Graphic Design Blog - Matthew Martin, BIG Media Design

Where to start.

Chances are if you are reading this, you own and/or run your own company. We’ve all been there, we’ve started a company, or we’ve already got a company and we want to change our image, and we’ve decided we need to develop an identity to go hand in hand with our company ethics and the ways we operate. Something unique and recognizable that represents us and our business, an identity that we can carry through our signage, communications, websites, flyers, menus, newsletters, or brochures – the list goes on.

Strong design associated with your brand, along with a complimentary identity and style carried though your marketing materials can give customers and potential customers a powerful impression of you, your company, your products and services. So you need a graphic designer!

We’ve all looked around at our competitors and seen how their identity and brand are set in stone, and in the beginning this will lead to jealousy. This is normally because a strong design makes them appear to be more professional and better established than you are. If it’s a particularly professional looking identity the chances are that they didn’t design their identity themselves – however, lots of people, particularly those just starting out in business, are not aware of the benefits of working with a graphic designer. A designer has the knowledge required to help create the corporate image you’ve been looking for, and can advise you on how to promote your business and your principles graphically in order to appeal to your targeted audience.

So you’ve decided that you need an identity. What next?

Creating an identity.

First of all you’ve got to find the right designer; I’m not going to talk too much about this here, because I plan on discussing it in another blog. However, it is important for both client and designer that you get on with each other and forge an understanding relationship. There will be times when you disagree with your designer, and there will be times when your designer disagrees with you. You are putting your faith in the designer to create an image that all of your potential customers will see, and you are desperate to make it the right one – that memorable image that people will associate with your company for years to come. This brings me on to the brief. A lot of designers will tell you that they can’t design without a brief, whether this is entirely true or not is a matter of opinion, but when I’m working with a client, the brief is number one. A good designer will ask you a number of questions about you, your company, your likes and dislikes, your competitors, and your audience, to mention just a few*. The main thing is that the identity should complement the way your business operates, your ethics, and should dictate the way your customers view you. Once a brief has been compiled and a deposit has been paid, work can begin; your designer will involve you in the design process and will explain how their design will compliment your plans for the business.

So, the design work is finished. What now?

Making the most of your new identity.

You’ve signed off all the artwork, you’ve got your logo, your brochures, business cards, letterheads and your website is ready to launch. You are ecstatic with the designs, and your designer is the greatest man alive. PAY HIM! (only joking, he’ll give you 30 days before he sends the boys around). The next step is to implement the identity into your brand so that it’s visible and everything that people see is part of your new identity, doing everything in your power to carry the identity through the business making sure everything looks just right.

Remember your design brief? All the questions that your designer asked were to allow him to build the identity around your business ethics and your targeted audience. You’ll need to maintain these ethics and market yourself appropriately in order to reach your potential customers, giving out the right messages every step of the way. People will begin to associate your company, the way you work, what you stand for, and what you sell with your new identity, cool huh? You won’t need to tell them over and over again what your company does, your identity will do it for you, every time a customer sees your logo or your corporate literature they’ll associate that image with the experience they had with your company.

What’s more the professional design work you paid good money for will start to pay off. You’ll be able to look at your competitors and see that your company looks as professional as theirs does, and hopefully better. You’ll find that potential customers will respect your business and the way in which you operate due to the way that you’ve represented yourself, and you’ll normally find that because of this you’ll be able to command a higher price for your product or service without much of a challenge.

Just take a look around the web, search for a product or service, something common like a building contractor. You’ll find sites that don’t look professional, and sites that look VERY professional – so which would you believe is more professional in their business, and which would you believe will offer a more professional service, which one gets the best clients, and which one commands the higher prices. More importantly, it all boils down to who makes the most money?

Summing it all up.

Creating the right impression, identity and brand go hand in hand. A designer can become an invaluable part of your business, and can help with your marketing, even without ramming your business ideas and prices down the neck of your customer. Projecting the right image can improve your business, bring in new clients, and ensure longevity in the cut throat world of venture and enterprise. Now, go find a designer you like and get the ball rolling.

* You’ll be able to read some more about the design process and working with a designer in a couple more upcoming articles that I’ll link to here once they are done.