Not sure if you're asking how to find candidates, or how to narrow them down to select one. Twice I've just gone to sites like elance, Guru, and ODesk to find

Not sure if you're asking how to find candidates, or how to narrow them down to select one. Twice I've just gone to sites like elance, Guru, and ODesk to find a graphic designer, and both times found someone adequate (and relatively cheap). Once it was a pretty good recent graduate who was just starting out. (And with a few iterations with good feedback, we got the artwork where we wanted it.) Besides asking for samples (and/or references), I don't know what else you can do. A small business owner once advised me to start any contractor (or several contractors) on a small project, just to see if I liked their work and their interpersonal skills -- and then give more work based on that initial experience.