Pygmalion Studios

Every Fortune 500 company uses graphic design to create and increase brand awareness and to advertise its products and services. Every piece of customer-facing material, and most internal material, is produced by either in-house or agency designers, using a consistent style that connects to the corporate brand. The result is a “look and feel” that connects customers to the company, creates loyalty, and drives return business. Big business doesn’t use design because it has money to waste; big business uses design because it is good for business.

“That’s fine for big business, but I’m a small business — I can’t afford agency rates and I sure can’t have an in-house design department.”

Small business owners must make strategic decisions regarding their design needs. Most small businesses don’t have the marketing budget of big business, and most small businesses don’t need a huge marketing budget anyways. But remember the old saw; “It takes money to make money.” I’ll discuss several ways to make your design dollars work more effectively.

Contests and Speculative Work

Some business owners, faced with a need for design and a small budget, decide to use a contest or other mechanism to have multiple designers submit ideas for a project. This is called speculative (or spec) work. On the surface, spec work sounds like a great idea, but it is often a failure for the business owner. Why, you ask? Professional design organizations advise their members against spec work, so the only submissions you’ll receive will be from inexperienced or desperate individuals. In addition, you’re asking several people to build a bridge for you, but not showing any of them the chasm it must cross or discussing what equipment you’ll be driving on the bridge. A contest will not produce a well-researched design that appeals to your particular customers.

Employees, Friends and Students

All three of the above can probably help your business in meeting your design needs, but maybe not in the way that you would expect. As mentioned above, most small businesses don’t have the budget or need for an in-house design team, so your employees probably don’t have the experience or software needed to provide design solutions. Programs like Microsoft Office are powerful and very good at fulfilling their given roles (word processing, presentations, etc.), but they are not design programs and will not produce professional results, even in the hands of a highly skilled employee. However, Office and other programs can use templates to interact with professionally designed materials, and your employees can use these templates to create material that still has your brand and your identity.

You might have a friend who went to art school, or someone at the office has a son or daughter who is “really good at computers.” When deciding to use a friend or relative to produce design work for your company, even if the individual has all the skills and experience needed, you will need to ask yourself if the friendship or family relationship will survive a process that often involves intense deliberation, revision, and sometimes simply throwing away an idea because it’s not working. Friends that you trust may be the best people to have as sounding boards and a test market for new designs (if they fit your customer profile), but it will be up to you to decide if they will be the best people for you to work with. Also, if they are still in school, or just recently graduated, keep the following points in mind.

Design students can be an excellent resource for small business owners, but the scope of work and desired end result should be kept in mind. Also, design is a broad subject with many disciplines. Your cousin may be going to design school, but interior design or interactive design students may be of limited assistance in getting a brochure designed and printed. Keep in mind the level of experience of the student as well. If you had a niece in premed school, and you were sick, you might rate her advice a little higher than someone with no medical training, but you’re not going to have her operate on your kidney “just so she’ll have some experience.” With a design student, creating new material based on an existing style guide might be a beneficial experience for both you and the student; however, redesigning your identity might be more than either one of you wants to take on. Also, both print and web design come with intricacies that may not be obvious to a student — it is possible to design something on the computer that is completely unprintable because of technological limitations, and it is possible to create a website that looks perfect on one type of computer, with one type of software, but will be incompatible with other computers and software (like the computers and software your customers are using). It is traditional that recent graduates do what is called “production work” at their first job or two — like a resident doctor who is advised by more experienced doctors, a new graphic designer does finishing work, supervised by a more experienced graphic designer, while learning the pitfalls of the profession.

Production Work

This is what a lot of print shops would consider “typesetting” or “composition,” and they may call it by those names. Most printers, whether digital or traditional, will have one or more people on staff to do what is called prepress and production work — getting submitted files ready to be printed and producing projects at the request of clients. They may be newer designers or seasoned professionals who have found their niche, or they may just be doing the job because “they know computers.” Some larger, higher-end print shops might have experienced graphic designers on-staff as well, to oversee the production work and be available for consultation on more involved projects. Some independent designers and design boutiques will offer production services. The key component of every design is the idea, and for production work that is something you will provide. Unlike the consultative nature of graphic design, production work involves the implementation of an already provided idea, from provided materials. Because of this, it costs less than graphic design, but production work rarely, if ever, produces a unique or startling result.

Independent Designers

Often called “freelance” designers, these are graphic designers that you hire for a specific project. Whether you are interested in introducing a new product or service, expanding your business to a new customer base, or extending or redefining your brand and identity, an independent graphic designer consults with you to produce the most effective result for your business need. This isn’t the best solution for everyday needs; using a student, opting for production work, or having a designer on retainer may be better for recurring or minor needs. Hiring an independent designer is best for a specific project where you need someone to approach your business with a fresh set of ideas, research the customers you are trying to reach, and create a connection between those customers and your business.

Retaining a Designer

Say you have a newsletter that you publish every quarter. It’s an involved design that you want to use to communicate your brand message, and it’s going to press, so everything needs to be perfect, every time. Or say that you have a website. You like the design of the website, but you want to rotate out sections as you market new products and services. Both of these situations are ideal for hiring a designer on retainer. You may pay that designer a fixed rate at regular intervals, and you receive guaranteed service and support from someone you know understands your needs and your business. This can be very beneficial to you, for not only are you able to project your expenses, but you can also often receive discounted rates, since the designer is able to plan for your needs on a defined schedule. Remember that this works best for recurring projects with a well-defined scope — don’t expect your retainer for the newsletter to cover a logo redesign, a project that entails a large amount of research and legal work.

 
Making a Decision

Every small business has different needs, and your needs may change with time. I hope that this article has given you insight into the various options available for your design needs. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment here or contact me directly.

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