In a world dominated by visual concepts, graphic design is more important than ever before. Whether at home, work or out and about; you are bound to run into a screen of some sort along the way. It is in the best interests of companies large and small to garner the intention of every viewer through innovative and memorable designs.
Graphic Design Caters to All Scales
Today’s market is saturated with businesses of all sizes competing with each other. Small companies with a limited budget are finding themselves directly competing with brands at the top of the marketing chain.
We have reached a point of no return, good design is no longer an addition, it is a must.
One of the biggest challenges businesses face, especially on the smaller spectrum, is a lack of funds. This means that a lot of businesses simply can’t afford to expand their budget in order to hire a quality graphic designer.
In this scenario, entrepreneurs tend to take full responsibility for the design process themselves. However, this comes with a heavy workload and strict time pressures. This can affect the overall rate of productivity if not handled properly.
This is a guide to help small businesses with their graphic design endeavours.
Let’s get down to it.
Set a Goal for Each Graphic Design Project
Before you sit down to open up Photoshop; outline an objective and highlight the steps you need to take to reach the final product.
Raising questions such as what is it you want to achieve? Or do you want to improve brand interest and sales? Asking the right questions will help identify which milestones you need to hit first and it will help in creating the most appropriate designs.
Incorporating Brand Colours into Graphic Design
The colour scheme of your company is a testament to the credibility of your brand and its reputation online. If you were to constantly chop and change between colours that don’t accurately represent your brand, customers will lose faith in the products and services on offer.
Colours have the power to set a mood. Make or break a design. Even influence the emotions and perceptions of the audience.
Here at Be My Social, we incorporate our signature colours (blue and white) into every asset we own. It appears consistently on our website and across all social media platforms. We do this because it creates a clear reference point for our customers and it provides a point of trust.
Consistency in the Form of Fonts
Just like colours, fonts play an integral role in the way we perceive high-quality graphic design. Fonts are used to build a strong foundation for most graphic design projects. You will find that no matter how strong your other areas of expertise are, choosing a poor font will totally rupture that base that you’ve set out to achieve.
Ensure that your font is easy to read and that it is a reflection of your brand’s identity. Choosing the comic sans font to represent a corporate identity will most definitely deter potential clients.
As with colours, consistency is key. Once you have finalised a design for your font style, make sure you incorporate it into your project consistently, along with any other font styles you wish to include. Our advice is that you alternate between two font styles as too many would confuse your target audience.
Keep on Top of the Latest Design Trends
If you’ve worked in the graphic design industry for some time, you’ll understand that the industry is constantly evolving. New trends are always on the horizon, with old ones becoming more and more obsolete as the days go on.
As a novice to design, you may struggle to identify forthcoming trends but you must be aware of the importance to keep up-to-date.
Simply following competitors and others within the industry across social media and conducting internet searches are easy ways to identify new algorithms for graphic design. Keeping your eyes peeled on our blog is another great way to stay informed, as a professional digital marketing agency, we are tasked with staying ahead of the curve.
Be Innovative, Be Creative and Have Personality
Never be afraid to stand out. Everyone has the capability to be creative, whether you’re taking old visual designs and putting your own twist on them or creating completely original content, innovative and personality will always be applauded.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you may struggle to handle the demands of everyday business life on top of the many avenues within graphic design. However, if you can find the time, ensure that you invest in your content because after all it offers face value to customers and it is a visual representation of everything your brand has to offer.
If all else fails, you can always find external support to manage your graphic design strategies.
