Understanding the Investment Behind Professional Design

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know the excitement of starting a new venture and having the faith that you have what it takes to be successful. Inevitably, you end up realizing the actual startup process is more challenging, longer, and more expensive than you first realized. You’ve read business memoirs and how-to manuals, and still, you didn’t expect some simple elements like brand-building and web design to be so complicated and time-consuming.

When the customers have yet to roll in, and your new business account is, well, empty, no one would blame you for trying to save money anywhere you can. Bootstrapping and saving money as a business owner is a wise choice — until it isn’t. A poor website, a bad logo, a poorly set up social media account can cost you more than you realize.

Design is an investment, and it should be. Good design has been linked time and time again to business success. Design-driven companies have performed 219% better than other companies in the past ten years (Design Management Institute). Good design is essential, but beyond that, professional design is the best method for success.

The Downfalls of DIY

A camera doesn’t make a photographer. A scalpel doesn’t make a surgeon. A piece of land doesn’t make a farmer. One graphic design course in undergrad and access to Adobe Photoshop or Canva doesn’t make a designer.

A well-designed and long-lasting visual identity will come from years of experience making and breaking design, layout, type, and color rules to create unique and unforgettable designs. There are many rules when it comes to design, and the average consumer is becoming increasingly design-savvy and making purchasing decisions on design alone.

While you might think your Canva-made logo is gorgeous, someone with real design experience will be able to see it’s handmade. Worse than that, a consumer will pick up on the DIY feeling and gravitate toward a competitor brand where the perceived value is higher. Professional designers do so much more than put together some fonts and an icon set. Professional designers work alongside you to ensure a unique identity that creates meaning and outlasts competitors.

Identity Design is not Logo Design

A good brand identity is more than just a good logo.

Think of it this way: you’re buying a car. Let’s say your business is taking off, so you’ve decided to reward yourself with a high-end ride. You found the one you like. It’s gorgeous and your favorite color.

Upon closer inspection, you realize there are no seats or tires, and the stereo system is missing, and there is zero trunk space. Are you going to buy that car? Of course not. You’ll probably abandon that dealership entirely and find another place to buy your car.

When the logo is the only visual element developed in your print and online materials, it may look good at first glance. However, once a customer looks closer to see the inconsistencies in font choice, hierarchy, color, and photography, you’ll cast doubt in their mind that you’re the best solution for their problem. Likely, they’ll take their business elsewhere.

Your logo may be the first thing your audience sees, but it won’t be the last, and it most definitely won’t be what turns them into paying customers. Professional design transcends your logo design into all the elements of your brand, creating structures and strategies for an unparalleled brand experience.

Your brand is a representation of your broader vision. If your brand is inconsistent and unpolished, customers will assume you are, too.

Professional Designers Educate, Too

As a customer, think back to the last brand you were impressed with. Did you stare in awe at their aesthetically pleasing and cohesive Instagram feed? Were you impressed they had a comprehensive and cohesive website? When you signed up for their newsletter, were you immediately struck by how well-crafted their welcome email was? Did a voice in the back of your mind question if your brand was just as impressive? Did you wonder just how they did it? Here’s how: they invested in professional brand design.

When you work with brand-building professionals, we know exactly what to do with your logo and identity elements. We know the proper placement for each and every item to make your brand story and product or service shine as the focal point. We know which colors in your brand palette to use on which platforms and why.

We’re experts in teaching you and your team the best ways to utilize your new brand elements to generate traffic and attract your ideal customer. Good design isn’t always professional design. When you work with professional designers, you should be receiving an education alongside your final designs.

Design should be something you pay for with the comfort of knowing it will last you a long time.

Do you know what year the Nike swoosh was designed? 1971. Their iconic logo is over forty years old, and now, Nike advertisements don’t even need to say “Nike” for people to know what’s being advertised.

Goodyear has had the winged shoe since 1901.

Coca-Cola has had its script logo since 1887. Most of these have gone through a few tweaks over the decades to modernize, but they’ve remained largely unchanged.

That is the power of good, professional design: it can last for decades. 

Without a doubt, you can still try to DIY your own logo once every year or so and never fully develop a brand that is true to you and your business. Or you can also take the leap and invest in professional design to create a cohesive, recognizable, and powerful brand for every customer.

Chances are you didn’t start your business because you wanted to spend hours patching together a decent logo, brochure, and website and then spend your valuable time redoing it every few months.

If your goal is to build a strong brand, gain customers, and make money, the choice is clear: invest in professional brand design.