Why is Graphic Design Important for Small Business?
A common misconception business owners have is that Graphic Design is a quick and easy task that they can often undertake themselves, if they have the time. You’ll look at the website, social media stream or print design of their collateral, and quickly recognise that they’ve created their branding themselves. The reason business owners do this, is because they believe Graphic Design is simple enough, and to save costs whilst still believing they’ll have the same outcome, is at the forefront of their mind.
Your small business branding is highly considered by customers, they view perception of trust, quality and cost through your design.
For a small business owner, their business is like their baby. It requires careful consideration, which often they believe can be done by themselves. However the issue is that a brands image, and the person buying their product or service isn’t them. It’s the outside world, it’s customers and clients. These are people with emotions and feelings. Catering to them surely comes before selling your own business to yourself.
Graphic design is a highly specialised field where the key focus is to create visuals fitting a brands direction, their customers and target demographic. These visual communications can include:
- Logo design and company branding
- Product packaging
- Brochures, books & magazines
- Websites
- Business cards, flyers and letterheads
- Digital & print advertising
- Signage
A brands imagine is typically conveyed through their logo, symbols and illustrations, colours, fonts, words and verbiage, photography and overall style of the company. What makes Graphic Design so important, when created by a professional, is that this material is targeted to the right market, and creates a call to action which allows you to sell your product or service. For your customer to take action when displayed with your visual is key.
Why invest in a Graphic Designer, and how will it help my business?
Your First Impressions Matters
Your customer may only have a few seconds to take in your key visual, whether that’s via print or digital design. It may be product packaging, your website, a post on your social media feed, a flyer, business card and so on. Your first impression is what matters the most. Using colours, fonts, illustrations, photography and a consistent visual brand that your customers will appreciate can be enticing enough. A brand style guide can help align, and moderate this to give your brand consistency, but it’s critical to stick to those guidelines.
Consistency of design and marketing is key
To be consistent with the way your brand is displayed to your target audience is key. It can play a pivotal role in your customer having trust in your brand. Elements of predictability, through the use of placement of objects, type of visuals, and brand messaging can assist the consumers decision making on the brand. Is it proven that brands with consistent branding and marketing have better revenue than those who don’t.
Company Loyalty
As mentioned, customers love to see consistency in a brand. To be able to have a certain level of expectation and stability in a company, knowing the type of result they will get, aids loyalty by customers. They will stick with your brand if you have consistent messaging and design language in your collateral. Graphic Design allows your brand to have a level of consistency whether it be direct or indirect marketing, their brands visual guidelines.
A leg up on your competition
Graphic Design, and the way your brand is perceived, can be the difference as to whether or not a potential customer goes with your business. A brand with consistent visuals appears to be far more trustworthy than one without. You could imagine if you were looking at a product and service, and their branding appeared to be inconsistent and sloppy, then you’re unlikely to trust the brand. A brand with consistency will hold a customer’s attention for longer, and certainly assist with the sale over the competition.
Seeing results from the beginning
Starting a business is tough, we can all agree with that, but the ability to see results from the start can be critical to whether or not a business succeeds. Business owners will tend to start a company with a certain target audience in their mind, and a way they want their brand to be perceived. It can be extremely difficult to bring this idea / concept to life without the help of a Graphic Designer – someone who specialises in visuals for brands. With a good Graphic Designer at your disposal, you can make effective decisions and target your desired market. It’s important that the Graphic Designer realises who you wish to target just as much as you know who you want to target. With a successful beginning to a business’ trading means that they wont need to rebrand soon, and can allow the visuals of their brand naturally grow.
The impact graphic design has on your business is profound. And, more critically, it’s essential as much as at the start of the company’s life as it is when it’s been around for a few years. To invest in a professional graphic designer can assist all sorts of communication decisions your company wishes to make, whether that’s social media messaging, website messaging, print messaging, etc. As a professional graphic designer myself, see how I can help your business with a professional graphic designer at your disposal, and grow your business like it deserves to grow, with love, care and consideration.
When to rebrand and give your company a fresh new logo?
It can be difficult to know when to complete a company rebrand, especially because workflow and customer quantities can change so quickly and with a certain amount of unpredictability. As we all know, a lot of considerations need to be accounted for in order to rebrand. Should you do it when your company direction changes? When business is starting to slow? Just because it's been a certain amount of time? So, when is the best time to give your company a fresh new logo, brand and identity? Lets take a look, dive in and try and find out!
Company duration – maybe it's time for a change!
A lot of companies will say to themselves "I've been in business for 3 years / 5 years / 10 years – maybe it's time for a change in logo." If we think about what you're really asking yourself in this question, it's purely that you're bored and feel like the company needs a facelift. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but time alone isn't a defining factor as to needing a change in logo design and branding for your company.
Duration of a business can be, and is, a good thing. To have a business gather and maintain traction of a period of time means that ultimately there's an element of success. You have to ask yourself why you would change the look of your company, and if it's out of boredom then that's probably the wrong was to look at your company.
When business is failing / starting to slow?
It could be argued that during slow times, a new logo may not benefit you, as resources could be thinning. However, to have a new brand and logo in this period of time could be exactly what you need to gather traction once again. A new, fresh look for your brand allows you to market more, to tell a different story and to generate a talking point where there wasn't one.
A new logo for your business, in your eyes
If you think about a new logo and what it does to the mentality of the business, and your mentality, it gives you almost a fresh start. Depending on the new design and how close it is to your existing branding, change here can be considered a good thing. It plays a little bit into my next point, but the ability to re-market with a new, revised direction, to be proud once again, a new vision and hope can be extremely revitalizing for all involved.
A new logo in the eyes of your customers
Customers can appreciate a new logo – they've done it for years. The new talking point that you're generating, gives the customer a new perspective about your business. For them, it can almost feel like having a shower and feeling fresh again. If they see your product or service with a new logo and branding, they may consider you once again, whereas they may not have with the same branding as is ingrained into their mind.
A change in company direction
The single most important reason to rebrand is because the existing company logo and branding doesn't resonate with the message your company is trying to portray. If your logo is outdated, both in style and message, then your customers will be able to tell. And, if we draw that connection back to my previous point, where business is failing and starting to slow, it may be because of the misdirection in your current logo and branding. If your product and service isn't fitting for your socio-economic group at the time, then visual communication is lost between company and customer.
The same can be said for branding, where the logo may actually still be fitting, but the branding surrounding the company logo may need to be adjusted to connect with the customer.