Graphics design has become part and
parcel of every organization:it is all around us. It gives a sence of touch and
feel to brands and adverts. It is what delivers a distinct message, evokes the right emotion and moves individuals to
action. From business cards, letterheads, logos, brochures flyers etc graphic design comes out
as is the professional face of any organization. From this we can clearly see the role
graphics design in marketing our products and services.
So why do market directors need graphic
designers/ artists?
According to Amanda Helber, a designer
and business expert market directors
need graphic designers for the following reasons
An Outside Perspective
Designers, especially outside contractors, can provide a
helpful second opinion as well as the perspective of an outside observer.
Sometimes it can be hard to see the forest through the trees and, depending on
the size of the office, it may be that a marketing manager doesn’t have another
creative person to bounce ideas off of.
A Brand Guardian
A designer, a good designer, is a brand guardian. Often,
marketing managers fear using outside contractors for design. They worry that
they will have to fight to keep their brand integrity intact in the face of a
designer who will try to take over. Or that a designer will push for their own
vision. As designers we are brand guardians, not brand destroyers. We help to
strengthen and tighten brands but we will not change them (unless you ask). In
fact, we help to make your image more consistent instead of less.
An Artist
Marketing is a creative field. It is a tough discipline and
you are often asked to be a designer as well as strategize, plan and write your
marketing directives. A trained designer is an artist who can leverage that
training to add form and clarity to the messages that you so painstakingly
craft.
An Image Enhancer
You will look good. This is probably the most compelling
reason to hire a designer. Good design promotes brand recognition, clear
advertising and it enhances memory.
So does it mean that graphic designers
too need marketing skills? In my opinion yes simply because if a graphic designer
does not understand a client’s ideas then it means he/she cannot express the
very ideas in a way that the client want them presented meaning no message will
be sent to the consumers. And following are other reasons from other designers;
Design for the sake of "art"
or winning awards doesn't help the client. Graphic design is only successful if
it communicates the correct message instantly and helps to attract attention,
create reach and ultimately to sell the product.
No marketing, no focus. Sure, having the creative freedom to
do whatever you want sounds like nirvana, but to me that kind of latitude is
stifling. I find that I have the hardest time coming up with good concepts when
there is not enough information about the product, service or final objectives.
The role of the graphic designer is to take the marketing objectives and
translate them into something visceral for their selected audience. Without
focus, the possibilities are just too vast and it is easy to get off-track. Not
to mention, it makes the concepting time too long and painful.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you
should. Directing your client is another part
of the designer's many responsibilities. A client may have great big budget to
do everything under the sun, or barely enough to get started. Knowing what
their objectives are and pinpointing the project budget to the appropriate
mediums (logo design, direct mail, banner ads), will ultimately lead to better
marketing success. Having the ability to explain that moving their budget
dollars into a website promotion, versus a newspaper campaign has a lot to do
with knowing how marketing works. And your client will appreciate that.
Show your client just how informed you
are. By
deeply understanding how your client's product or service works and what it's
audience's perception is, you will be much more in tune with what your design
work's role will be. Maybe their audience is well-connected in social media, or
maybe they are not technologically savvy at all. Being able to put yourself in
the audience's shoes makes for better and more effective personal
communication. And, while you're in the presentation meeting, you can speak
intelligently about why you chose the creative directions you did, and defend
them if needed.
Give it a reason to live. If it is art for art's sake, then it
is just that – art. When it is a well thought out, focused piece of
communication that also happens to be beautiful, then it is great design.
Remember, smart marketing and great design are not mutually exclusive. No need
to get a bigger hat rack.
All that stuff in the creative brief –
understand it. Over the years I've worked with a
handful of designers that would get all worked up about the gobbledy-gook
market-speak that would come out of client meetings. Now granted, the suits
often get pretty carried away with demographics, psychographics, bar charts,
spreadsheets and the like, but in there are some nuggets of very valuable
information for the creative folks to work with. Without it, the work will
likely be off-track, uninspired or just plain ineffective for the target
market. But the important part of this equation is, statistics don't sell
products, people sell products.There is still more this..but then, What is your opinion?
Logo Designer
July 19, 2012 at 5:52 AM
Nice to see your blog here. I love to do graphics designing as it increases my creativity and it is also a great career option to choose.
design a logo
Unknown
August 5, 2012 at 2:31 AM
I found your website perfect for my needs. It contains wonderful and helpful posts.
design a business card