How to get the most from your graphic designer
For a lot of smaller companies, graphic design is seen as almost a luxury. The key aim of the business is sales, and spending anything that isn’t directly bringing in sales seems frivolous, especially in this time of Corona Virus and large decline in trading.
The Cheap Suit
There is a genuine and tangible reaction to those companies that have invested in quality graphic design. It is comparable to the sales person in the well appointed, tailored suit sat next to the rep in the cheap suit straight off the rack – the one with the shinny shoulders. Who are you more impressed by ? Who commands more attention and who do you think feels more confident ? Do you feel more confident out for the evening in your comfy house pants, or dressed up to the 9’s in your best outfit. That dear reader, is a no brainer.
It’s the same for graphic design for your company. Spend wisely (not necessarily a lot) on a good designer and your business will already have the advantage. When all of this Virus mayhem is over and it’s time to go back to work, you want to ensure that you have any possible head-start over your competition.
Getting the most for your money
All too often we hear from clients that there are not sure what they want. Ok, that’s fine, but think of it like this. If you go into the supermarket unsure of what you want, you will invariable come out with things you didn’t intend to get, and probably have spent far more than you intended to. If it’ Aldi you may have even come out with a new pressure hose or something wildly unrelated to your initial reason for entering the supermarket !
Having a clear idea of what you want, visually, for your company will allow your designer to get a real feel for your style and the look you prefer. You are not stifling the creative process, merely giving it direction and improving the whole process.
Feedback
Once you’ve seen your designers initial designs, it is imperative that you give comprehensive feedback. Telling them you don’t like the designs or asking to make the design ‘pop’ is pretty useless. It’s like saying you don’t like a meal, well what exactly don’t you like about it, how can it be improved, what would you rather eat ? The more feedback the better, it all helps your designer to sculpt the right design for you and the revised versions will reflect that.
Once you are happy with the design, it’s worth thinking where this design could end up being used. Is it a brochure that will sit in a high end car dealership ? Then quality of paper it’s printed on will be a big factor. Is it a logo that will be featured on a lot of trade vehicles, then perhaps a strong image that includes not too many colours will work best.
These are all factors to consider and good communication with your designer will ensure that you get the most out of your design, and the most from your graphic design budget too.