5 Ways Graphic Design Can Make Or Break A Small Business

​It’s no secret that first impressions are critical in business, if your company makes a visual impact straight away you’re more likely to be seen as professional, reliable, and credible. This can be achieved through strong logo design, the use of white space on either a business card or website, even the font can change how you’re perceived. Visual appeal can be assessed within about 50 milliseconds, so it is imperative that your design is flawless, or you will lose out.

‘Design is thinking made visual.’ – Saul Bass

​This Small Business Advice Week, take a look at your choice of design themes, and if they aren’t working for you, consider giving them an overhaul. Here are five areas that might need some attention:

Logo
The logo is the face of your company,  that can say more about your company than you can. Having an instantly recognisable symbol that people link to you means that you have made an impact in their lives. Your logo is your business, it is a visual stamp that will be on everything you do. Make sure it’s a good one. 

Colour Scheme
A bold colour scheme helps set you apart from the crowd and will make more memorable and recognisable. This stretches across all elements of your branding: your logo, business card, website, any merchandise you may have. Keep it consistent, if you mix and match it lessens the impact and could confuse potential customers. 

Fonts
Fonts can help build your brand in small ways. It’s not just the words, it’s the way the words look. This can dictate the tone of your business, building gravitas and class through the use of a traditional script, or taking a bolder modern approach. 

Use of Space
It can be tempting to cram as much information about your business into every space you own. You want people to know about you, to know what you do, and to understand what makes you better than your competitors. But if you’re not careful, you’ll end up with messy or confusing layouts that don’t effectively communicate what you want them to. Overloading your customers with information will annoy them, and will send them running to the next company.
When utilised correctly, space can be calming, directing people’s eyes where you want them to go, letting them move through what you’re showing them at their own pace. 

Content
No matter what content you’re putting out: blogs, videos, motion graphics, infographics, it all relies of graphic design. It should be the foundation of everything you do, the style informs and accentuates the content. There is always a way to make something look better. 

If any of this has made you pause and re-appraise your business’ design, consider hiring a graphic designer. Amateurish design will kill interest in you almost immediately, good design will make people stop and take notice.
 
Let us know what crucial design choice changed your business for the better @SmallBizAdvWeek