The benefits of good design
Unfortunately, a lot of business owners don’t realise or understand the value and positive impact that a good designer can have on their business. Design can often be over-looked as an unnecessary cost to the business. So what is graphic design about? What value does design actually add to your business? Is it all about making things look pretty?
Firstly, let’s look at what a good designer actually does…
Graphic designers are often mistaken as artists, and the value of a graphic designer’s role in growing business is often overlooked. But art and design is actually quite different. Sure, both involve creating visual imagery, and sometimes the two cross-over, but the main difference between artists and graphic designers is that artists – more often than not – create pieces of work that are left to the viewer to interpret. They can test boundaries, create an emotional response and can sometimes leave the viewer guessing, but the end goal of an artwork is to be enjoyed or spark thought.
Designers on the other hand are strategic visual communicators. Good designers carefully consider the audience, the message, the company’s identity and branding, and the application of the design before they create a design. This is so that it not only creates an emotional response from the audience, but so that their design prompts a form of action from the viewer. The role of a designer is to clearly communicate a message from an entity and deliver it to their targeted audience in a way which taps into their psyche – connecting with them on an emotional level, instilling trust between them and the entity, building awareness amongst the target demographic, and prompting an action leading to a sale for the entity.
Sharp, well-thought out design can make a world of difference to businesses – small, or large.
So, what value can professional design actually add to your business?
1) Business credibility.
You only have one chance at making a first impression to your audience/customers/consumers. Don’t waste it! As mentioned in my what is branding? blog, people make informed opinions straight away by the way that you present yourself. It doesn’t matter how great your product and/or service is, if you don’t present yourself in the right way and if you don’t properly communicate your brand message, people won’t stick around long enough to really find out who you are! A good professional designer will help you create a visual brand and/or a design which communicates your brand story correctly so that people can make the right informed opinions of your entity. A good designer can create good credibility for your business so that people stick around on your website for longer, meaning that you have more opportunity to feed into their thoughts and experience.
You only have one chance at making a first impression… Don’t waste it!
2) Create a user/customer experience
Design is a lot more psychological than one would know. Understanding how people view and soak up information visually takes skill. The role of a designer is to communicate a message to viewers and to connect and draw them in to your brand story. A good graphic designer is able to do this – to create a good experience, tell a story and build positive awareness of your entity.
3) Memorability
Through imagery, layout, and colour, a good graphic designer should be able to create and instill a mood and feeling in the viewers mind. By achieving this, a memory is planted in the viewer’s mind. It is the role of the designer to communicate the correct message so that positive thoughts are planted; and when this is communicated consistently, trust,memorability, and recognition will increase.
4) Strong point of difference
Even with increased amounts of competition (due to the internet), no entity is exactly the same. If an entity was to market their company only by the service or product that they offer, they would have no point of difference to the other thousands of entities who offer the same thing. Therefore, it is important to highlight your point of difference. But sometimes this can be hard to identify. A good designer should be able to work with you to identify your points of difference, and use them to give leverage to your marketing strategy and design so that it stands out from the rest.
5) Converts
It’s all well and good to have a great looking website or flyer, but if there is no strategy behind what you put out to your audience, it can be hard to actually convert potential customers. Good designers will have good knowledge about the sales funnel and will put adequate research and consideration into your customer’s journey before creating a strategic design. This research and preparation will mean that your prospective customers or leads will have a much higher chance of being converted into sales, and repeat customers.
“…a picture says a thousand words”
A good designer will not solely focus on creating a pretty picture, but they care about being strategic in visual communication.
As they say, “a picture says a thousand words”… Designers take this on board – they are trained to visually communicate ideas, emotions and messages. They can strengthen your brand, and can bridge the gap between you and your customers.
Good design really is worth the investment.
