Should I avoid employers that offers mandatory design test first? Before they give an opportunity to be interviewed?

A lot of folks would philosophically disagree with doing free work. It's a red flag if you havent even interviewed yet. A take home design test should never closely resemble what they do as a company - sounds like they just want free work.

If you want to remain professional but decline the project, ask them what the budget + rate is to complete the project. This will force their recruiting team to confront the fact that they're asking professionals for free labor 🤗