Tag: graphic design

Alissa Moore Blog

Connecting Design to Business Strategy  

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “graphic design”? Perhaps your favorite band’s album cover or an elaborate Coca-Cola ad comes to mind? The field of design is a vast realm of concepting, creating and composing visual stories that catch the viewer’s attention. When executed flawlessly, design is thought-provoking and action-inducing – ensuring a seamless transition from aesthetic identity to message strategy. Thus, the value of strategic design cannot be understated.

How is design strategic?

To marketing professionals and graphic designers, there is a distinction between something that is simply aesthetically appealing and a piece that elevates the company’s objectives. However, design is often seen as merely an aesthetic routine – make something look pretty and it will generate interest. How many times can you remember the general appearance of an advertisement, but you can’t recall which product or service it was highlighting? Design needs to do more than just look good. It has to support the company’s offerings, messaging, goals and identity. While it’s often challenging, companies need to separate themselves from their personal preferences and focus solely on strategy and the people they’re trying to reach.

When a company emphasizes strategic design, merging creativity with business objectives, the results are astounding. A study by the Design Management Institute showed that companies who emphasize the importance of visual marketing outperformed the S&P by 211%. Transforming design into a strategic tool is essential to differentiate brands from their competitors and drive customer decision-making.

What is the process?

Incorporating business strategy into the design process can take more time, but the payoff is exponential.

  • Research: Analyzing competitors, trends, company history, touchpoints and markets is the crucial first step of any campaign. Of course, an in-depth understanding of business goals, messaging and objectives is also integral to success.
  • Create: I’ve always believed in starting with a design that’s entirely out of the box. Incorporating strategy into design doesn’t mean that it has to be boring. Go to the outer edges of your creativity – you might just stumble upon something breathtaking.
  • Simplify: A famous quote from Coco Chanel comes to mind: “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” The same concept applies to designing – peel back layers of design and strip away superfluous elements that will distract from the message. Simplicity is the secret to great visuals.
  • Test: Go beyond the standard internal approval process and test your design on potential customers to eliminate bias. Most of the time, you’ll need to reframe and test again.

When design is paramount to business strategy and intertwined in messaging, objectives and market approach, it becomes a powerful tool. Companies who learn to develop a culture that sees design as more than simply an aesthetic medium will reap powerful results.

Is it time for you to re-evaluate the use of design in your marketing strategy? Call us and let’s get started.

Ryan Hoevenaar Blog, Homepage Post

How to create compelling infographics

We live in an era dominated by powerful imagery and compelling visual content. From stunning virtual reality capabilities, to seamless animation and graphic design, we’re flooded every day with extraordinary optical creations. It’s no wonder that marketing professionals cater to such a high level of sensory appeal — 90 percent of information sent to our brains is visual and we process images 60,000 times faster than text. The power of data visualization is undisputed and is why infographics have soared in popularity over the past ten years. Infographics allow people to quickly digest information and remember it for longer than they would a normal block of text. If you want to enhance message effectiveness and boost audience engagement, keep reading to learn how to create compelling infographics.

Understand the data

Novice designers sometimes settle for simply understanding the “big picture” concept of the data, while failing to truly grasp the building blocks of information they’re highlighting. You need to have an in-depth knowledge of the narrative in order to design an effective infographic. If there is something in the content that you don’t understand, ask the client what it means. It’s far better to ask too many questions than to display the information incorrectly.

Research, research and research some more

Being in tune with the latest design trends is crucial to crafting a piece that feels timely and relevant. Pie charts and bar graphs simply won’t cut it anymore if you want your design to stand out. Now, even static infographics are taking a back seat to interactive, multimedia pieces that actively engage viewers. Infographic styles evolve rapidly and if you haven’t checked out the latest craze, your design could easily be perceived as out-of-date.

Know your boundaries

If you’re designing an infographic for a specific company or client, ask them if it needs to fall within their brand standards. While sticking to certain colors, fonts and graphics can feel limiting, remember that your infographic is just one piece of a matrix that makes up their entire marketing strategy. A consistent look-and-feel is paramount, especially with larger corporations. Use this opportunity to stretch your creative wings and play with other aspects like size, hierarchy and texture to make the piece unique.

Segment information

Breaking a large infographic up into smaller segments not only helps the reader to better understand the information, but it is also easier to design multiple smaller infographics rather than one big one. The size of the pieces will also depend on how the infographic will be used. Is it going to be printed or digital? Is it the first in a series of graphics?

Put numbers first

Infographics usually display at least a few numbers and percentages. Since these tend to be the focal points of the piece with the most impact, they should take precedence in hierarchy.

Don’t over-design

Cramming in superfluous design elements was a classic mistake many designers made when infographics initially gained popularity. Never forget that negative space is your ally. It gives the audience time to scan the graphic without drawing their attention to too many different elements at once and overwhelming them. A busy infographic can also detract from the message. Crisp, clean content is king in the infographic world — if the design is stunning but the audience doesn’t grasp the message, then your efforts have failed. Conveying the correct information takes precedence over “pretty design.”

 

Infographics are no longer a novelty; they’re a necessity. Master the art of creating these pieces (or hire a team who can!) to advance your objectives and have a lasting impact on your audiences.