The World of Graphic Design is on the rise in our digital age. It is a source of product marketing, and it also makes businesses stand out amongst competitors.
If you’re just starting out with a small business, your attention and commitment to your brand design is crucial.
If you’re looking for ways to help bring your company the attention it deserves by way of graphic design, then we’ve got you covered. Read on below to see our 8 graphic design tips for small businesses.
Online Design Templates Are Your Friend
As soon as you commit to making designs for your business, make sure that you get familiar with the various design tools that you’ll need to be successful.
As a small business owner, your money may be tight, and you may not have the funds right away to invest in a professional designer. The good news for you is that the internet has a wealth of knowledge and design tools for you to use, so you can hold off on hiring a designer and make designs yourself, at least initially.
There are logo maker tools, email signature tools, and merch design tools online. Some are even free to use! With all these tools, you can create professional graphic designs for your business in just a matter of minutes.
Know Your Story
Before you start the design process, be clear about what this design means to you and your business goals.
Firstly, does this design speak to your brand’s purpose and what your company offers? You shouldn’t create a design based off something cool that you saw on Instagram or a design that has no barring to your specific product offering. The graphic elements need to be personal to you, just like your product is.
If you’re clear on what your design’s objective is, then you can move toward creating the best design for the brand.
Identify Your Target Customer Base
Once you’ve found out how your brand design correlates to your business, it’s important to discover how it relates to your customers, as well.
Just like with marketing, your target audience will play a big part in how you proceed with your graphic design strategy. For example, are you providing a service for financial assistance or education? Are you posting vlogs about dog behavior? Perhaps you create daily food blogs? No matter your purpose, you want to have a clear view on who your audience is and from there, you can let your design speak to them.
Get That Logo Down
Your logo should be both unique and easily recognizable to your audience. They are, after all, the biggest identifiers for brands.
Although it’s great to research other companies to get an idea of how brands invest in their logos, your own should be something new and not plagiarized from bigger companies.
Get started with creating a logo by using online logo maker tools.
Choose Your Brand Colors
In graphic design, colors play a role in customers recognizing who you are amongst other companies. It also can be a deciding factor in consumers purchasing from you.
Brand colors have the power to influence and play on the emotions and perceptions of your audience toward your brand. So, use colors that signify your company. Neutral and warm tones like sandy brown, greys and whites often represent comfort and go with brands highlighting relaxation and home design. Colors like green can work for brands that promote financial help, health, or outdoor activities.
Remember, too many colors can be overwhelming and turn people away from your design and thus your product.
Don’t Go Crazy With The Design
You ever heard of the acronym K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid)? Well, that couldn’t apply more in graphic design. Simplicity in your graphic designs is key.
Now, simple does not boring or bland. A number of businesses think that too much white space in a design means that it needs to be covered up. Keeping it simple means creating something that is easy to read and interpret. This translates to limiting extra shapes, photos, and unnecessary wording.
Your Fonts Should Be Consistent
Similar to brand colors, fonts also play a crucial role in graphic design. The font and font size can make or break your ability to gain interest from customers. Make sure the fonts you use are easy to read and reflect your brand and audience personality.
More importantly, use the same font in all your graphic designs. Not only will it look better, but it will be much less distracting than having multiple fonts on one design. The rule of thumb is to stick to a maxim of two fonts for your design.
Research Other Companies
While you need to make sure that you aren’t copying other companies’ designs, consider doing some research to see what other, successful brands are doing with their graphic designs.
Take inspiration from how the put together meaningful creations to engage their audiences. Look at their colors, fonts, designs and services. Learn what works and what doesn’t work with graphic design from your peers and cultivate something unique for your business.