I received a flyer in my letterbox yesterday that looked like it had been designed in five minutes by a five-year-old. This is very sad for the business as they had spent the money on the production and delivery of the flyers without considering the image they were presenting to their potential customers.
Why is it unfortunate? Because poor-quality design reflects on the level of service and professionalism of the company offering its products and services.
As a society, we are very aesthetically and visually inclined. Just as people are judged on their appearance, so too are businesses and the collateral they produce. It’s not fair, but it is true; you must present yourself equally or better than your competitors in all areas of service and appearance.
Potential areas of bad design
The most obvious place to start is with a company logo. Now’s a great time to grab your business card and another piece of collateral and do a check on your logo. Have a look at to see if both are the same or if any of the following examples of issues with logos are present;
- The image is fuzzy from low file size or photocopying
- The logo is pixelated (where you can see those little squares)
- It has been stretched so is now out of proportion
- The colours do not reflect your corporate colours
- The colours do not work together
- It is too big or too small
- It has a background, so it blocks out the image behind it
- The font is a child’s font i.e. Comic Sans (caveat – this may work for Children related businesses)
- There are three or more fonts in the logo
- It contains icons, clip-art or stock images
- The image was from the internet
- It is no longer modern or reflects what your company is about
The above corporate logo issues are very common for small businesses and mostly occur due to well-meaning staff, friends or family members creating collateral and accidentally warping the logos. The same thing happens with flyer or brochure design.
In the case of the promotion I received in my letterbox; the image was grainy, it had been hand cut with words and part of the image missing and I wanted to reach out to the business to let them know there is a better, more efficient way to create these promotions, while creating the right impression on their prospective customers.
You are busy running your business and having to deal with branding and design takes you away from your core business. For this reason, we recommend utilising fully trained graphic designers.
Good graphic design does not have to be expensive and can be produced quickly and affordably. At Colemans Printing we have 5 graphic designers in Darwin offices, who will be able to provide you with a free consultation on your logo and collateral, along with any printed marketing needs. Talk to us today about your needs or just for some feedback on your existing and future promotions. We love to help you look good.
