Graphic design matters to small businesses – marketing nowadays can become hyperlocal, as the definition of “community” has been transformed by social media. You do not need a big budget for a high-end, boutique design agency – though you also do not let an amateur to work on the critical aspects of your brand. The logo, the business card, the website – and even the flyer – are all vital elements of your branding.
Do you skimp on the interior design of your retail store or your office? Are you ok accepting clients in a run-down office in a seedy part of town? Will you do your clients a disservice by using stale ingredients for your menu items?
One should consider graphic design as a capital expenditure during these modern times. If during the Industrial Age no one cared about what got into canned food, consumers now are aware of their rights and are conscious of what they want. Some maybe ok with low quality, but an outstanding majority requires no less than what high quality prescribes.
Everything is text
In graphic design, everything is text – this means everything stands for something. As a small business, from your physical presence to your online footprint, graphic design, and especially high-quality graphic design, defines and directs what market you aspire to benefit with your products and services.
As a small business owner, perhaps one of your aspirations is to become an asset to your community as an entrepreneur, your business as an institution, and your profession as a vital contribution. What market are you taking care of? Who are your most important clients? How would you like your community to look at your business? These are all factors when considering the brand of your business – in its essence, the identity of your business.
And professional graphic design helps you to mold the identity of your business, and nurture it through time.
Care about your identity?
Unfortunately, some small business owners misunderstand the function and role of a graphic designer and how it affects the identity of their businesses. This is akin to hiring an accountant to set up your POS system, or calling a medical doctor to paint your wall (some medical doctors do know how to paint walls).
Let us put it this way – you hire an accountant to file your taxes. You call your IT support to set up your POS system. You hire a house painter to paint the walls of your office. You call to set an appointment with your medical doctor if you feel a numbing pain in your left leg.
In such manner that you call and set an appointment with a graphic designer to discuss creating the logo of your business, or the design and feel of your business card, or the WordPress theme you prefer for your website. You don’t ask a college student studying graphic design or fine arts to work on your logo for free, except in cases when said college student is your kid.
Your small business is not little
As a small business, your business and your brand may become invisible when seen against a national backdrop – you know for sure that you don’t have the resources to compete against a national brand. However, your context is local, and that’s where your business and your interests lie.
There are top-end design agencies that pursue portfolios with the big brands, but there are also design agencies who cater to small businesses. Here at BrandCo., our mission is to help small businesses succeed. We are a full-service branding agency, with strengths in design and development to enable small businesses to thrive in their communities. Perhaps you’re a professional minding his/her own business in Orlando, but with a website that can reach the Congo, your business may help a Nigerian prince find his long-lost mom.