5 Graphic Design Tips for Small Businesses
Whether you realize it or not, no matter where you are, you are surrounded by graphic design. From your favorite screen printed t-shirt to the billboards on the interstate, it’s there. In this visually saturated world, great design is a necessity for small businesses to stand out from the competition, especially bigger corporations with larger budgets. Here’s a few quick tips to help you understand the importance of great design in your business!
1. Learn From The Most Successful Companies
Big businesses like Apple are successful for a reason. They invest in their company’s future with great design. Their logos are simple, yet memorable, easy to read, and timeless. They put emphasis on their website design and product packaging design. They understand that design is everybody’s love language, whether they know it or not. Steve Jobs said it best,
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, “Make it look good!” That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
2. Avoid Doing It Yourself
You’re a small business. If you think you can’t afford a professional graphic designer, you don’t want to see the cost of bad design. Graphic designers spend years honing their craft in order to serve business people like you.
Professional graphic design is more likely to convert. And isn’t that the bottom line? Designers are up to date on all trends, best practices, and industry rules, and that knowledge will carry your business much farther than you could on your own. If you truly have little to no budget for a design veteran, try reaching out to graphic design students. Many are itching to do real-world work to have something besides classwork in their portfolio!
If you’re really just getting your foot in the door and don’t know where to start, try your hand at canva.com. They have a free plan that is user friendly and full of free templates, stock images, and vectors!
3. Be Consistent
There is nothing worse than visual inconsistency when you are trying to establish your brand. Consistency is comforting to consumers and the reason they go back to their favorite brands again and again – even if those brands’ products aren’t actually as good as a competitors’. Hire a designer to create your logo, color palette, visual imagery feel, patterns, icons, and establish font guidelines, then USE them. Don’t deviate from your brand’s visual language. One of the most valuable things you can invest in as a small business owner is a brand style guide. This way, no matter who touches your brand, you look the same across all platforms, both digital and print.
4. Know Your Voice
Think of your business’s brand as a person. Are they sarcastic, witty, serious, somber, or just plain funny? Do they were bright colors or all black? How do their friends describe them? It may seem silly, but these are all important questions to ask long before you start on a logo or color scheme. If you do hire a graphic designer, knowing the answer to these questions and more will help them narrow down their concepts for you, and save you money in the long run!
5. Don’t Break the Law
The laws around copyrights, trademarks, and other legalities when it comes to creative works are complex and boring. To put it all simply: be original. Don’t steal other people’s work and claim it as your own. This includes logos, clip art, images, and pretty much everything you can see with your eyes! If you hire a professional graphic designer, you basically don’t have to worry about this because they will check, double check, and triple check that the designs they create for you do not already exist. If you want to protect your own works, register for your copyright. It’s a lengthy process, but inexpensive compared to the damages you may suffer otherwise!
