Next time you’re walking through your city centre, or you’re scrolling online, pay attention to how many different graphics you see. Look for shop signs, posters, marketing material – anything that a business has put up to draw your attention. Chances are, you’ll see a lot more than you expect.
That’s because graphic design is everywhere, and it often registers subconsciously to us. It’s a lot more than just making images look nice, it’s a way for businesses to communicate with their audience along with their marketing messages.
Graphics are used along every aspect of the customer journey to eventually persuade them to take action, which is why they’re so important.
To help you achieve this, we’re going to share 5 different ways that you can use graphic design in your business to improve your message to your audience. Read on to find out more!
Why graphic design is so important for businesses
Graphic design is more than just making images look nice; it’s about sending a clear message and keeping consistent with your branding. You’ll notice that businesses use specific colours and styles in their graphics to match their branding style – it’s not a coincidence, it’s utilising graphic design to make their brand, and subsequently their business, more recognisable to you.
A common misunderstanding is that graphic design is just artwork. As experts in graphic design, we’re here to tell you that it absolutely is not just artwork. It’s a way for you to invoke emotion with your marketing to catch your audience’s attention, and ultimately, aim to persuade them to take action.
Real-world examples of the power of graphic design
Some of the best brands in the world are the ones that we recognise the best. Below is a list of some companies – how many of them would you recognise just from their branding?
This all comes down to graphic design. From the infamous tick to the apple with a bite out of it, these were all created by graphic designers with the goal of designing something recognisable.
Now, take a look at their marketing material. You’ll notice how it’s consistent with their core theme, and how it’s all recognisable as their brand. This is the power of graphic design.
5 ways to utilise graphic design for your business
Knowing the importance of graphic design is the first hurdle; the second is knowing how to utilise it for your business. At Weave Studios, we’ve supported many businesses with their graphic design needs and we’re always looking for the next ones to support, so we know what matters when it comes to graphic design. We want to share some valuable nuggets of information to help you succeed in your efforts.
Here are 5 ways to utilise graphic design for your business.
1) Social media
Businesses need to be on social media in today’s age, but standing out from others isn’t always easy. That’s where graphic design can help.
If you include a graphic in your post, your audience’s eyes are naturally going to navigate towards this first. If your image is eye-catching and intrigues your audience, they’ll then read your post (or caption).
A few ways that you can grab their attention with graphic design are:
- Including a small quote that’s elusive, but informative, and intrigues your reader to want to learn more
- Show something interesting that you’re working on and add context to your post
- Create an image that shares the message you want to share and keep it light and easy to read.
For inspiration, take a look online at other businesses that you feel are doing well. You’ll see a wide variety of ways to utilise graphic design on social media to guide your efforts.
2) Make your website stand out
Did you know that the human eye is naturally drawn toward images and graphics?
If your website is mainly text-based, your audience is more likely to skim over your content. However, if you include a variety of graphics, you’re more likely to keep them engaged and share the key messages that you want them to take away.
Try adding some images onto your web pages of you and your team or the things you’re working on (where you can share these), or make key messages stand out in a different format. Whatever you want your audience to gravitate towards, use graphics in this area.
We’re experts in creating websites. See how we can help you with our Website Packages.
3) Make your printed media stay in your audience’s hand longer
If you use printed marketing materials (such as leaflets, business cards, etc), your audience will take one look and decide whether to keep reading or get rid. Unfortunately, it’s that simple.
If you include graphics to catch their eye, you’ll buy yourself a few more seconds of their attention which you can use to persuade them to keep reading through your content. Without the use of graphics, if your headline doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll scroll on by.
To learn more about printed media, take a look at our Print Services.
4) Make your content easier to read
It doesn’t matter what type of content you create; if there are words, your audience is likely to skim read unless they’re hooked in.
However, even if they are hooked, you’ve got to keep them focused on what you’re sharing. This is where graphic design comes into play.
You can include graphics to highlight key information in your content and keep your audience engaged throughout, and even take away the bits of information you want them to remember more easily.
A few ways of doing this are:
- Including graphs to highlight statistics
- Putting key sentences or quotes into a graphic
- Using emojis to highlight key information
- Adding context by showing images of what you’re talking about
Be careful not to add too many graphics as it can come across as stuffy but be generous to make your content read well and be easier to digest. Just think – does your content look too word/graphic-heavy, or do you have the right balance?
Graphic design doesn’t need to cost the earth or all of your time – let us help.
5) Consistency across all marketing channels
Your business is recognised for its brand, and therefore consistency is crucial for being recognised across all platforms. Inconsistency can be off-putting and can raise concerns for some potential customers, so being consistent is crucial.
Here are some areas to consider so that you’re consistent across the board:
- Website
- Social media channels
- External digital channels (profiles on other websites, press releases, etc)
- Thumbnails
- Printed media (such as signs, leaflets, booklets, etc)
- Video
The easiest way to think about it is by asking yourself this question – what relates to your business, and is it consistent with your core branding style?
How to use professional graphic designers to help your business
Anybody can create graphics themselves, so why should you look into hiring a team of professionals?
Here are a few reasons:
- Years of experience: When you hire a team of professionals, you’ll get their years of expertise and skillsets focused on your business.
- Advice: Your business is your baby after all. Instead of making a guess, why not ask the experts for their thoughts on your idea? They’ll be able to share their thoughts from experience to help you make an informed decision.
What to do next
Graphic design includes so many different factors that it can be hard to know where to get started.
Fortunately, you don’t need to worry.
We have years of experience in graphic design that our clients love. From simple graphic design to full rebrands, we’ve supported clients through the process and equipped them with plenty of graphics to help them grab their audience’s attention. We’d love to learn about your business and see how we can help you. For more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.