Why Graphic Design Matters: How Good Design Helps YouConnect with Your Audience +Improve Your Marketing
We live in a visual world. Whether driving down the highway or browsing online, we’re constantly surrounded with advertising, graphics, color, photography, and marketing efforts of companies who are vying for our attention.
That’s what they’re trying to do… get our attention. Perk our interest. Make us click. Give them the opportunity to tell us what they do and how they can make our life better. And help us discover that they have exactly what we need to reach our goals and solve a specific problem.
Ahhh, marketing.
As business owners, marketing is a necessary part of building and running a successful business.
But marketing isn’t two-dimensional. SO MUCH goes into making it effective:
a clear and captivating messaging
intentional placement (a billboard vs. social media, for example)
a clear vision of how it aligns with and supports your overall marketing strategy
and yes, the quality of the design
You can have awesome messaging and copy in your marketing, but if the design doesn’t reflect and honor the awesome messaging? It will bring down the quality of the marketing piece as a whole and it won’t have the impact you’re looking for.
You can get really clear on the entire strategy behind the marketing piece and place it right in front of your target audience, but if you don’t design the marketing piece in a professional way that catches their eye? It could be a total waste of time and energy because your audience won’t be attracted to the marketing piece in the first place.
So, why is this? Why is good design important for your business’ marketing?
1. Good design helps you communicate to your audience more effectively.
I’ve shared it before and I’ll share it again… this quote from Steve Jobs:
“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.”
Design is how it works! It’s *how* you’re communicating the information that will make all the difference in the world. Through design, you have control over how people interpret what you’re sharing with them and ensure you’re communicating well and clearly.
Yes, of course, we want our design to look good, but there’s so much more that goes into it. It’s about playing off of people’s instincts and designing something that is naturally appealing to the human eye. It’s about finding a good flow of information, to ensure your message is clear, text is legible, and everything is easy to understand from the perspective of your audience.
Design is important because it can enhance your message or hinder it. And we always want to enhance it, right?
2. Good design helps you build brand recognition.
Now, we’re talking about graphic design not branding, which is a whole different topic. But, just for a moment, let’s think about your branding elements — your logo, fonts, branding photography, etc. It’s one thing to have all these in place. It’s another to use them effectively.
HOW you use your branding elements is just as important as having beautiful branding. Say you work with a designer and have a beautiful style guide of logos, design elements, color palette, font system, etc… but they aren’t used cohesively, or in a strategic way. Maybe you use your elements on a marketing piece but you veer off of your style guide or how you use color isn’t consistent from design to design, for example.
A lack of consistency in your designs will not only reflect a sense of chaos and an unclear message for what you’re marketing… it also works against you when it comes to gaining brand recognition.
You want to give yourself a chance to be memorable and your audience a chance to truly start to recognize you, among all the other marketing visuals that cross their path. And one key ingredient to that is using quality marketing designs that use your branding elements in a consistent and cohesive way.
This will help you build KNOW LIKE AND TRUST with your audience, which is what you need before they decide to invest in you or your product.
Which brings me to #3…
3. Good design helps you look more professional + builds trust and credibility with your audience.
Just as the materials used in clothing or a piece of furniture reflect a quality of that product, how you present your offerings reflect the quality of what you bring to the table.
From your social media graphics to business cards, from your website to your client presentations, having beautiful and quality designs will help you show up in a professional way in your marketing. Like I said at the beginning of this post, we live in a visual world and as business owners, we’re vying for the attention of our potential clients and customers. Visuals have a HUGE role in catching their eye.
When you’re putting your best foot forward, when your marketing designs look professional and are created with your audience in mind, your audience will naturally start to trust you. They’ll think,
“YES, this business looks legit.”
“YES, this looks like a quality product that I need to have.'“
“YES, this looks like it was meant for me.”
Uh huh. Design is that powerful.
Okay, so you might be thinking, “I get it, design is important and I know I need to improve my marketing visuals. But where do I even start?”
Hiring a designer is always an option, right? Yes!
But sometimes, it’s just not financially possible to hire a professional designer. Or sometimes it’s just FUN to do your own design work and learn to improve on your own!
Feeling ready to develop your eye for design and start creating better business marketing materials all on your own?
You’re in luck my friend.
I’ve created an online graphic design course just for you.
Especially for growth-minded entrepreneurs, my Design Spirit program will help you create professional quality everyday marketing designs through DIY-friendly design techniques. I'll connect you with the right tools, knowledge, and exercises to design like a pro!
It alllllll starts with developing a keen eye for design, which is a LEARNED SKILL. Yes, design is something that can be taught, meaning no matter what industry you’re in, you can learn how to expertly create designs that attract more clients while saving you hours of time. You don’t have to get a college degree or use fancy software to create awe-inspiring designs. You just need to see how design elements work together like the experts do.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s not magic. It’s a METHOD, and I’m here to teach it to you in Design Spirit!