Don’t Hack Your Brand: Four Ways a Designer Can Set You Up for Success
Have you noticed how there’s a “hack” for just about everything? From menu hacks to cleaning hacks to Ikea furniture hacks . . . we’re all on the lookout for shortcuts that will make life easier, cheaper, and more productive. I’m all for better ways to travel or streamline my morning routine, but I’m about to make a case for one important thing NOT to hack.
Design.
Every time people visit your website, receive a product in the mail, or drive by the sign on your storefront, they interact with your brand. Based on what they see, they make a judgment about your whole operation. They do this even though they may never have interacted with you or your employees directly.
The truth is, your brand’s design is speaking for you whether you are there or not. You’re trusting it to make an unforgettable impression and get customers to fall in love with your business. That’s some serious pressure, right?
Great design can communicate to customers that you are professional, established, and reliable. It can help you to stand out in a sea of competitors and demonstrate your commitment to your business. On the flip side, shoddy design can get you noticed for all the wrong reasons.
I know I’m a teensy bit biased, but I really believe that investing in professional design is one of the best gifts you can give yourself as a business owner. Here’s why:
Your brand will be created just for YOU.
Professional designers marry creativity and technology to help you find a meaningful way to tell your brand’s story. We are trained to help you think about your brand identity from the viewer’s perspective. We also have the technical expertise to create something unique that adheres to the unwritten rules of design so that it will reproduce beautifully and feel fresh even years in the future.
You’ll get a complete playbook.
When you work with a professional, you have the opportunity to build a complete set of rules for how your brand’s materials, signage, and digital presence should look—everywhere. Consider it your kit of parts to ensure a consistent, well-oiled “brand machine”! No more reinventing the wheel every time . . . or taking a guess and missing the mark. Instead, you can be confident knowing exactly how to use your logo, which shade of green to use in your MailChimp email, or the right fonts to put to work in your brochure (before you send it off to print and get 1,000 copies delivered)!
You’ll save time and money in the long run.
It also helps that designers talk the talk and know what all the lingo means. Do RGB, CMYK, Pantone, offset, kerning, and bleeds mean nothing to you? When you work with an expert, that’s okay! We make sure that you avoid costly color-value mistakes by designing and packaging your files properly. We also do the hard work for you by connecting you with the best vendors for your needs from printers to signage companies to brand photographers (no more stock photos for you, my friend—your brand deserves the real deal).
You can be confident your brand is one-of-a-kind.
Now, sure, you could save some money by using a service like Fiverr or 99Designs. But have you considered the tradeoffs? With services like these, you run the risk of sharing your design with others. Do you really want to share your brand identity? You also could end up dealing with the nightmare of receiving a cease and desist order from another company who has trademarked what you think is your logo. Imagine having to redo all of your materials to avoid legal trouble. Sooo confusing to your customers. Not to mention the fact that all of the dollars you invested in materials with that logo and identity are now gone since you’ve got to replace everything with a new design. That’s one headache nobody has time for!