Do you want to announce or sell something, amuse or persuade someone, explain a complicated system or demonstrate a process? I am sure that you have heard the term “graphic design” before, but what does it really mean for you and your business – and even for your daily existence? Everyday we are bombarded with messages. Messages to buy this, try that, or explain complicated things. As a business trying to convince (potential) customers that your service is of worth to them, I am sure you have considered what your message is to the world.
Now, how to you go about conveying that message? Is simply telling your story enough? Is word-of-mouth powerful enough to convince a customer to take the plunge? Verbal communication can be effective, but if you use any visual based medium at all – a video, poster, magazine ad, letter, business card, brochure (and the list goes on); you are using graphic design as a powerful form of communication. Graphic design is a part of all of our daily lives. From small things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the very clothes you’re wearing. Graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure. Behind the smallest things in our life lies a designer, deciding how they would like that product or idea to be presented to you.
Businesses today are utilizing graphic design and designers more and more to help them succeed. In today’s unstable markets, design can be the thing to set you apart from a competitor. Many larger companies have introduced in-house design departments who become experts at maintaining that brand. Others utilize advertising agencies or freelance designers to create graphics for their message. The great thing about graphic design is that a well-trained designer can utilize a long list of mediums and techniques to help convey your message. From paint, photography, and computer generated images (and beyond!); these things are just a few of the ways that designers have been known to create great messages.
A good graphic designer will be able to collaborate with you to conceptualize ideas for your message. One of the biggest jobs of a designer is to think. Think of ideas, concepts, and ways to convey your message that will break through the dross of the everyday messages that we are bombarded with. A designer will take into consideration the audience you are trying to inform, the mediums to be used, the aim of the messaging, the user interaction, functionality, budgets, and application. A good design will stick with a viewer, and inspire action. As we can begin to see, graphic design begins to be a very complicated process, especially when you take into consideration the infinite possibilities that design provides.
Apple, Inc. is a company famously known for its good design practices. With their use of clean and beautiful graphics, along with great typography, it is easy to see how they have become vastly memorable and successful.
Design is so important for a business. From your logo to your website, your brand is the first thing that your potential customer will see. Keeping existing customers from feeling buyer’s remorse is another way that design comes into play. Your advertising collateral is another way that design can play a strong roll. From magazine ads, to TV commercials, these things all play a huge roll in sending your message to the world. Design doesn’t come cheap, but the pay off from having a good business model coupled with a great design sensibility can be priceless.
