I recently worked with Judy Brandt Design who created the branding and banner ads for the recent Grassroots Internet Strategy Websites Rock Festival.
In my sales and marketing career over the last 16 years I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of great designers and working with Judy reminded me what a difference a great design, and working with a great designer, makes.
If you’ve ever worked with a bad designer, I’m sure you immediately know what I mean.
To see some examples of bad design, scroll through this article (actually it’s pretty funny too).
Worst Websites of 2010: The Contenders.
Where your website is concerned, a great looking design is a critical factor in your online success.
- Your website needs a good, clean design that portrays the right image.
- Having easy to use, simple navigation and clear layout will encourage people to visit your website regularly, and also maximise the opportunities for them to respond to your Call to Action.
- Make sure your web copy is easy to read: avoid using small fonts or dark background colours.
- It should be fast to load, without any music or videos that play automatically.
- And personally, if I see any yellow highlighted text I’m straight out of there!
When selecting a designer to work with, always ask for samples of their work, to get a first hand view of the design quality and creativity.
Your designer will need basic information like:
- What you need designed; brochure, flyer, banner ad, website, business card etc
- The colours of your logo
- The size of the item they are designing
- The file type the final document should be supplied as
- How much budget you have
- What kind of timeframe you expect the design to be ready in.
Along with this basic information, the more detail you can provide about your brand and marketing objectives, the easier it is for a great designer to create a design that makes you go “wow”!.
Discuss questions like:
- What your business does, your best qualities, and your future plans
- What is the unique idea that separates your business from others
- Which part of your business gets the best results
- Which audience your product or service is targeted to
- How your target market typically discovers your brand (by personal networking, websites, printed materials, advertising, conferences, etc.)
- How you would like to be perceived, and how you are perceived now
- The markets you would like to move into.
The designer can also ask for:
- Samples of designs that you like
- Information about your existing marketing programs, and how successful they are.
As the client, you can expect the Designer to:
- Listen to you to get an accurate perception of your needs
- Give you a proposal for the project including the estimated costs, plus the cost of additional work and changes, if required.
- Be responsive to your required timeframes and maintain open lines of communication.
And when you would like changes made to a draft design, be as specific as you can.
Don’t let your requirements get lost in translation! You can even create a mock up or show examples of another design to show exactly what you mean.
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
Please connect at the links below.
