...bad design goes everywhere."
I love this quote by Mieke Gerritzen not because it makes me happy to see bad design everywhere I turn, but because it simply speaks the truth.
As a graphic design studio specializing in identity branding and print design, we have the privilege of working with many small business owners.
One thing that we absolutely admire in them is their entrepreneur attitude...the attitude to get out there and make things happen.
While this "do it yourself" attitude is crucial to a small business' survival, taking a "do it yourself" attitude to your branding is a huge mistake.
See, a great graphic designer worth your time and money isn't getting paid to just make things look pretty or look "good". Real graphic designers add value to your business. They understand your business philosophy and marketing position and the collateral they design for your brand advances and strengthens these core values.
I own scissors...but I am by no means a hair stylist (just ask our almost 2 year old son who I lovingly attempted to give a bang trimming to). Simply owning the tools (for example a computer or a pre-made, one size fits all template) does not make you a designer.
Hiring a professional designer that understands his (or her) trade is one of the best things you can do for your company, because the truth is bad design is everywhere and sadly businesses are judged by what they look like.
If you want to be above your competition and have design work that is concise and in alignment with your brand's message, you need to direct your "do it yourself" attitude into running your business and hire a trustworthy, professional graphic designer for all of your design needs.
As Kodak CEO George Fisher says, "In the end, what customers really see is what designers design. That is the ultimate tool that a company has in order to be competitive in the marketplace."
Professional designed business collateral helps your business to:
1. Look established. Do It Yourself business collateral from printed at home business cards to template designed email ads scream amateur or "start up" business to potential clients. While there is nothing at all wrong with being a new business, looking well established helps to gain trust in the consumer's mind.
2. Stand out. Bad design is really everywhere...we see it constantly in our local newspaper and monthly coupon mailers we receive...we find it stuck to our windshields when leaving parking lots and it even looks at us off the menus of the restaurants we eat in. Bad design hinders or can completely ignore your main objectives, while good design helps you stand out from competition and reinforces your businesses' branding values.
3. Build a consistent image for your company. I can't even tell you how many times we've seen a business use multiple designers for different collateral; one for the newspaper ad, one for a magazine ad, another for a flier design...the result is a weakened brand image. Using a professional designer who understands your values will help you grow a consistent image which will also establish you as being trustworthy as well as being more cost effective because the more consistent you are in branding, the more likely your brand will be recognized and on the forefront of consumer's minds when needing to make a purchase in your line of work.
4. Establish you as a leader. Take an example from world famous Apple. Apple uses good, innovative design (in branding and in their products) to continue to reinforce their leader role in the electronics industry. Good design will set you apart. And as long as you are backing the promise made in your marketing, it will make you the only option to consumers. It will make your competition wonder what you will be up to next.
Recently when our economy took a big hit, consumers became more aware of where they spent their money and instead of making mindless purchases, they carefully thought out which companies and what products were still deserving of their hard earned dollars. Now more than ever, you can't afford to have ineffective and even potentially negative design representing your business.
Here at Different By Design, we pride ourselves in being educated in our field and becoming "mini experts" in the fields of our clients. We would love to discuss your design needs or if you aren't even sure what your brand values are or what your brand "stands" for, why...we'd love to help you with that too!
Feel free to use the "contact" button on our site to reach us or call us directly at 530.790.5762
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