Everyone can design and at some point, everyone has designed something. But effective graphic design takes more than a willingness to add graphics and text to paper. Good design matters because it takes experience, talent, and skill to create something that prompts your audience to action. Yet many companies approach design as an afterthought when it really should be one of your first priorities.
1. Great Design is a Game-Changer
It is easy to notice bad design because of pixelated images, hard-to-read type, information that is hard to follow, etc. In these cases, the bad design is extremely visible and people question ways it could have been done better. But, when you see a great piece of design, chances are you might not even notice the design at all. Instead, you’ll consume the content easily and pleasurably. Why? Because good design is invisible.
A common misconception about design is that design is solely about the way it looks. In reality, a good designer will consider how it looks as secondary to how it works. A good designer isn’t just going to make your flyer look nice, they are going to consider who your company is, who your audience is, and what you want on your flyer. They are then going to pull apart your content and reassemble it in a way that helps you communicate to your audience in the best possible way.
2. Your Website Matters
We live in a digital world and almost all businesses are online in some form. In fact, most experience your business for the first time online. Which means it is more important than ever to leave a good impression. This study determined that badly designed websites are often not read, trusted, or visited again for any length of time. The study states, “Poor interface design was particularly associated with rapid rejection and mistrust of a website,” and “In cases where the participants did not like some aspect of the design the site was often not explored further than the homepage…”
We can’t justify poor website design by saying things like ‘at least my content is great’, because 94% of the reason the participants rejected a site was for design-related issues, while only 6% was for content-related issues. So even though your content is awesome, poor website design can negatively affect your business.
3. First Impressions
Studies have shown that visual appeal can be assessed within about 50 milliseconds. Think of your business design as a handshake, meeting someone for the first time. When we meet someone for the first time we make snap decisions and impressions about them in that one quick moment. This is exactly what design tries to do too, all within the space of 50 milliseconds: it tries to communicate who you are and what you do in less than a second.
4. Designs Grows Businesses
Have you ever bought a product simply because it looked nicer than the alternative? Nothing major, maybe it was a book that had a nice cover or a new brand of shampoo that had an interesting label. Chances are we won’t pay too much more for a nicer-looking brand but when it comes down to similar prices, and similar functions, our hand will go toward the more aesthetically pleasing option.
As Steven Bradley says, “Human beings have an attractiveness bias; we perceive beautiful things as being better, regardless of whether they actually are better. All else being equal, we prefer beautiful things, and we believe beautiful things function better. As in nature, function can follow form.”
A 2005 study from The Design Council studied 63 portfolios of companies that traded on the Financial Times Stock Exchange for over 10 years. What they discovered was that companies that put an emphasis on design performed better than the ones that didn’t. Meaning that companies that invested a little bit of money in design now know that they are investing in their future profits.
Good Design is a Great Business Decision
It is time to stop second-guessing the value of good design, gain a competitive edge, experience powerful marketing results, and stand out in the crowd.
Good design is an investment for your success. If you are interested in monthly plans let us know what you are looking for and we would be happy to provide you with a quote. You can check out some of our work here.
