The first bite of the apple is with the eye…

You’ll have been told that words can be as hard-hitting as a weapon; however, you’ll have also heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” – so how powerful does that make an image when promoting you, your business and your brand? Design cannot be ignored, whether it’s good or bad. Bad design can see potential customers judging your business on its ‘appearance’, and the same goes for good design, but each comes from different ends of the spectrum. Poor graphic design can give potential buyers the impression that you’re an amateur outfit, that you do everything yourself and you’re therefore ‘small fry’, or that you just don’t place any importance on your offering (would you therefore treat your customer’s project with the same apathy?). Truly good graphic design has the opposite effect. It exudes professionalism and competence; it looks as if you have a good understanding of your market, and it showcases what you offer to a high standard. Good graphic design does require an investment, albeit a very small one. With platforms like Canva around to ‘DIY’, it may seem an unnecessary expense to pay for graphic design work. If you happen to have a background in design, we’d probably agree with you, but most business owners haven’t, and this will show. Trying not to incur any costs when it comes to your marketing and promotion will come back to bite you in the backside when your peers who launched businesses at the same time as you did are years further down the line in comparison – because they understood that they must speculate to accumulate in business. As a business owner, you have to stick to what you’re good at and outsource the rest. Graphic design from Novus could include your business’s logo, the design of your flyers and other printed literature; the look, feel and design of your product’s packaging; and other forms of media – such as interactive e-magazines, motion design and animation. We judge everything, even people, on its outer cover and how it looks. It’s a sad fact of life, but it’s true, even more so when selling a product. Whet your audience’s appetite with beautiful imagery, luxurious packaging and impressive design. Don’t assume your target marketing will be as enamoured with a picture taken with your phone, with a logo from a free generator, and with packaging that looks like your offspring created it at school.