For today’s do-it-yourselfer, whether you’re an entrepreneur or an individual you have a brand. A well-designed brand is as vital to your success as a smart phone or internet access to your daily life. I have observed many successful and not so successful brands and learned invaluable lesson about what design communicates to an audience and how this affect the profitability of a brand.
1. DIYers have a full plate
Everyone who has a do-it-yourself attitude is extremely busy. Most likely you already have a lot on your to-do list and don’t have the time to spare. Graphic design when done right is very time consuming and meticulous. The amount of time spend on a simple business card or logo is unimaginable. Frankly, the total step in the creative process is a true show of the craftsmanship and art that goes into making a great product.
“Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
2. Put simply Photoshop is not simple.
Honestly, Photoshop is not enough. To know how to use the tool is one thing, but knowing how to design is something completely different. The learning curve is hard and time consuming. It takes hours to learn the basics tricks of these programs and should not be underestimated. The initial stuff is easy, but it’s hard to learn all the tricks you need to know to really do a good job. Photoshop and the Adobe suite are complex programs that will take you a long time to learn all the different operations it can perform.
3. Professionalism
When amateurs attempt graphic design it makes angels cry. The designs that people are so proud of, are really ugly and not up to date with current design standards. I know, that no one wants to fall into the trap of just doing it because it’s trendy, but when it comes to design it’s necessary. Amazing graphic design from the 90’s is completely different than what is considered spectacular today. Your audience expects high quality and professionalism, therefore when you give them something that is not up to their standards it’s a disappointment, which is not something that entrepreneurs want to do. That’s how you lose your audience and business and you find yourself scrapping along taking anyone who has a pulse and a wallet and sometimes they don’t even have a pulse. It all starts with sacrificing the standard of quality of services or products that you provide, and ultimately it reflects of your character and moral. Do you want to be known as stingy, unprofessional, outdated brand? NO! That is why you need help. Admitting you need help is not a bad thing, it just proves that you’re human.
In order to grow as a an individual and brand you have to let other people use their strengths to make your brand into something awesome, a brand that you’re proud of and you can’t do it by yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it also wasn’t built by one person doing everything.
Let me know your thoughts.
