Let’s address the elephant in the room first. We’re under no illusions. We know tools like Canva are taking the world by storm. The emergence of freemium, self-serve, turn-key design tools that make everyday graphic design creation a cinch for the public, has levelled the playing field. It’s taken the sorcery out of design and put it into the hands of everyday people who want to build content for their businesses, sports teams, and personal brands. But that doesn’t mean we no longer need graphic design experts who have intimate knowledge of design principles and the ability to wrangle complex software that helps bring ideas to life. We believe there is a world where self-serve tools and graphic design experts can co-exist and even complement one another. There are just some things Canva just can’t do for you that a trained professional can. Here are the three times you should definitely invest in a graphic designer: Building Or Evolving Your Brand Whether you’re starting from scratch – or want to give your existing branding a facelift – building a strong and consistent brand is critical to success with today’s marketing-savvy consumers. Customers are more likely to demonstrate affinity towards companies that communicate their purpose and pay careful attention to aesthetic and merchandizing. It’s not just about building a logo and deciding upon colour ways – branding is so much more than that. Branding lives and breathes through every customer-facing element of your business. Visual identity will be the foundation of your website, social presence, merchandise, collateral, vehicles and so much more. A professional asks the right questions, spends time on research and draws upon years of training and expertise to carefully and thoughtfully craft an identity that will stand the test of time. It’s worth every penny invested when you arrive at branding you’re happy with the first time around. This eliminates re-work later down the road and frees up time for you to spend on driving your business forward. Complex Design Projects When it comes to custom projects like vehicle wraps, infographics, packaging and merchandise design, hire an expert to get the job done right. It’s not just a matter of putting your logo on a van. A complex project like vehicle wraps requires detailed knowledge of the printing process and a good understanding of how to best represent your business on what is essentially a moving billboard. Data visualizations like infographics often require custom illustrations to make the content pop. This can be painstaking and time consuming. Eliminate the headache and outsource that to someone who knows their stuff to get an end product you’re truly happy with. Creating Ads This isn’t Mad Men and we’re not just building print ads anymore. With so many digital advertising mediums available, designing ads is more complicated than it’s ever been. Today’s designers must build powerful digital ads that break through the clutter, drive immediate action, render on a variety of devices and cater to dozens of different specs and formats. Ensuring the ad drives clicks and conversions while maintaining creative integrity is both an art and a science. Knowing your CTA button from your IAB and your skyscraper from your big box is pretty essential. Hire a designer and let someone else navigate the minutia of design for digital advertising. So, to summarize, we promise not to slap your wrist if you use Canva from time to time. But we do offer the perspective that investing in graphic design when it really matters most will drive better business outcomes – and save you a whole lot of time, money and sanity. Do you have a design challenge for us? Get in touch and let’s chat!
