“A truly passionate graphic designer will always strive to push outside of their comfort zone, to grow and learn constantly. Designers are driven by curiosity, which they use to constantly adapt to the ever-changing trends and challenges that spring up in the creative industry. You can almost always find a designer creating, reading, or discussing their work amongst their peers. For us, it’s a way of life and a way of seeing. I believe that is most important quality in a designer or any creative. If you have the passion, you will find a way to be successful with it.”
– Chris Danner, Graphic Designer at Printing Solutions
BONUS: Help You Strategize
A good graphic designer should be able to design with a strategy in mind, and often customers will seek out someone whose designs get results. For Printing Solutions, this is most common among our direct mail clients.
“We have a lot of people asking us to do the same thing: ‘Help us rebrand,’ or ‘Identify what needs to be on the front,’ or ‘How do I get people to look at my piece?’” says Kristyn Lechwar, Printing Solutions’ Director of Marketing. “‘How can I attract somebody without them throwing it in the trash?’”
With direct mail especially, design is a crucial part of how well your campaign performs, so it’s important that any designer you choose is also abreast of the latest trends in design. Google and Microsoft are two companies that opted for a more minimalistic design over the past year, and many companies are choosing to follow right on their heels.
“It’s not really about making your logo and company brand totally insane so that you stick out,” Kristyn says. “It’s much more about getting your point across and not having to do so many things to make that point. It’s very clean, very simple.”
Update Your Look
For some companies, that recommended design strategy may include a complete brand refresh. Printing Solutions recently did a brand update for a client whose business had held the same look for more than 20 years.
“So many years ago it was all about the ‘Boom, Pow,’ and the craziness,” Kristyn says. “We changed some colors around, we brought out colors that they had in their logo but were just not prominent, and we switched them and kind of just made things look a little bit more simplistic.”
For Brown and Associates, the client whose brand we redesigned, the update had a dramatic impact.
“The design experience was easy, quick and to the point,” says Malinda Brown, co-owner of Brown and Associates. “The ‘fresher look’ was just what our company needed with our new office space and new address.”
But 20 years is a long time to wait between updates to your printed materials. At Printing Solutions, we usually recommend that our clients update their design once every year or so to keep things fresh.
“You don’t have to redo your large format printing as long as your company doesn’t change,” Kristyn says. “But in terms of your brochures and flyers and business cards, those things should be updated based on the pace of your company. If you’re heading more in that forwards direction, you can spend more on marketing material. And obviously the more money you spend, the cooler the graphics and print materials we can do for you.”
Start From Scratch
While most companies we work with already have a design in place for the majority of their printed materials, sometimes our designers get the chance to create something completely from scratch.
“It is somewhat rare that clients send us print-ready artwork for large format,” Kristyn says. “We usually have to create it because most companies’ logos don’t always work as a giant banner. They have to have a tagline; they have to have an actual design created for a banner.”
This large format design should reflect your existing brand, using the same logos, colors, and other design elements as the rest of your printed materials. Our graphic designers will assess your current brand to design a large format banner that is cohesive with your company’s look.
Are you looking to freshen up your company’s look? Printing Solutions may be just the printer for you. From direct mail postcards to business cards to large format banners and more, we have all of your freshening-up needs covered.
Need A Graphic Designer?
To learn more about our services or to request an estimate, give us a call at 480-596-6300.