Updated: Apr 20
Professional graphic designer or DIY? What a conundrum!
When your car breaks down, do you pop the hood yourself or send it to a mechanic? If you feel sick, do you only Google your symptoms or go to the doctor? When your dishwasher breaks down, do you rip it apart yourself to find the problem? Probably not, right? Then why do you try to do professional graphic design projects yourself if this isn’t your area of expertise? Oh, we know why… Because you are, first and foremost, an entrepreneur, a small business owner. And we, as small business owners, LOVE to wear all the hats – even if it’s so that we can save a little money!
But the main problem with being your own graphic design department is that it takes you a long time to finish those projects. Plus, it doesn’t look as professional as hiring a pro.
As one marketer put it:
“Graphic design….You could try to do it yourself. Design a “logo” for your business or organization. Throw together a “website.” The only problem is, everyone who sees your handy work will admire your do-it-yourself attitude but look upon your ugly-duckling logo with underwhelmed confusion. Your “free” logo will look like… well, a free logo.”
You don’t want your brand remembered for its DIY spirit. You want your brand recognized for creativity, excellence, and professionalism!
Hiring a professional graphic designer can get you there.
Daily, we talk with a prospective client or someone at a networking event who is still deciding to work with a professional graphic designer.
We offer them these X reasons why it will be one of the most intelligent business decisions they’ll ever make:
Saves You Time
As an entrepreneur, what is your time worth?
You have a lot on your plate. This means you may be putting off a new marketing piece, even if it is something you need. Hiring a designer can have a project completed in a fraction of the time it would take for you to do it yourself.
Saves You Money
Yes, of course, a great professional graphic designer can cost you some money upfront, but working with a professional saves you money in the long run.
When a business doesn’t take its marketing and branding seriously, it will more than likely go through at least one design overhaul — if not more. However, good design has longevity.
By paying for great design, you are saving yourself from repeatedly paying for subpar design.
Another factor is that a professional graphic designer will know the most cost-effective ways to design your materials. They will likely have suggestions to help keep your printing costs to a minimum.
Helps You Make A Great First Impression
You know you only get one chance. Whether it’s your small business’s website, your email signature, a direct mail advertisement, your business card, or even a social media post, viewers are going to judge a business in seconds based on its appearance alone.
Professional, high-quality graphic design will give your business credibility – and that’s priceless. You could indeed have the most outstanding product or service out there, but if it’s presented with a bad design, many people aren’t going to stick around long enough to find that out for themselves.
Makes Your Business’s Image Consistent & Memorable
High-quality professional graphic design work provides a uniform look and feel across every customer-facing aspect of your business. This applies to everything: your logo, social media, business cards, website, direct mail pieces.
A great graphic designer knows which fonts to use, how to leverage your color palette, and what “mood” should be in the images and supporting graphics on every piece.
Through this consistency across all of your marketing, you will appear more professional, trustworthy, and — most importantly — memorable.
Professional Graphic Designers Understand “Brand”
They understand the importance of brand equity and brand value. And they know precisely how to help you build and maintain a strong brand identity.
Creative professionals take your vision and bring it to life. A good designer will incorporate your thoughts and add their ideas to develop more powerful visuals. They also know how to reinforce your organization’s core message and communicate it to your target audience.
The development process for a good brand is exceptionally strategic. Before creating, a designer will first understand your business, culture, target audience, and competition.
The designer will then apply their knowledge of design principles, marketing trends, user behaviors, and color theory.
These elements combined result in a piece that will reinforce your brand and build customer loyalty.
Professional Graphic Designers Have (& Know!) The Software Already
Not only should they have the programs they need already, but they’re also already fluent in essential design programs such as Illustrator, Photoshop & InDesign. This eliminates your needing to learn any software when you’re doing this yourself.
Professional Graphic Designers Know What Files Are Needed
They design print products with the printer in mind, meaning minimal file setup mistakes.
Plus, they can deliver your logo to you in EVERY FILE TYPE you’d ever need. Ever.
Professional designers have, on average, at least 2-4 years of training using state-of-the-art design programs.
Design pros know their way around terms like:
Bleed
CMYK
Crop marks
Image resolution
Outlining fonts
Packaging
RGB
Stitching
Graphic design pros are experts at preparing files for print and foreseeing any possible issues to save you from costly mistakes.
So When It’s Time To Talk To A Professional Graphic Designer
As an entrepreneur, it can be tempting to cut costs wherever you can. But skimping on your branding and marketing materials can be a costly error.
Professional design is not a luxury. It’s a must.
Excellent graphic designers translate ideas into visual representations that the viewers can easily understand.
It’s simple: Great designs convert.
An effective marketing asset should compel your customers to take action:
Turn the page,
Visit your website,
Click the button to learn more.
The highest-quality professional graphic design requires:
A trained, creative professional eye. This vision can only come with years of training, followed up with years of experience.
An empathetic, listening ear. The best graphic design captures the spirit of the business and the business owner.
A servant’s heart. Any graphic design professional worth their brand wants to deliver unique, amazing brand images to their clients.
And no one listens to clients and delivers on branding like Tracee at Creatively Seeded. Contact her today to discuss a new logo, a new website, or a complete overhaul of your branding persona.