There are many warning signs when it comes to spotting a rogue design firm.

We've heard of horror story after horror story and stepping back to take it all in there are a few commonalities that seem to come up more often than not.

Below are some key red flag indicators to help you realize if you've been or are in the process of being punk'd by your current design firm.

MIA

Your design firm all of the sudden has gone missing in action right in the middle or within the final stretch of a project and they do not return phone calls, emails or texts.

Slow Turnaround

You've noticed that your small website updates that use to take 24-48 hours to turn around now take 3-4 weeks to complete. Your hard deadline for an ad, new logo or marketing piece was completely missed and there's no sense of urgency to hit deadlines anymore.

Project For Ransom

You've finished your project recently and want a final CD/DVD or zip file of your finalized artwork and you can't get it from therm or you are at wits end and are ready to fire your design firm because they won't provide you with the artwork you already paid for. Alternatively they may be willing to provide you the artwork you've already paid for IF you pay extra for the native files.

If you can relate to any of these scenarios, it's time to move on. Cut your loses and find a design firm that has integrity, passion, creativity and responsiveness. There are plenty out there that haven't become complacent.

If your current firm is MIA, they won't get any better. If the turnaround for new designs or updates to existing designs takes forever, it will continue to get worse. If your files are being held hostage, unless you have time, energy and money to fight — you might just as well save yourself all of the frustration and run for the hills.

Let us know if you need any recommendations, we might know a great firm worth changing for.