Pointers When Enlisting Graphic Design Services

In enlisting graphic design services for the development your marketing materials, it is not enough that you have a great product selection in front of you. Just like in any sales scenario, you need to know what it is that you need exactly, to be able to get the most value out of your money.

Here are important notes when hiring a graphic design agency to deliver the “goods,” say, a new logo, or a website re-design.

Know exactly what you already have and what you need. It is wise not to expect a graphic design agency to know the full range of your communication needs. So before talking to an agency, discuss first within your organization what the particular marketing goals are. These should be aligned with overall company vision and goals for the year, then broken down into particular objectives, and when you want each of these accomplished. Then, check what materials you already have, and whether some of these simply need to be updated. Only then can you brainstorm with an agency what else can be developed to meet each goal.

Compose a written contract for every job order, and have it signed. Some companies forego this process, especially when they are dealing with add-ons. For example, they just sought a design for a custom marketing material for an event, but realized the company brochure need to be updated. To avoid confusion, every job order should have a carefully written description, one that includes the definite timeline and the fee, among other details. Then, it should be duly signed by the agency representative.

Designate a single point of contact for the company. There have been too many horror stories of a simple task taking twice or thrice as long to complete because a lot of voices seek to be heard. It confuses the designer, and diffuses accountability when the final output is not up to par with expectations. On the other hand, having a single point of contact – most preferably someone from the corporate communications who is conversant in visual communications – ensures that requests adhere to the company’s guidelines, and at the same time understood well by a graphic design services provider from outside the company.

Have an efficient approval system. Whatever material you intend to release, your timeline should include a maximum of three draft revisions, otherwise it means someone from your party or the agency’s is doing a bad job at understanding the task at hand. Ask for mock-ups all the time before giving the last approval. The process should reach your top company executives only in this final stage.

Templates versus Designers

In a DIY world, can a graphic design firm give more than a point-and-click site? Technology has given the novice the opportunity to develop his own logos and business cards, leaving us to wonder if graphic design is a dying art. On the contrary, graphic design is now a revolution of form and function.

Roger Shepherd, a member of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), recently commented, “…effective design comes from the union of physical experience, collective memory, and common sense, writing about and reading about anything meaningful keeps us from losing "our plot. Our story line."

His comment defines our need for more than just an image or line of text; design is the collaboration of text and image to create a sustainable message for the viewer. A graphic design firm will fuse technology with aesthetics to stand out from the crowd in a very personal way. Using all the tools available to them, along with artistic vision, designers offer more than color and font choices – they offer vision.

Creating a logo should not be limited by the technology; quite the opposite. The vision should force technology to stand up and take notice. The graphic design firm goes further to bring that vision to all communique including print, apparel and web. The designer brings talent to the table, an immeasurable asset.

That asset becomes a branding experience that is consistent and defines a company to the world. This visual image is as important as any corporate asset and should be valued as highly. Professional designers understand color theory – what will excite or calm the viewer. Designers are artists who absorb the nuances of imagery and text every day – bringing their skills to levels that cannot be replicated by machines. They work in an ever-evolving field that allows them to reach beyond the scope of ordinary advertising. They accommodate the technology to their concept to offer clients fresh ideas

The templates offered on the web have a place for many businesses and organizations. They offer the ability to quickly create a banner for a furniture sale or brochure for a sports team at low costs. Templates are a welcome technological advance but should never be confused with the creative edge that a graphic design firm can offer.

Graphic Design Services For Direct Mail

Graphic Design New York companies can have a profound effect on your marketing and sales. One of the areas where this can be seen is with sales literature that is used in a direct marketing campaign. There are several ways to create a direct marketing campaign, but for local services in New York it is often done offline. This means hard copy sales literature that is distributed directly into the hands of the prospective customer.

How successful this marketing will be is dependent upon the content and style of the literature. Whether this literature comes in the mail or is hand delivered to the prospective customer, it takes more than a well written advertisement to get a sale. You may be able to write a great advertisement, but the literature must be able to catch the eye of the recipient. Without getting their attention, they will likely not read anything.

This is where the services of a good graphic design New York company can help you. They not only have skills with creating images but also know what type of graphics are more effective than others. They will be able to design graphics that will complement your company and the product that you are offering. They can create eye catching images that will entice the recipient into reading your advertising.

Graphics do not end with the initial images that capture a person's attention but can be integrated into the text of the advertisement. This creates more curiosity and a desire to read further into the text of the sales literature.

Not only will your literature have visual appeal but will also look professional. Literature done with the services of a good Graphic Design New York company can make your business look much larger that it is. It will appear as if your company has its own graphic arts department.

The same graphic design company that can help you enhance your sales literature can also help design a company logo. It is amazing how many businesses have no logo associated withe their business. A logo can be created and placed on all of your sales literature. For a local company here in New York, a flyer with your logo can be associated with the sign on the front of your business. When people cannot remember the particulars of the written word, they will remember the image of the logo when they see it again.