So, you need business cards, a logo designed, or a new look for your website. You've played around some with graphics software and have a few ideas. Now you're wondering ... Should you D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) the project or delegate that work to a professional? Well, let's answer that by starting with a definition--because graphic design is somewhat of a paradox--an art as well as a science, thus ... an artistic science, or a scientific art ...

What is Graphic Design?

To define it succinctly, graphic design is the careful layout of text (words) and images (illustrations and/or photographs) arranged with the objective of communicating a clear and specific message to the viewer. We encounter the results of graphic design everywhere we turn--magazines, billboards, street signage, movie posters, the Internet. And it's not as easy as it may seem, as you'll soon discover if you take the D.I.Y. route, to achieve successful results! There are some people who love wearing all the hats and doing everything themselves. They may even have a natural knack for design and the creativity to produce some effective pieces on their own. But what if you can't wear all the hats--or don't want to--and you're thinking about hiring some design help for your business. Hold that thought!

Here are 3 great reasons to hire a professional to do your design work!

1. Graphic Designers understand that Form follows Function.

Untrained designers often jump into a software program like Illustrator or Photoshop and just start experimenting, stretching text and sliding images around until they happen onto an arrangement that seems OK. The result is often a piece with interesting characteristics that don't really serve a purpose, perhaps even cloud the intended message, and that perhaps the untrained designer can not even duplicate--in other words, a conglomeration of cool things you can do with graphics software, but not necessarily things you should do. Graphic designers begin the design processs with thorough research to define the purpose of the piece--its function. What is the one key message that you wish to convey? What is the purpose of your designed piece? To sell a product? To market a service? Who is your target audience and what will appeal to them? Once the function of the piece is established, only then does the designer begin to brainstorm issues of form. What word and image associations come to mind that could effectively illustrate your message? How can those words and images be arranged to communicate the message most effectively?

2. Graphic Designers understand that less is more.

Amateur designers tend to try to cram too many ideas into one design. You have several good concepts and figure there must be a way to work them all in! But a design piece can fail simply because there is just too much going on. Too many colors, too many messages, so much visual noise that the viewer is overwhelmed and fails to understand the communication, or worse yet, ignores it and moves on. A professional designer knows when to stop, knows when "it works," has been trained in the art of a balanced layout, the importance of negative (white) space in a composition, and the selection of typography and colors. The resulting piece is well planned and well executed and successfully communicates the intended message.

3. Graphic Designers can help you achieve your vision, efficiently and cost effectively.

Without the requisite software skills and knowledge of print production, you may produce a piece that is both difficult to re-create and costly to print. Use the wrong kind of graphics software and and you'll have even more trouble--because the commercial printer may not be able to work with your file. Graphic designers are proficient with industry-standard software, understand the technical requirements for creating files that can be properly printed, and can work quickly and efficiently to meet your deadlines--saving you time and money in the long run.

So there you are--three great reasons to hire a graphic designer to create your visual communication pieces. It may take you weeks to do what a professional designer can do in days, or you may do in a few minutes what really should require some time, research, and planning. You're not necessarily saving time or money by doing everything yourself. Your materials make that crucial first impression, the determining factor in whether a potential customer sees a professional organization worthy of a business relationship--or not. So carefully consider all the positive reasons to hire a graphic designer for your next communication project.

FMI - For More Information

Follow these links to discover more good reasons to hire a professional designer and find out what features, capabilities, and characteristics you should look for in a graphic designer:

http://www.socal.com/articles/843-6.html

http://www.rhondaonline.com/content/hmrArticles_view.asp?did=89

http://www.ehow.com/how_107863_hire-graphic-designer.html

Motivational Minute

Do you dream of being an entrepreneur, running your own business and setting your own hours--but don't know where to begin? Here's a creative message from Calvin Swartz, motivational speaker, training facilitator, and CEO of Progressive Success Corporation: Addressing the Northern VA Handcrafters Guild in a presentation on Building Creativity, he gave each person in the audience a styrofoam packing peanut with the letters F-O-A-M written on the side. FOAM is an acronym for:

• Find a need and fill it.
• Originate something new from scratch.
• As is but for a different purpose.
• Modify something and use it in a new way.

So, are you a person who would love to be an entrepreneur? Would you like to have your own business but feel you are lacking in creative ideas? Cal says take a look at the world around you and then: find a need in your environment and seek an innovative way to meet the need. Originate something--come up with your own unique idea from scratch. Find something as is--an existing item--but repurpose it for a different function. Modify and tweak an existing item to use it in a new way. Force yourself to color outside the lines!

Quarterly Quotes:

"There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept."
--Ansel Adams

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."
--Edgar Degas

"In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Copyright 2007 by Lot:21 Design