Since Photoshop was pioneered in the early 90’s and evolved into what we know today, graphic design has absolutely hit the mainstream. Graphic design was much more analog up until the Computer Revolution, but the principals have always been applicable to business. This couldn’t be more true nowadays, as pretty much anyone with a computer that wants access to Photoshop or other similar design software is only a few clicks away.
With such widespread access to software and training the need for outsourcing graphic design work is narrowing. Small businesses can thrive by doing their own design in various ways, and can save money while doing it!
Clothing Orders for Employees
If you’re looking to boost your company’s presence and make your employees happier, it’s a great idea to print shirts with company imagery and jargon. This is a great incentive for employees! It’s also fantastic advertising when done well.
If your business niche allots for creating shirt designs that employees will be excited to wear, having the ability to design promotional clothing is mutually beneficial and saves costs.
Employees will be happy to wear articles of clothing that are designed well, in terms of both imagery and comfort. This can also spark conversations about the business on the design and result in effective organic marketing by word of mouth.
Promotional Fliers and Business Cards
Company events whether public or private require promotion. And visually appealing fliers help attendance just by boosting overall interest! Think about it: when events are hyped and ‘painted’ on relevant walls, they are talked about more. If the target audience can’t see the information, they won’t converse or attend. This is why affective design of fliers is paramount.
Also, interesting and unique business cards are a must if you want them to make a mark in the digital world we live in. Whether this equates to old-school wallet sized business cards or something more interactive the need is still relevant. It’s crucial to leave your mark when the time comes!
Logos and Communication for Businesses
Everyone recognizes the prolific Nike swoosh. It has to be one of the most easily identifiable logos of all time. But it’s surprising to learn that the original logo was purchased for only $35, because honestly it’s incredibly simple. So simple in fact, that anyone with basic design skills could come up with something similar.
That being said, clarity in design is vastly important when choosing the image that represents a brand or small business. The principals of an effective logo design are spelled out by a Just Creative article should be:
-Simple
-Memorable
-Timeless
-Versatile
-Appropriate
Graphic Design Skills Are Evergreen and Widespread
The principles of design segue into a multitude of businesses. Learning graphic design skills is a gateway to obtaining additional small business skills that fall under a large umbrella.
You can achieve tasks ranging from to creating custom office wallpaper to designing creating, inviting, and motivational artwork for the walls of a workspace. Also, you don’t have to outsource that work when graphic design skills are in-house.
Furthermore, design skills are evergreen for business because they transfer over to other arenas relevant to business tasks.
For example, if you can design an image or graphic, these fundamentals will help you design templates for HTML emails, company newsletters, websites, and wherever your creativity can take you.
Graphic Design Training Outside of College
Personally, I’ve always been interested in graphic design and building up design skills. I find it to be as entertaining as it is applicable and it saves me money in various ways. But I’ve never studied photography, graphic design, or any similar discipline in college. I used two unique platforms to gain the design skills I have!
I am very adamant about using the platform Lynda for a lot of educational purposes, because it offers courses in design, web dev, and business without the huge costs of college. The courses are extremely thorough and dense and I always find them to have real world applications.
I’m also a huge fan of AGI (American Graphics Institute) courses because they are another refined method of bypassing college in order to gain these type of skills. I’m particularly interested in their Photoshop classes because I want to continue my photo editing and design work skills without returning to a University setting. I also want to do this from the comfort of my couch, on my own time.
Beyond these methods, I’ve also turned to friends with intricate graphic design knowledge for advice. They have always been happy to address specific questions I have and do so without a price tag–it’s truly a resourceful ‘friend discount’ type of situation.
All in all, no matter how you learn design skills, they’ll be useful for almost all small businesses. You’ll save money doing design work yourself, and you’ll likely even have a good time learning this new relevant skillset!
