When something breaks in your home, typically your first thought is to see if you can fix the problem yourself instead of having to hire a professional. Sometimes, you can google the problem and if you get lucky, you are able to fix it yourself. However, often you end up making the problem worse than if you had just hired a professional in the first place. The same concept can be applied to the need for a graphic designer.
I have heard this story repeatedly from clients. All they needed was a couple advertising pieces and assumed having someone in their office do graphic design work not only was going to save them money, but it was also going to save them the time it would take to find a graphic designer, sit down with the designer, figure out what they want and get the design just right. But in the end, they realize this wasn’t the best course of action. For example, say they decide to try one of the free layout and design websites to attempt to create what they need. One of the most popular websites for creating and designing advertising pieces is Canva. Canva is a free online service that allows you to use their design templates to design all kinds of advertising pieces. However, what a lot of people don’t know is that if you choose the free version of Canva, you are limited to a small number of templates to follow. Even if you choose to pay for a subscription, you are still stuck with using the templates. Sure, it is relatively user friendly but in the end the designs look generic, unoriginal, and simply unprofessional.
For small business owners trying to stand out from the other companies in town, it is essential their branding is consistent and distinguished. To do this, you need to hire a graphic designer. Graphic designers have the skills and knowledge to help create branding and any other advertising pieces you may need for your company. They will likely think of things you might need that you didn’t think of yourself. For example, you might think of all the signage you will need for your business, but you have no idea how to have the signage printed or installed. A graphic designer can ensure that your signage is going to turn out exactly the way you imagined it. You also want custom business cards to hand to your customers. After designing your business card, the designer might suggest designing new graphics for your social media pages to attract more customers or a letterhead to match your branding for when you are printing out professional business documents. At the end of the day, you saved yourself the headache of having to do it yourself and you have a person you can turn to the next time you need something designed. And it was worth every penny you spent.
Big corporations choosing to hire a graphic designer is always the best option. Say you have been in business a very long time but now it is time to update your branding. A graphic designer can design a new logo, business cards, letterheads, email signatures, envelops, etc. The designer can make sure the new branding is new and fresh but also still feels like your old branding. They can also ensure that from now on all advertising pieces are consistent with the new branding. Designers create what is known as a branding guideline. A branding guideline will provide instructions on how your logo is to be placed, how not to use the logo and how and when to use the different file types of the logo. This way, when the designer is done with their work, your branding will continue to stay professional and consistent.
No matter what kind of business you are in, hiring a graphic designer is always a smart option. Ask for their work examples. Make sure they understand what you are trying to portray and that you work well with each other. Because even the best artists will need to fully understand the “feel” of the project to be successful, and only you can truly convey that to them.
At A3 media, we have in-house graphic designers like myself that can assist our clients with all of their advertising and design needs.