Graphic design. It’s the art of polishing a marketing or sales piece to give it a professional look and entice people to keep reading about your business’ offerings. Slight differences in graphic accent and color choice can be the difference between eh? and WOW! So, how do you know when you need a professional graphic designer’s help, rather than rely on someone in your office to give it a try? As with most things in life, giving a full 100 percent effort upfront often saves you in the long run. Following are a few points to consider when determining if you need a professional to help you with graphic design.
In general, people are good at describing their products or services. After all, you have to talk about it to sell it. So often, much attention is spent on figuring out the sell-able item, that little attention is spent on the brand and what companies actually stand for. A graphic designer can help you choose the right colors for your logo and branding to influence the buyers’ view of your company. For instance, a bright yellow is often used to indicate a low cost item. Consider McDonald’s “golden” arches. Royal blue indicates loyalty, dependability and driven by principle. Think about IBM and you likely imagine the company’s three letters in blue. Graphic designers also choose to use circular images over sharp lines in artwork based on the emotion they want to evoke. A good graphic designer has studied how colors and shapes influence emotions. As an example, read the Fast Company magazine article “Graphic Design’s Next Great Challenge: Branding AI” for an inside look at the considerations going into branding based on artificial intelligence.
Almost anyone can type up your key selling points in a Word document. What are you adding to your materials that helps you stand out from the crowd? Clip art does not work. A professional graphic designer gives your materials an integrated look, so that all the text and images coordinate. He or she can even change certain aspects in images such as lighting or backdrops to create material with the umph it needs. People are more inclined to choose companies that look more put together. First impressions count.
A picture is worth a thousand words after all. Sometimes an idea is better communicated with a custom graphic. A client needed to present how her offerings fit into a larger ecosystem of products so we created a graphic that illustrates how her product line fits in. After she used the new image in a presentation, she felt really confident that the big picture was well communicated. She shared that the graphic was spot on in delivering this message AND she liked that it all tied into her branding as well.
A good graphic designer can help you build a coherent message about your company through consistent imagery that resonates with your prospects and buyers. Great graphic designers take it up a notch by making the experience so pleasant that you’ll contact them for more help. Don’t just take our word for it. Luckily, if you’re looking for a graphic designer in the Houston area, we’ve got you covered.
Download our tip sheet for determining if you need a graphic designer’s help. Then, share the link (not the file, please) if you find it helpful.
