If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative. – David Ogilvy

We may not be Ogilvy, but we’re creative and our graphic design team proves it.

When it comes to marketing, a graphic design team - a good one - makes for a great support element. You cannot get by without the right graphics. Here are some of the many things that a good graphic designer can do for you:

    *   Sales Brochures
    * Corporate Identity Packages
    * Instruction Manuals
    * Getting Started Brochures
    * POP/POS Display Materials
    * Posters
    * Tent Cards
    * Catalogs
    * Product Packaging
    * Logo & Corporate Identity Design
    * Newsletters
      - Full Website Development/e-commerce
      - Static Websites
    * Web Pages/Landing Pages
      - Web Graphics & Logos
      - HTML Newsletter Templates
    * Flyers, White Papers & Reports
      - Business Cards & Letterhead

Whether working online or off line, in print or on the Web, a graphic designer can enhance your content with great graphics. And you’d be surprised at how many sales are made because a company included graphics with their well-written content.

Companies making the transition from print advertising to online marketing might wonder whether web page design is like print page design. This is a legitimate question and it deserves a thoughtful answer. My answer, the one I’d like you to keep in mind is, yes and no.

Cliche, I know. But it’s also true. In some respects, the two are a lot alike. In other ways they are completely different.

Design is design, right? The purpose for any page design - whether print or Web - is to attract a reader’s response. You want your copywriting and visual elements to work together to elicit a positive reaction - close the sale. That’s the point to any kind of page design, whether we’re talking web page design or print page design, but that’s really where the similarity ends.

Web page design is a bit more complex and a lot harder to nail down that print design. With print design you are dealing with a two-dimensional canvas. Web page design is a four-dimensional canvas. Consider:

Print Design
Brochures, flyers, newsletters
All are solid and flat
Words sell, graphics enhance
Limited space
Say too much, lose the sale
Say too little, lose the sale
Say the wrong things, lose the sale

Web Design
Blogs, websites, and html newsletters
Words sell, graphics enhance
Audio and video capable
Unlimited space
People thrive on information
Biggest danger is not saying enough
It is almost impossible to say too much (almost!)

The essential difference between web page design and print page design is that with web design you can include elements that you can’t include with print design and once you publish something it has no time line. A print page can be discarded or discontinued and you know that the information at some point is no longer valid. Once you publish information to the web is there forever and even if the information is outdated, you’ll have a tough time retrieving it. Let’s explore that:

E-mail Newsletters - Hit send, it’s gone. No getting it back. Better make sure it’s accurate and you better make sure that if your information is timely or has a deadline that it is carefully and intentionally spelled out.

Blogs - Blogs are, by nature, timely. Make a post today and this time next year it is obsolete. It’s a given. People expect that. But the blog post is still there and will always be available for viewing. If you want to correct a blog post with incorrect information in it, you’ll have to make another blog post and make sure that your readers can find it. Simply removing a blog post leaves a cache copy of the incorrect information in cyberspace.

Websites - You have a window in the beginning to catch information before it is indexed by the search engines. Once a web page is indexed, it is difficult to have the information de-released. You can change your web page, but there is still a cache copy of the old page until the search engines crawl the new page again. Even then, websites like archive.org will make the old page a treasure for centuries.

I mentioned that web publishing is four-dimensional. I’ve already talked about the time element. The third dimension is what you can do with audio, visual, and links. Programs like Flash and technologies like podcasting and video marketing allow you to do things on web pages that you can’t do in print. A rising trend is the use of spokesmodels on web pages. You can actually turn your web page into a running infomercial. This type of technology plus the element of linking between pages - and between websites - makes web page design a completely different publishing platform than print design. There is more to think about, there are more ways of doing what is possible, and your imagination is the only limitation. The offset is that with web page design, there is much more potential in terms of monetization and reputation success.

SiteProNews had a good article on web design and highly recommend its reading. But as a summary, here are some web design mistakes to stay away from:

• A completely black background with light or white text superimposed upon it. Yeah, no kidding. Can you say, “Ugly?”
• A completely black background with dark words. Uggh. Even uglier!
• Complicated, tiled images. This can increase your website’s load time and make it difficult for visitors to want to stay.
• Some designers bold every other line of text and italicize the rest. Really? Please don’t do that. It looks gaudy and is very hard to read.
• Pages consisting solely of links. OK, that’s just plain annoying.
• “Funny” content. Be careful with humor. Not everyone has your sense of humor and some things can be misconstrued.
• Overly large images. Again, this slows down your load time and if visitor’s see that it takes too long for a page to load they will go somewhere else.
• Embedded audio. This is a huge pet peeve. Don’t force people to listen to your style of music. That will drive away customers so quickly.

If you spend very long online learning a little bit about Internet marketing you will hear the phrase, “Content is King.” This is Web marketers’ way of saying that what you put on your website determines whether you are successful or not. Traditionally it has meant the words that you use to sell your products and services. But does it really mean that?

There are different kinds of content. Which type of content is right for your website depends a great deal on your goals and the type of website you are building. For most websites, a mix of content is important. But what are the different types of content available?

Webmasters need to stop thinking about content as merely words on the page. Here is a list of content categories that you should consider when developing your website:

• Sales Content - You do want to close sales, don’t you? Well, you’ll need the content that does it. Words. Someone has to write it and the content writer needs to have an understanding of what motivates people to click and pull out their credit cards.
• Informational Content - More words. Unlike sales content, information doesn’t necessarily intend to get your reader to hit the “Buy Now” button. It does inform the reader and is useful in the sale process. But it’s more about pre-sales than actual sales.
• Graphics - Every website needs graphic enhancements. The graphics on a site are usually not the primary focus, but they are important content that serves to draw attention to the words you use to convey your information and close sales.
• Meta Content - Meta tags are still important. Maybe they’re not the most important thing on you website, but it’s still content that you need to give some thought to.
• Video Content - Video content can be useful and it’s fast becoming a type of content that almost anyone can benefit from. Videos make your website more interactive and interesting.
• Audio Content - Sometimes you just want people to listen. While not quite as active as video content, audio content can still be very powerful.
• Links - Yes, links are content too. How you link your web pages together, the anchor text you use, how you go about your link building campaigns, all of that is important and you should think hard about how you want your links to add up.
• Advertising Content - If you do any off-site advertising such pay per click or banner advertising on like sites then your ad content is very important.
• Other Content - Sometimes, digital information like e-books, .pdf files, RSS feeds, and other technologies can seem like unnecessary distractions, but they’re really not. It is important to think about how all of these content types can work together to make your internet marketing more effective. Even social networking content is a category you should consider when building your website. How will you use the networks, RSS feeds, etc. to drive traffic to your site. Leave no question unasked about content.

Whether you are writing a website or a print brochure, chances are you’re in need of graphics as well as copywriting. But could you live without one or the other?

It’s important to put things into their proper perspective. Know what the elements are capable of and how to make them work most effectively to meet your needs. Words sell. That’s what you need to know about copywriting. Graphics enhance. But what does that mean?

Try building a website without words. Could you just throw up a photo and expect to draw in customers? Would a photo sell your products alone? It could be the best photo in the world, but chances are no one is going to buy your product just on a photo and no sales copy. Whether it appears on a website, a blog, or in a print catalog, no one wants to look at a photo. They want to be sold on the benefits.

Words sell the benefits. Always have. Always will. You must infuse real solid benefits into your writing and enhance the sales content with the best graphics.

Graphics are important. Just because the words sell doesn’t mean you can’t use graphics. Sometimes, a properly placed graphic can get you more sales than your content alone would get. But graphics alone will likely not get you any sales whereas copywriting alone at least has the potential to close some. The bottom line is, both copywriting and graphics are important and you need to teach them how to work together to increase your sales, your ROI, and your overall marketing performance.

While many business owners relish the adventure of graphic design and finding their perfect logo, not everyone is that thrilled. If you find that graphic design is one of those things you just keep hanging back on . . . it´s time.

Graphic design can be a frustrating process, particularly if you aren´t sure of exactly what you want out of it. That´s why it´s a good idea to sit down and brainstorm ahead of time. A few questions to ask yourself:

What feeling do you want your logo to convey? Energy, relaxation, security, etc. are all great feelings for a logo.

Do you have company colors? If not, which colors go best with the answer to the first question?

Where will your logo go? If you are planning on putting it outside your store, you will want something that translates well into large sizes.

Which elements do you want to incorporate? Maybe you know you want a horse in there . . . or a specific shape or figure, write it down.

Once you have all your ideas out, go talk to a graphic designer. They´ll appreciate your having thought things through a bit and can come up with several designs based on your specifications.

Your logo is the most important graphic design work you´ll ever have done. It´s something that will help brand your business and it is absolutely vital that you have one. So, stop delaying and go out there and do it. Even if you´ve been putting it off.

Your logo is probably the most important graphic design that you´ll ever have done. Your logo represents your business and needs to give a great first impression. Make sure you design it carefully and choose a graphic design company that will work with you to create the perfect logo for your business.

Graphic design companies are not all the same and you need to make sure that you find one you can actually work with and that will listen to you. This is very important since you know the point and mission of your business better than anyone and will need to convey this to the graphic designer.

Remember that your logo will end up representing your business for years to come. It´s a branding symbol and it will be pretty hard to change your logo later on, so the graphic design needs to be timeless. Or at the very least work for a decade or so! Plan your logo carefully, get second opinions and make sure you are satisfied with the results.

A great logo will jump out at people and stick in their mind like one of those songs that never gets shaken. That way you´ll be remembered and when they need your products or services, you´ll be the first person they think of. Great graphic design really does work, so make sure this is one thing you don´t skimp on.

It´s important when planning the graphic design for your printed materials to keep them unique so they stand out. Often, people will collect quite a number of brochures, fliers, business cards and other printed material and you really don´t want to blend into the rest. However, there are a few basic graphic design tips to follow in order to make your fliers and brochures easily readable.

Graphic Design for Print

White space. It´s a good idea to let the eye rest between paragraphs, but you should also have some blank space around photos and in the margins. Think of this as a frame for the text.

Stick to standard sizes. While a business card that is larger than normal might catch people´s attention, it will be more difficult for them to store it since a large business card won´t fit into regular card holders. The same goes for anything else, you want it to be easy to file and save for later.

Use captions. Letting people know exactly what they are looking at in photos or images will make your graphic design easier to understand.

Be consistent. Using the same colors and graphic design elements can keep all your print materials cohesive and will help to promote your brand.

Graphic design doesn´t have to be super flashy and the point is not to cram everything about your business into as small a space as possible. Give the relevant points in an easy to look at format and make sure you offer plenty of white space to rest the eyes.

It´s very easy to get caught up in the whole idea of graphic design and spend a fortune on it. While that might help you get the best logo out there and choose the perfect colors, it will also leave you broke if you aren´t careful. Sometimes, the graphic design becomes the focus of a small business, but don´t forget that your image is NOT everything.

Yes, graphic design is good and it helps to have a great logo. But, if you focus only on designing your business cards just so, and forget about the marketing side of things or the customer service part of your business, you won´t be successful . . . even with the most gorgeous logo around.

The point here is to spread yourself out a bit. Running your own business is like juggling, you have to be able to keep all the balls up in the air and that is not always easy! Graphic design is important, but it isn´t all you should pay attention to in your business! Aim to spend some time and money on each area of marketing, including ads, trade shows, a website, etc. Each of these will require your logo, so this is something to have done, but don´t waste too much time designing business cards and banners when you could be out there making sales!

Most people think graphic design is highly overrated. Anyone can throw together a simple three-way brochure on Publisher or any similar program. You can even do your own logo if you´ve played around with Photoshop . . . right?

Wrong.

While you can definitely do your own brochures, there´s more to graphic design than dragging and dropping photos in your text areas. So, you can do your own work, but there is a reason that people go to school to learn graphic design! A good graphic designer should be able to make your brochures come to life and grab the reader, making them want to buy from you. The copywriting is a large part of this obviously, but when it comes down to it, people just pay more attention to images than they do text.

If you have been letting someone inexperienced do your graphic design, it might be time to check out what a proper graphic designer can do for you. You might be pleasantly surprised with the results that your professionally designed brochures bring in. The right dynamics are important though, so make sure that you spend time researching your options for graphic design before jumping into a deal with the first designer you meet. Take a look at the work done by several companies and get quotes to help you make your decision. Try it for one element of your business promotion and then, if all goes well, keep using the same company for all your graphic design needs.