#1 Graphic Design Mistake Small Businesses Make
We work almost exclusively with small business in Carroll County, Maryland. Although our reach currently extends to Baltimore County, MD and Howard County, MD, we are seeing a graphic design trend in our area of Hampstead and Westminster, specific to our small and local area businesses.
Small Business Graphic Design
Most small businesses start out with a logo, website, social media graphics, business cards, and signage (Or something along those lines). Those are your basic fundamental building blocks to branding and awareness, Lately we’ve been helping several businesses with their brand image, focusing on logos. What we’ve noticed with almost every single case study is that there is a desire to include many graphics in their logo, and not just that, but very literal and industry specific imagery.
Busy, Busy, Busy
A logo that contains too much information can become busy and confusing. Logos should tell strangers to your businesses who you are and what you stand for, and should be interesting enough for someone to want to learn more. What a logo should not do is tell someone your businesses life story.
Remember the phrase from high school K.I.S.S, or Keep It Simple Stupid? We can insert the word “Silly” instead, if stupid sounds too harsh. Your grade school teachers weren’t wrong, simplicity is the key. Simple design that has been well thought out can be intriguing, explanatory, and beautiful. This is what your design and brand as a whole could really be missing.
How Simple Design Works
Simple design can use color to make people feel. Color is amazing good at telling people how they should feel about you, colors can be bold, soft, feminine, exciting, and create movement.
Shape can also be a simple way to help your logo explain who you are, just changing one simple letter shape and you can create a look and image that tell people more about you, without including an entire image or item.
Font and Typography are another way to express yourself visually. Consider exploring a number of fonts that feel like your industry, whether light and feminine or bold and industrial, there is very much a font designed for every type of person and business.
How to Make it All Work
Sitting down and writing an outline of how you want your company to feel and creating a board of ideas is a great way to get started, take a look at other logos that inspire you and take note of what they use to tell their story. If you find that graphic design and branding just isn’t in your wheelhouse, and you would rather focus on growing your small business in your own way, consider talking to us about how we can help you. We’ll take the time to listen to you and create a simple logo and design that will tell a complex story.