You know what they say… you only have one chance to make a first impression. However it is you first touch base with a potential customer…  via your website, logo in an email signature, a letterbox drop or advert…. the truth is these customers will judge a business in just a few seconds based on visual appeal alone. High-quality graphic design gives businesses credibility—and that’s priceless. No matter how great a product or service, with poor design, it’s unlikely anyone will stick around long enough to find out.

Small business owners typically run on limited resources. If asked they will all say they want a clever logo, impressive and functional website with an equally effective suite of marketing collateral. The problem is they’re not always willing to pay a professional … this may be because they perceive it to be too expensive, or they simply can not navigate their way to find a designer that suit them.

The design responsibility then, too often, falls onto the plate of an employee without adequate training—usually a marketing assistant who wears many hats—to try their hand at DIY design. Sadly, the business owner is probably not going to be happy with the results.

Solid graphic design provides branding consistency across every visual, customer-facing aspect of a business. This way, customers have the same experience visiting a company’s website as they do reading its brochure… it helps the business become recognisable, memorable and trustworthy.

When businesses don’t take graphic design seriously in the beginning, they will more than likely need to go through a design overhaul at some stage – perhaps even more that once. Paying a reasonable price for good graphic design will achieve longevity – one time is no more expensive than pennies for substandard design multiple times. Not to mention, the endless design overhauls can be damaging to a brand and companies reputation.

As David Ogilvy’s said: “Pay people peanuts and you get monkeys.”