Why your business needs good graphic design

Starting your own business is a huge undertaking that is all-consuming. And as priorities compete it is generally operations, finances and marketing that take the front seat. But along with you’re your people, product and service, at the heart of a successful business is your brand. It’s what your customers buy into. Underpinning your brand is your logo and complementary design elements, which are so important to get right, especially in a crowded marketplace. From your shopfront to website and emails to packaging, good graphic design is the key to your visual identity.

The person who creates and makes these element work hard for you is your graphic designer. Graphic designers—like those in our team at Creative Order—are an extension of your team. We take the time to understand your personality, passion, history, future, customers and environment to build the visual representation of your brand. And this is why graphic design is so valuable to your business.

1.   Brand identification

This is where it all starts. Your brand’s logo is not something to take for granted. As its most likely going to be with you for the entirety of your business life unless you undertake a re-brand (and that’s a whole separate exercise). Your logo is the first thing that will engage with your customers – it is your introduction.

2.   Professional representation

Having a professionally designed logo instantly gives presents your business as being serious about what you do. It shows you’re professional and your product or service is well thought out and that you’re in it for the long term, because it shows you’re truly investing in it from every angle.

3.   User friendly engagement

Graphic designers also produce powerful websites with impact. This is prime real estate for your business and one of the most engaged communication touchpoints with your audience. A good graphic designer will ensure that your website design is functional, user friendly, aesthetically-pleasing, and as professional as your product or service.

4.   Standing out in the crowd

By ‘crowd’, we mean your competitors mostly. Your logo and brand identity help with recall and loyalty, especially when it comes to packaging. As humans, we tend to have an attractiveness bias and are likely to put hands on any product that seems aesthetically pleasing and looks of quality.

5.   Appealing to the right market

Design speaks so much to your target market. For instance, a colourful toothpaste tube featuring cartoon characters is clearly for kids whereas as a black tube typically represents charcoal toothpaste targeting teeth whitening. Good graphic design should do most of the talking and be supported by words.

6.   Creating a brand that is timeless

Refreshing your design without losing your core identity is critical to keeping up with your audience as they age or change. Coca-Cola refreshed their logo and packaging to move with a new generation but still remain true to their core identifiers. A good graphic designer knows what works and how to update that look accordingly but still capitalise on the legacy.

There are four key qualities to look for when choosing a graphic designer for your business. Whether in-house, freelance or an agency, make sure your graphic designers have these six qualities to elevate your investment and effort in your visual identity:

A motivator

What motivates them says a lot about the quality of the end result. Look for a designer who is passionate, driven by their work and is excited by the challenges. If they prioritise material gain, the heart won’t be there.

A self-criticiser

It takes a professional mindset to criticise oneself. As artists, designers need to balance their confidence levels and take a third party’s opinion at every step, keeping in view that it is for the audience they are trying to please and not themselves.

A time manager

Time management is key to graphic design. The ideal designer can gauge targets against the time to fulfill them. They must be realistic with deadlines and only take the order they can fulfil.

A boundary pusher

The graphic designer should be able to push boundaries in terms of time and creativity. And they must think out of the box by not being confined to the typical ideas.

Understanding the importance of good graphic design entwined with the features of a great graphic designer will set you up for a strong visual brand identity to help you earn customer recognition and market share. These are qualities that we eschew at Creative Order, so talk to us about how we can use good graphic design to take your visual identity to the next level.