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Graphic design is an important
element for many businesses. From logos and
branding to print and digital ads having
quality design is important.

Graphic Design

Whether you realize it or not, graphic design is all around us on a daily basis. From the brand of coffee you brew in the morning, to the car you drive, graphic design is an often overlooked yet incredibly powerful marketing tool that can make or break your business.

Don’t believe us? Take roadside billboards as an example. While you can easily pass the majority of them without so much as a glance, what is it about the ones that demand your attention and, maybe even pique your interest? Surely it comes down to a number of different factors, but, more than likely, it was the way it looked.

Because we are visual creatures, graphic design serves as the doorway into a brand. Chances are, if you don’t like the way something looks, you’re probably not going to invest your time or hard earned money into learning more.

Graphic Design

What is Graphic Design

In its simplest form, graphic design is the art of creating visual content that conveys a specific message to the target audience. Though it can seem overwhelming when taking into account the various moving parts, all graphic design can be broken down to the fundamentals which are line, shape, form, color, space, and texture.

Together, these encompass everything from the graphics and layout of a webpage to the type of font used. Of course, graphic design isn’t just about building websites and coming up with creative logos. You can find it all throughout the different stages of your marketing and sales funnels in addition to nearly every aspect of your business as a whole.

Dating all the way back to cave paintings from 17,000+ years ago, graphic design has and always will be about displaying information in a way that grabs attention. When done correctly, graphic design bridges the gap between consumers and businesses, allowing for a mutually beneficial relationship to form.

Whether promoting products and services through advertising, conveying complex information in an easy to digest way, or building a brand image, graphic design is used by businesses everywhere to communicate with consumers.

Every detail matters

Because graphic design is so often taken for granted, most people tend to overlook how even the finest details can greatly affect the way we perceive something. One of the easiest and most widely used examples of this is color. While getting into detail about the psychology of color in branding and marketing exceeds the scope of this page, you don’t have to look very hard to get an idea of its power. [Want to dig into the details of your new brand? Fill out our Brand Questionnaire.]

For instance, it’s well known that the color blue inspires a natural sense of trust, which is why it’s commonly seen in many logos and color schemes used by banks, such as Chase. On the other hand, red is often used to elicit feelings of excitement and boldness, which is why Coca-Cola uses it as one of their two primary logo colors.

Another element of graphic design that most don’t consider is the importance of typography. By simply changing text from one font to another or altering its size, you can completely change both the look and feel of the message being delivered.

For example, the brand Old Navy uses relatively simple and straightforward typography that resonates well with the casual, everyday clothing items they carry. If you were to change it to a cursive font, the logo would take on a whole new meaning and portray a more upscale feel.

While these are just two examples of the way color and typography affect the message and delivery of a design, every single element plays an integral role in the level of effectiveness a graphic can achieve. It’s for this very reason that graphic design is such a vital part of business and can ultimately determine whether or not you’ll strike out with your target audience.

In fact, year after year, there are countless examples of brands that experience wild success, and some that experience epic failures. The key difference between the two truly comes down to how well the designers understand the psychology of graphic design. Here at Wonderboy Creative, our experienced team of expert graphic designers are constantly honing their craft and bettering their understanding of each element and how they compliment or contrast each other to deliver a message effectively.

Graphic design stats

1. The proper use of colors in your logo can increase brand recognition by up to 80{b497a24d07ddde503a8e20c28adddb355e76b486645aa7e354353fdb0a2d3437} and brand comprehension by AS MUCH AS 73{b497a24d07ddde503a8e20c28adddb355e76b486645aa7e354353fdb0a2d3437}

A good graphic designer understands that each every color has a personality surrounding it. Because color is one of the first things our brains perceive when interpreting an image or graphic, they play a powerful role in creating first impressions.

When brand message and color choices are perfectly aligned, consumers will be able to better understand your business and be more likely to recognize it on secondary encounters.

2. Nearly HALF OF ALL CONSUMERS (48{b497a24d07ddde503a8e20c28adddb355e76b486645aa7e354353fdb0a2d3437}) say they’re more likely to develop loyalty during their first purchase or experience with a brand

Making a good first impression on customers is the single greatest way to ensure they keep coming back to give you their business. Whether they’re checking out with a product in hand or seeing your latest social media post for the very first time, graphic design plays an integral role in creating a positive first impression. This is why a good graphic designer can ensure your brand’s visual elements connect with consumers on an emotional level.

3. 94{b497a24d07ddde503a8e20c28adddb355e76b486645aa7e354353fdb0a2d3437} of users will LEAVE A WEBSITE that has poor graphic design

Think about the last time you landed on an old, outdated website that was almost painful to look at and nearly impossible to navigate.

When your business has high quality graphic design elements, it conveys to customers that you care about your image as well as the experience they’ll have with your brand. On the other hand, when your website isn’t optimized, looks sloppy, or fails to communicate the message you’re trying to send, a customer’s first impression can quickly sour, create a lack of trust, and ultimately, push them away.

4. It takes users less than half a second (0.05 seconds) to form an opinion about your website

Because that is far too fast for any reading of text to take place, the deciding factor that helps users form an opinion is graphic design. The human brain can interpret images and design elements at an astonishingly fast rate, which is why it’s so important to have an experienced graphic designer ensure every element of your website’s landing page is sending the right message to users. After all, for every negative opinion, you could be missing out on a valuable customer.

5. The visual appearance of a product accounts for 93{b497a24d07ddde503a8e20c28adddb355e76b486645aa7e354353fdb0a2d3437} of purchase intent

As important as graphic design is for creating positive first impressions and increasing brand awareness, it also plays a crucial role in product marketing. With more products being sold online than ever before, shoppers are relying on visuals since they can’t use their other senses. This is where an experienced graphic designer can truly demonstrate their worth as they have the power to create a successful product launch.

Benefits of graphic design

Even though we’ve only just scratched the surface of the iceberg that graphic design is, by now, you should have a much better idea of the various ways it can help your business get noticed by customers that seemingly turn a blind eye. In this section, we’re going to dig even deeper and look at some of the biggest benefits quality graphic design brings to the table.

1. Create a positive first impression

One of the biggest struggles that brands face (and, often don’t even think about) is that of creating a positive first impression with their target audience. Believe it or not, a recent study found that the average consumer forms an opinion about something in as little as 7 seconds. Even though that may seem a little far-fetched, stop and think about the last time you landed on a sloppy website or parked in front of a rundown looking storefront. How long did you stick around for? Did you buy anything?

Because we live in such a fast-paced world, consumers have been trained to make snap judgments about brands in a way like never before. As such, it’s more important than ever that your graphic design is on-point and ready to convey a message that resonates with your target audience on a deeper level.

Regardless of the way a prospect first interacts with your brand, whether that be through your website, storefront, a social media post, advertisement, or even product packaging, it’s going to set the tone going forward. If they like what they see and experience, they may be inclined to learn more about your brand and what it has to offer.

On the other hand, if they don’t understand what your brand is about or don’t feel it’s a good “fit” for them, the interaction can quickly become a missed opportunity. Graphic design ensures all of the contact points that can initiate the consumer journey are uniform and properly convey your brand’s message. In doing this, graphic designers can greatly minimize negative interactions and maximize the number of positive experiences potential prospects will have.

2. Build trust and inspire confidence

It’s no secret that the way consumers are buying products and services is vastly different from the way things were even 15 short years ago. With so many brands offering similar products and solutions, consumers often rely on trust when deciding who to give their business to. If you’re not quite sure where we’re going with this yet, consider the following example.

You’re in the market for a new laptop. While at the store, you decide to compare two different models with the same price tag side by side. One has a fairly simple box with only a single picture on the front, little to no informational text, and branding so poor that you struggle to find a logo or name. The other has a sleek, textured box with multiple pictures, detailed, easy to read features that have been highlighted, and high-quality branding that lets you know exactly who you’re dealing with. Chances are, you’ll go with box number two because the graphic design elements inspired trust.

Whether you’re marketing a new product or publishing some high-value content for your readers, incorporating branded, aesthetically pleasing graphic design elements and principles can help build trust and inspire confidence in consumers. By that same token, graphic design can help your brand build credibility in its respective industry or field.

When you deliver a quality product or service that truly helps customers solve problems, they’re going to be much more likely to turn to you again when they face another issue. Graphic design fits into the picture by helping ensure the delivery of marketing strategies, product packaging, and every other aspect of the buyer journey leading up to the purchase are consistent, allowing customers to instantly recognize and easily familiarize themselves with your brand.

Using Apple as an example, simply seeing the Apple logo on a product instantly tells consumers that it’s high-quality and sure to perform as expected.

3. Gain an edge over the competition

As the barrier to start a business continues getting lower and lower, it’s only natural that competition increases as well. While there’s a number of different tactics you can employ to make your brand stand out more to consumers, one of the most effective and often overlooked is graphic design. With so many free online design tools available, it’s never been easier for businesses to start pumping out quality content.

However, fueled by the “content is king” philosophy, this also means that modern consumers are inundated with information from the moment they wake, until the moment they set their phones down for the night. As you’ve probably noticed, when a new trend catches on, it doesn’t take long for hordes of other businesses to jump on the bandwagon in hopes of experiencing the same outcome.

The end result is a plethora of cookie cutter content and marketing strategies that end up looking all too similar from consumers to distinguish between. Where graphic design comes into play is by influencing the way you present content and information to readers. By using graphic design to come up with edgy, creative ways for delivering information, solving problems, and alleviating common pain points your target audience experiences, you’ll quickly find yourself rising above the competition.

Here at Wonderboy Creative, our graphic design team has years of experience working with brands to develop innovative marketing and content delivery strategies that set them apart from competitors. Encompassing everything from the way your website and social media accounts are perceived to product packaging and marketing strategies, our graphic designers work to ensure your business has a unique look and feel that both resonates with your audience and speaks true to your brand message.

PC View & Mobile View
4. Conveying the right message

Whether you realize it or not, anytime you see a logo or piece of branded material, your mind is simultaneously analyzing all of the design elements to determine how it feels about what it’s seeing. Factors like color, texture, line, shape, form, and countless other elements all work together to deliver what’s known as your brand message.

Perhaps you’re trying to inspire confidence and trust in customers when they see your logo. Or, maybe you’re trying to convey that your brand is high end and exclusive. Regardless of what you’re trying to tell your audience, it all comes down to graphic design. While certain design elements with vary depending on where and how they’re used, it’s important that each and every piece works to elicit specific emotions that speak to what your brand is all about.

If a lot of this is sounding above your head, don’t worry, that’s why we’re here. Our graphic designers work one on one with businesses of all kinds to learn about their unique stories, values, and beliefs so they can create custom design elements that communicate with customers on a deeper level. When done right, this can help set the tone for all future interactions and even influence whether or not someone will eventually become a customer.

5. Save time & money

You may be wondering to yourself, how can hiring a graphic designer save me money? As crazy as that may sound, without having an experienced graphic designer to handle the various design needs of your business, even though it may seem like you’re saving on the front end, you could actually end up spending more down the road.

These extra costs could come in the form of design elements that, while they looked good on the computer, end up printing out of focus or misaligned. On the other hand, you may end up with a graphic that looks great but costs a fortune to print due to the range of colors and scaling requirements. Lastly, you may run into formatting issues that prevent your graphic from being used in all the different ways you envisioned.

At the end of the day, trying to take the cheap way out when it comes to graphic design can end up costing you in redesigns, delays, and unplanned changes that could have otherwise been avoided by investing in a more experienced graphic designer from the start. The same goes for all of the formatting considerations that go beyond simply seeing the final design in action.

As we touched on briefly, it’s the job of a professional graphic designer to have a firm understanding of the different file formats, how they’re best used, color modes, content management systems, and whether or not there’s enough contrast for each design to print desirably and readable.

Rather than taking the time to learn about all of this on your own or going with a budget designer that can’t deliver on what they promised, hiring a professional graphic designer is one of the best business investments you can make.