, what you'd change, and what you'd do if their feedback contradicts the original brief.

When a client says 'it doesn't feel premium' after the third revision, the first thing I do is stop guessing and start asking. Not 'what do you mean' — that just gets me 'I'll know it when I see it' — but specific diagnostic questions: 1. 'Can you show me a reference that does feel premium to you — from any brand, doesn't have to be ours?' This is the fastest way to calibrate. Premium means something different to a skincare brand than to a logistics company. 2. 'Is the issue the typography, the colour use, or the overall composition?' If they can answer one of those, I am already halfway there. 3. 'Looking at the two previous revisions, which came closest?' Narrowing direction from the delta is faster than restarting from a vague brief. Then the fourth revision, built on what I heard: - If the references they share are all tight whitespace, clean serifs, and muted palettes: I reduce visual noise, increase whitespace, move from the current display font to something with more optical weight. - If they showed me bold/dark/editorial: I push contrast and type scale in the other direction. - In either case I annotate the file: 'whitespace increased 40% from R3, moved from Outfit to Canela Display for the headline, muted the background from #F5F5F5 to #FAFAF8.' Named decisions are harder to reject vaguely. If their feedback contradicts the original brief — the brief says 'approachable and warm' and they are now pointing at cold editorial references — I name it explicitly: 'The reference you shared is a different direction than the original brief. Before the fourth revision I want to confirm we are updating the brief, not just this execution, so the rest of the asset set is consistent.' I would not make that change silently and then find out at the brand rollout that half the assets still look 'approachable and warm'.

Work sample

Asked: Pick a real piece of your design work. Describe three specific decisions you made in it — why that typeface, why that layout, why that color choice — and what you'd change if you were doing it again today.

WORK SAMPLE — a product launch social set (4 posts) for the skincare brand THREE SPECIFIC DECISIONS I MADE: 1. TYPEFACE — I used Canela Display for the hero headline and Neue Haas Grotesk for body copy. Canela has an editorial, slightly old-money quality from its bracketed serifs and high contrast — exactly the 'premium skincare' signal the brand was going for — while Neue Haas keeps the supporting text clean and legible at small sizes on mobile. I tried the more obvious choice (Libre Baskerville) first but the x-height was too small to read well in an Instagram story format, which is why I went to Canela. If I were doing it again I would check the web font licence earlier; Canela is not on Google Fonts and the licensing conversation with the client took a week we did not budget. 2. LAYOUT — I used a 60/40 split between a full-bleed product photo and the text zone rather than a centred layout. The decision was driven by how the products photograph: the brand's hero shots always have negative space in the upper-left corner, so the text placement falls naturally into a composited space rather than over the product. Centred text was fighting with the photography. The 60/40 also gives me a consistent grid across all four posts even when the product shape changes. 3. COLOUR CHOICE — I pulled the campaign accent colour (#C8A882, a warm sand) directly from the product packaging rather than from the brand colour guide, which lists a cooler beige. The packaging sits in the photo. Matching the guide colour would have created a visible temperature mismatch between the product in the image and the graphic elements around it. I documented this deviation in the handoff file. What I would change: set this expectation earlier in the brief rather than explaining it in the handoff, because the creative director questioned it before I could show the side-by-side.

Availability

Full-time, 9pm–6am PHT (9am–6pm US Eastern; an hour later in PHT when the US is on winter time). Two weeks' notice.

Screening notes

Experience

3 years as a graphic designer at a Bali-based creative agency working on social media and digital advertising for regional and US-based clients. I design mostly in Figma, handle social post variants, email graphics, and occasional landing page sections. I have worked on 6–8 active clients at a time and I am used to a fast turnaround — usually 24 to 48 hours per deliverable. My strongest skills are layout and typography; I am comfortable working inside an established brand guide and I ask for one before starting.

Tools

Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Canva, Google Slides

Scenario answer

Asked: A client rejects your third revision saying only 'it doesn't feel premium.' You have one revision left in scope. Describe exactly what you'd ask them, what you'd change, and what you'd do if their feedback contradicts the original brief.

Getting 'it doesn't feel premium' on the third revision is frustrating but it is also an information problem, not a taste problem. 'Premium' has no shared meaning until someone shows me what it means to them. My first move is to ask for a reference — something from outside our work that they would call premium. Once I have that, I compare it to what I submitted and the gap is usually visible: they are pointing at something with tight whitespace and restrained colour and what I gave them has a busier layout, or they want bolder and I went minimal. Second question: is the issue at the element level or the composition level? If it is the typeface or the colour specifically, I can swap those and show a quick revision. If it is the whole composition, I need more time and I say so. For the fourth revision I would make deliberate, named changes — not 'made it more premium' in a comment, but 'reduced the elements on the page from 8 to 5, replaced the rounded typeface with Garamond, dropped the background gradient.' Named changes are easier for a client to respond to concretely than 'I updated the feel'. If the new direction contradicts the brief — they showed me a reference that is clearly editorial and dark and the brief said 'friendly and approachable' — I would flag it in writing before doing the revision: 'This reference takes us in a different direction from the brief. Do you want to update the brief or keep the original direction?' I would not choose for them, but I would not silently make a change that affects every other asset in the project either.

Work sample

Asked: Pick a real piece of your design work. Describe three specific decisions you made in it — why that typeface, why that layout, why that color choice — and what you'd change if you were doing it again today.

WORK SAMPLE — redesigning a social media kit for a coffee subscription brand THREE DESIGN DECISIONS: 1. TYPEFACE — I chose Playfair Display for headlines and DM Sans for body. Playfair has the editorial quality associated with premium food and beverage — contrast, sophistication, craft — while DM Sans keeps the body text readable at small sizes on mobile. The client's previous designer had used Raleway throughout, which gave everything the same visual weight. Mixing serif and sans-serif gave us hierarchy without needing to change sizes as dramatically, which helped on mobile formats where size differences are less readable. 2. LAYOUT — I shifted from a centred layout to a left-aligned system with a strong vertical margin. This came from looking at how the posts rendered in a grid on Instagram — centred layouts all look the same in a feed, while a consistent left-aligned system creates a visible brand signature when you see multiple posts together. I tested both on a mockup of the brand's actual grid before deciding. 3. COLOUR — I kept the brand green (#2D5016) but reduced its use from a background element to an accent. The original templates used the green as a full background on roughly half the posts, which made the feed look heavy. I moved it to borders, icons, and small type accents, which made the green feel intentional rather than dominant. What I would change in retrospect: I should have made this change as a suggestion in the brief stage rather than showing up to a revision with a fundamentally different colour usage — it worked, but it could have been a scope conversation.

Availability

Full-time, WITA timezone (UTC+8). Can overlap 4 hours with US Eastern. Available immediately.

Screening notes

Experience

2 years as a graphic designer, mostly freelance. I design social media posts, Facebook and Instagram ads, and email headers for small business clients in the Philippines and one US-based client. I am comfortable in Canva for quick work and Photoshop for more complex compositions. I am still learning Figma — I can use it but I am not as fast there as I am in Canva. I am good with colours and layouts, and my clients generally like my work on the first or second round.

Tools

Canva, Photoshop, Figma (learning), Google Slides

Scenario answer

Asked: A client rejects your third revision saying only 'it doesn't feel premium.' You have one revision left in scope. Describe exactly what you'd ask them, what you'd change, and what you'd do if their feedback contradicts the original brief.

When a client says the design doesn't feel premium after the third revision, I would first apologise for not hitting the mark and ask them to show me an example of something they consider premium — a competitor, a brand they like, anything. This gives me a clear direction instead of guessing. I would also ask them to be more specific about what is missing — is it the colours, the fonts, the layout, or the overall look? Most of the time 'premium' means different things to different people, so I need to understand their specific vision. For the fourth revision I would look at the reference they gave me and try to match the qualities they highlighted. Usually premium design has more whitespace, more refined typography, and a more restrained colour palette — so I would adjust those elements based on what they showed me. If their feedback contradicts the original brief, I would be honest with them. I would say something like 'The reference you sent goes in a different direction than what we originally agreed on. Would you like to update the brief so I can make sure the rest of the project matches this new direction?' I always try to make the client happy and I am willing to revise as needed to get there.

Work sample

Asked: Pick a real piece of your design work. Describe three specific decisions you made in it — why that typeface, why that layout, why that color choice — and what you'd change if you were doing it again today.

WORK SAMPLE — social media ads for a fitness supplement brand THREE DESIGN DECISIONS: 1. FONT — I chose a bold condensed font for the headline to communicate strength and energy, which matches the fitness supplement brand identity. The condensed style also allows longer text to fit on the banner without reducing the size too much. I paired it with a clean sans-serif for the body text to keep it readable. 2. COLOURS — I used the brand's black and red colours as the primary palette because they are associated with strength and performance. I kept the background clean to make the product image stand out, and used red as an accent for the call to action button to draw the eye to it. 3. LAYOUT — I placed the product prominently in the centre with the headline above and the CTA below. This follows a simple, clear hierarchy that guides the viewer from the product to the key message to the action. I kept the overall design clean and not too crowded so the product remains the focus. What I would change: I would try a version with more whitespace around the product to see if it feels more premium. The current version is good but looking at it now I think some of the elements are too close together.

Availability

Full-time, 8pm–5am PHT (8am–5pm US Eastern in summer, 7am–4pm in winter). Available immediately.