No matter what type of business you run, graphic design is vital for any effective marketing campaign. Designing high-quality graphics doesn’t have to be costly — let’s look at five tips for creating inexpensive business graphics.
[Read more: Expert Strategies for Better Website Design]
Know your audience
Ultimately, the design you choose for your graphics isn’t about what you think looks best — it’s about what will appeal to your target audience. The entire design process will be easier if you begin with a specific audience in mind.
Start by creating a buyer persona, which is a detailed description of your customer based on the research you’ve done. This persona will include the buyer’s demographics, interests and behavioral characteristics.
Once you create a buyer persona, you can design graphics for that audience. Doing this will help you avoid endless revisions of your designs.
Use online design tools
Many small business owners have to create their own business graphics initially, which can be a problem if you have no graphic design experience. The easiest way to bridge this gap is by using affordable online design tools.
Here are some of the best tools available:
- Canva: Canva can help you create a logo, social media posts, business cards, flyers and much more. The interface is easy to use, and there are dozens of fonts, colors and a big selection of illustrations. Best of all, you can get started for free and upgrade to one of the paid plans when you’re ready.
- PicMonkey: PicMonkey is another easy and affordable graphic design tool. One of the best things about PicMonkey is the photo editing tool — you can use the editor to crop or resize your photos, add filters and even add text or graphics to the images.
- Prezi: Prezi is an excellent option for creating slide decks, especially if you don’t care for PowerPoint. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create interactive designs that will engage your audience. Business owners can get started for as little as $15 per month, which is billed annually.
Once you create a buyer persona, you can design graphics for that audience. Doing this will help you avoid endless revisions of your designs.
Choose your fonts and colors strategically
The fonts and colors you choose will greatly impact how your designs look. When picking fonts, look for a typeface that is easy to read at first glance. And you should never use more than three fonts at once. You can find fonts for free from Google.
Color is another important element of good design — the colors you use will affect how people perceive your brand. Understand what different colors mean, and think about what you’re trying to convey to your audience.
Utilize templates
If you regularly create graphics for social media, you know how time-consuming this can be. The easiest way to speed this process up is by creating templates you can re-use.
For instance, let’s say you have to create 10-20 pins for Pinterest each week. If you use Canva, you can create a folder called “Pinterest Templates,” where you have one to three templates that you use regularly.
When it’s time to create your pins, you can use the template. You may have to update the title or add a new image, but that will take less time than starting from scratch.
[Read: Small Business Social Media Trends for 2022]
Work with freelance graphic designers
In the beginning, it may make sense for you to do all of the graphic design work yourself. But as your business grows, you may want to outsource that work to freelance graphic designers.
Start by determining your budget for the project. From there, you can use a freelance marketplace like Upwork, Fiverr or 99Design to find qualified freelance designers.
Find several designers you are interested in working with, and schedule calls with them. Hopping on a call first will help you learn more about the person and how they work and will help you determine whether they’re a good fit for your project.
[Read more: How to Hire a Freelancer]
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