A designer is a specialized computer artist who can take photos, computer-drawn images, and text and create a comprehensive marketing piece that you can then use to promote your business. Here, we will discuss Graphic Design, from creating a logo to choosing a marketing strategy and all the nuances in between.

Start with a unique logo

Whether you're an established company or a new start-up, the best first place to start is with your logo. We see hundreds of logos every day, and many are so ingrained in our society that we can name a company with a glance at its logo.

Think about the Nike swoosh or the McDonald "M"; you see those logos and immediately know what company you're looking at or interacting with. In the world of advertising, logos are imperative. You want to use colors and imagery that are pleasing to the eye and grab consumers' attention. Logos can be very complex or simple images, so trust your designer to help guide you through this process to determine what works best for your company.

Raster v. Vector

The most crucial part of logos is that they must be designed and built correctly. Your designer will know this, but it's also good information for business owners. Logos should be built as Vector images.

This means that they are created so as not to degrade when resized; vector images are math-based and will work on anything from a promotional lapel pin to a billboard.

The proper programs for logo building are Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, or CorelDraw; the file should be saved as a native file in those programs, an AI PDF or EPS.

Logos should never be Raster images because these tend to lose resolution when resized and will become pixelated. Often, they degrade over time, and multiple file types change. This is why using the correct software is so important. Never use photos in your logo or build them in programs such as Adobe Photoshop, CorelPhotopaint, or Microsoft Word. 

Unity is Key!

Now that your logo is designed, you'll want to develop a unifying look to tie your advertising together. Often, companies write entire handbooks on how they want their advertising to look. Every piece designed should have a familiar, unifying feel. This is important because it gives you brand recognition.

Many designers start with the logo and build an entire look and feel from that alone. This is where color theory and color psychology come into play. Studies have been done on how colors make people feel about something. Pay attention to these studies, as they will help you give your brand the look and feel that you want to convey.

Marketing your business

Now that the essential elements are built, you want to decide how to market your business. In today's society, a great website is a must-have and a great place to start. You will enjoy an intuitive and informative website that works as great as it looks.

Make sure your site is optimized for mobile devices as well as computers. If you are selling things online, be sure your e-commerce portion of the site works quickly and easily. A great site is imperative, and your designer will ensure you have a site that does all of the above and then some!

Other marketing ideas include promotional products, direct mail, TV or radio campaigns, brochures, or billboards. Marketing should be diverse to help extend your reach and drive traffic to the website. 

• Promotional products are a fun and easy way to get noticed. These are tangible and often useful to potential clients; they're a great marketing choice because your logo will always be front and center. Whether it be a pen or a fun toy on a potential client's desk, the possibilities for promotional products are endless.
  
  
• Direct mail is another option, and a good designer can help you develop something creative and eye-catching that people want to look at. Die cuts are a great way to accomplish this; instead of mailing out 10,000 traditional postcards that will most likely end up in a circular file, consider a shape that can be one flat page, a folded page, or multiple pages combined and attached with rivets. Die cuts are direct mailers cut into fun and catchy shapes; for example, if the organizers of a balloon festival created and mailed out postcards in the shape of a balloon, it would be interesting and would drive traffic to the website or bring people to the event.
  
  
• TV and radio are still very effective marketing techniques, and many local TV & radio stations produce your commercial cheaply if you buy air time through them.
  
  
• Brochures are another great marketing strategy. They can be mailed out directly, hand-delivered, or placed locally to be picked up by interested consumers. They can also be die-cut to make them more interesting.
  
  
• The last idea is the use of billboards. These work best when the text is kept to the absolute minimum; it can be read in under 5-10 seconds and is usually accompanied by fun imagery. Long text on billboards tends to render them ineffective, as people either can't or don't have time to read them while speeding down the highway.

Once you've built a logo, decide on your unique color scheme, and worked on how you want your business to be marketed, then it's time to sit back and trust your designer to make fantastic pieces of art for you.

One of the most incredible things about Design is that it's not set in stone. You can always rebrand, try new marketing techniques, or vary your audience. It's your company; make it unique, which will set you up to do what you love.

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