We live in a highly visual society. People are bombarded by images, texts, photos, videos, and other media. Within this sea of information, it’s impossible to remember it all. Instead, consumers and buyers choose unconsciously to recall those products, services, ideas, or even ads that have the most exciting, compelling, and professional design.
Businesses and companies that do not invest in the production of visually pleasing and memorable designs will go unnoticed.
Furthermore, people become increasingly accustomed to excellent and intelligent design. Creativity is crucial, as they expect only the best and will ignore anything that falls short of their expectations.
With that in mind, take a look at the reasons graphic design is so vital for businesses. You may be surprised by how far-reaching graphic design is in our lives!
We judge a book by its cover. And that’s OK.
It only takes up to 50 seconds for a customer to judge and evaluate a brand by the quality of its design.
Even though we are always asked not to judge a book by its cover, we all do it because images are the first data that gets imprinted in our brains. Images had existed for thousands of years before writing was discovered.
Think of cave paintings and other expressions of art that people displayed thousands of years ago. They painted and represented their lives in images and drawings. It is no wonder that our visual impulses are so strong!
A picture is worth a thousand words
A picture is worth a thousand words, the saying goes, and it’s true: an image can convey the same amount of information as a thousand words. Most people would instead look at a picture than read a 1000-words long text.
Pictures and images are how children start to learn and understand the world. Remember picture books for children: their images, with all their tiny details that only children seem to notice, were how children understood the story.
The same is valid for adults. We are taught with images, and that’s how we continue to take in new information as we grow up.
Good graphic design is how we remember a business
Think of some familiar brands you know. Which comes first: names or logos? Think of two similar brands. Which is the easiest way to tell them apart: names or logos?
For most people, the two are too entwined to even tell them apart. When you think of soda, you get flashes of red and calligraphic letters. Logos are how we remember brands. We remember their colors, shapes, and typography. We immediately recall the associations between shapes that ultimately give the logo.
A good design keeps a brand memorable and imprints it in people’s minds. A clever logo uses design to depict its line of work and includes pictorial details to make it attractive.
There is so much to design: think of the font used in Coca Cola, which is unique to the brand. Something would feel off right away if Coca Cola was written in a different font or used different color palettes for, say, its stationary or postcards.
Graphic design tells a story
Think of the color combinations of Ikea, which uses yellow and blue, the colors of Sweden, where the brand originated. Even though the brand is global, its design points to its origins.
A professional graphic design includes storytelling. It narrates the story of a brand and reveals its history and philosophy.
The brand Dove uses a dove in its design to show how important purity is to the company. Their dove design underpins their philosophy for gentleness in skin-care products.
Once the graphic design has told a story, this story is passed on to consumers and customers. As the business builds upon its storytelling with other visual media, people become aware of what it stands for and start identifying the brand with the company.
Graphic design adds consistency
A graphic design chain should reinforce consistency within the brand. The logo, font, and color combinations used should be found in all communication.
Graphic design brings together all features of a company’s communication. There is no point in having a different logo on the website and a slightly different one for social media. People get confused, and businesses dilute their brand.
Graphic design adds consistency and credibility to your business.
Graphic design is more than a logo
Businesses often forget that graphic design is more than just a logo.
Graphic design encompasses all business communication: think of corporate stationery, websites, publications, packaging, flyers, business cards, postcards, e-commerce, magazines, online ads, online banners, invitations, brochures, labels, and even invoices.
All these are examples of company communication with the outside world, be it customers, clients, or suppliers. If you can print it, you should design it!
An attractive packaging that is also frustration-free will help customers who will appreciate the effort, thoughtfulness, and consideration gone into its design and production.
Consider a promotional email sent to prospective clients in your industry. You don’t need to design custom icons or fancy fonts for your communication, nice as that may be. All you need to do is make sure that your email is well-designed and well-crafted, with a careful design that is consistent with your brand. That way, it has more chances of getting opened compared to a sloppy one. This means more potential clients hear about your product, offer, or service.
Graphic design is for everything
By adhering to a professional model, a business displays its reputation and robustness. Many people will notice surprising details like a different shade of color in your logo or a different font.
That is why companies need to follow clear visual brand guidelines and have branding design in mind through all their corporate media and advertising. You may think that having a matching web design and email marketing templates is enough, but no.
Everything has to reflect the company’s unique character, from digital products such as content marketing, social media, company magazine or newspaper, website images, flyers, UI design, and user experience, to product design, advertising billboards, signage, stationery, and labels. Even packaging graphic design matters, as it gives your brand credibility. Everything is sales collateral, and everything must strengthen your branding.
Remember the Chiquita logo with the lady holding a basket full of fruit on her head? We can immediately tell the difference between Chiquita and Dole bananas, just looking at their logos. Why? Because they use their logos everywhere. This is the power of good logo design and the power of consistency.
Graphic design is a great method of communication
Graphic design is not just the logo and wording of the brand. Good graphic design can make content understandable, clear, and approachable.
For example, consider infographics. People like them because they unite text and images within a concise framework, dispensing useful information in a pleasant, easy-to-understand way.
Graphic design can help a business communicate its products and services in an effective, memorable, and coherent way.
Graphic design will help you stand out from the competition
There are millions of businesses competing for our attention. This fierce competition is even more intensive on social media, where various businesses and companies vie for the spotlight. People are flooded by images, slogans, and videos. Only the most memorable, most extraordinary designs will stand out.
A suitable graphic design will be representative of the brand. It will use color palettes, shapes, letters, and typography interestingly and professionally.
Only this way can you grab people’s attention in today’s saturated marketplace. Anything else will just disappear in a sea of over-information.
Graphic design will help your business attract customers
As people become acquainted with your brand, they are more likely to recognize it and purchase from your company.
Psychology has shown that, when people see a face repeatedly, they are more likely to describe it as attractive. The same is true of brands.
When faced with a choice, people will opt for a familiar image—an image that has been engraved in their minds. Your brand will stand out from the competition, and your business will win in terms of sales.
Now that we live in an era of constant return-on-investment (ROI) calculations and conversions from social media to website purchases, it is essential to make an excellent first impression so that people choose your brand rather than a competitor.
Hooking people to your brand has the potential to make them loyal followers and repeat clients.
Graphic design for a startup: branding through design
Achieving brand recognition for a startup can be daunting. You need to compete with existing and established firms that have already built up an audience. This audience recognizes brands and is acquainted with them.
Most startups don’t even have a finished product when they look for funding. Having a graphic designer come up with smart-looking mockups can make all the difference in the world for them.
A startup needs to find its voice represented in its graphic design displays. A smart graphic design crafted for the business’s purpose can help immensely with sales and brand recognition.
Conclusion
Hiring a graphic designer is not a luxury anymore.
Businesses are expected to invest in professional graphic design for the whole range of their products as well as their professional visual presence.
Graphic design can improve a business’s sales and its reach across many audiences. It is also a useful tool to stand out from the competition, especially in the social media field, where many businesses compete for similar audiences.
Graphic design is what represents a brand. It will display its history and philosophy and help it build its visual identity. A carefully elaborated graphic design will improve the outlook of any business!
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