1. You did your own graphic design

You may feel empowered that you didn’t have to pay some graphic designer to design your brochures or logos, and perhaps even quite proud that you did it yourself, but did you really come out ahead? Not even close, my friend, because you probably wasted more money than you saved. If you’re wondering how that’s possible, the answer is simple; 99 times out of 100, your graphic design simply won’t produce results. There is a lot more that goes into effective design than designing something that appeals to you, and in this situation, a professional graphic designer knows what works and what doesn’t. Despite having taken an art class or two in college, you are not on the same level as someone who spends day in and day out working in the field.

Designing your own marketing materials not only presents an unprofessional image, it also makes it appear that you can’t afford to hire professionals to handle important aspects of your business and that damages your credibility.

2. Your graphic design looks like a clone of your competitors

When you see a Fortune 500 company in your industry come out with a killer graphic design piece, you may be tempted to emulate it. Don’t. Their design may be first-rate, but when you copy it is people will think of them instead of you when they see it, and since that competitor probably has a marketing budget that’s bigger than your annual revenue, they will get the business. Your graphic design needs to stand out, not follow the cookie cutter model that everyone else is following like a mindless bunch of lemmings. I can’t tell you how many morons have copied our website and other marketing materials, and all it’s done is drive more business to us. Your company is different than any of your competitors, so make sure you design shows that.

3. You try to make everything the most important thing

A headline is a headline. Body copy is body copy. We use bold and italic typefaces to emphasize certain words or sentences. Your design needs to utilize contrasting of sizes and weights of text, otherwise everything blends together and the reader quickly loses interest. Your information should be broken up into easily differentiated chunks so people can quickly navigate to the parts that interest them.

When you try to make every part of your graphic design the most important part, you actually end up making nothing important.

4. You use irrelevant imagery

I enjoy looking at a sexy woman as much as the next guy does, but when you’re using a picture of a bikini model in an ad for your latest software product, I’m going to seriously doubt your credibility. The same applies to pictures of babies, puppies or anything else that is intended to trigger an emotional response when it has nothing to do with the subject matter. Now, if you happen to run a carpet cleaning company and you have a picture of a cute little puppy soiling the rug, by all means, use it, but if you run a car dealership, find a more appropriate picture.

The idea of images in advertising is to get people thinking about how they will feel while enjoying the benefits of your products or services.

5. You try to cram in your life story

White space does not mean an opportunity to jam a few more sentences in. White space in your design makes it easier to read, which makes your message clearer and produces better results. If you really do need to add more information, buy a bigger ad/brochure/etc..

6. You put text over a busy photograph

Text over a photograph is difficult to read in the first place, especially if you use small text. If you insist on doing this, the photo should have lots of solid space and it should contrast sharply with the color of the text.

7. You use tiny text

Whether you’re doing it because you think it looks trendy or you’re just trying to fit as much text as possible into a given space, tiny text has become extremely common, and I want you to know that people hate it. If they can’t ready your copy, they won’t receive your message and your design is useless. You should ensure that your smallest text is always at least 8pt, or if it’s reversed (light text on a dark background) aim for at least 10-12pt.

8. You use horrible fonts

Many people use fonts because they think they look “cute” and don’t give much thought to the subject matter. You should use fonts that are relevant and legible, and for the love of God, stop using Comic Sans. It serves no purpose in any business marketing materials.

Many of our potential clients come to us because their current image isn’t working for them, whether we’re talking about a logo, website or printed marketing materials. They know that they need a new, fresh look to stand out from their competition and make an impact with their prospects. The problem is, that when push comes to shove, some of them want to stick with the same tired old look, using excuses like “this is how everyone else in our industry looks and we don’t want to be too different.” Unfortunately, when a redesign is just a new version of the same old thing not only is it not going to produce the results you want, it will also cause you to lose any branding you’ve currently achieved.

You can’t get get new results by doing the same thing, so if you’re going to have a new logo, website or printed marketing materials designed, heed the advice of the professionals you’ve hired, step outside your comfort zone and take a chance. It’s the only way you’re going to achieve the results you want. This applies not only to design, but also to advertising and even your overall marketing strategy.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to have a well designed website that is visually appealing, but the real purpose of website design is to convert as many of your visitors as possible into paying customers. The pretty graphics and high-tech bells and whistles are fine as long as they contribute to that, otherwise they are irrelevant. In business, the best looking website in the world is useless if it doesn’t convert.

When it comes to graphic design, what separates a non-designer from a designer? The difference is that the designers know what to put into a particular project, and a more important factor is that they know the technical reasons behind their decision. What seperates a designer from an outstanding designer? They know what to leave out of a particular project.

Sometimes, knowing what to do isn’t as important as knowing what not to do.

We’ve written several times about the importance of professional graphic design and even how to choose the right graphic designer, but what we haven’t discussed very much is how the cost of design can affect the return on your investment. As business owners, people often look for any opportunity to reduce their costs. While there can quite frequently be a strong upside to this, just as frequently if not more frequently, there can also be a tremendous downside.

Logo design, unlike most tangible products, is not a commodity. You may be able to find a manufacturer who will sell the same bolts you’ve been buying elsewhere for half the price. This is usually because that manufacturer has developed some specialized process to produce the bolts at a lower cost than their competitors can, or perhaps they have bought their raw materials in significantly larger quantities, earning themselves a volume discount. When it comes to service based businesses, this simply isn’t possible. You are paying for skill and experience.

So what happens when you try to reduce your costs by hiring graphic design companies or freelance graphic designers to design your logo based on price? Well, sometimes you come out ahead, but more often than not, you learn a very expensive lesson. On one end of the scale, you may end up with an unprofessional logo that presents a poor image of your company. On the other end of the scale, you could end up in a situation like a client that came to us after hiring one of the lowest priced design firms they could find.

They had hired a local firm to design their logo, then they had business cards, stationary, brochures and signage printed and even wrapped six cargo vans, only to find out that their logo was almost an exact copy of a competitor in the next city. They were furious and unfortunately, the firm that put them in this situation went out of business shortly afterwards leaving them with no recourse. Needless to say, after saving a few hundred dollars only to then waste several thousand dollars, they now thoroughly understand the cost vs. value equation. In the end, we developed a professional (and original) logo for them along with their new print marketing materials which they were very satisfied with.

When you decide to hire a graphic design company, before you look at their price, look at the quality of their work and how long they have been in business. If it turns out that you can’t afford the services of a top-quality graphic design firm, you may want to consider finding a way to come up with the money – it may save you a more sizable amount in the long run.

A lot of things can go wrong when you design your own logo, and sometimes even when you hire a graphic design company. Here are just a few examples of logos that just didn’t get enough scrutiny before going live.

You rarely see anything simple these days, especially when it comes to graphic design and web site design. More often than not, it’s a matter of someone trying to out-do the other guy. Before long, you’ve got an ostentatious use of rotating 3-d menus, flashing lights, streaming video and obnoxious music, adding nothing to the visitor experience. Most people don’t start with this scenario in mind though. Quite often, they start off with a decent design but then see something that they want to add to their design, continuing to do so until the end result resembles a patchwork of various design styles and technologies that really don’t belong together.

What’s the solution? If you’re not ready to hire a graphic designer and you’ll be doing your own design, start with the end in mind. Decide what you want to accomplish and work towards that goal. Remember – your goal is to convert your prospects into paying clients. By making your marketing message, whether in print or online, as clear and compelling as possible, that is more likely to happen.

Simply put, keep it simple.

Graphic design may seem like a pretty simple, straight forward task. Rip open the shrink-wrap sealed copy of Photoshop, install it on your computer and jump into designing your own web sites, business cards and ads. Just to be sure, once you’re done, you run your new designs by a few friends or family members, who as it turns out, just happen to love them.

So now you’ve got a brand new web site and business cards that you designed all on your own, saving yourself a boatload of money by not hiring any graphic design companies to produce them, and now you’re ready for the orders to start flowing in. But they don’t. Days turn into weeks, then months and you can’t figure out what went wrong. Simple put, effective graphic design is far more complex than it seems.

On the surface, it may appear that graphic design is just playing with images, text and colors until you get the look that you want. In reality, there is a tremendous amount of though that goes into an effective design. Plus, your personal taste in art has very little to do with the image of your company. After all, you are trying to appeal to your target market, not your own ego.

Simply having access to a particular piece of software and going through the motions does not make one a professional graphic designer, nor does it make the finished work graphic design, any more than running on the same track with Olympic athletes makes you an Olympic athlete.

While many small business owners have handled their own graphic design successfully, a majority of them have experienceda completely different outcome. Unlike many of the other professions, such as law or accounting, were an unsuccessful approach can be immediately devastating to a business, graphic design appears to be a field where an unsuccessful approach can go unnoticed for quite some time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Poorly executed graphic design will not land your company in hot water with the IRS, nor is it likely to expose your company to any significant legal risks. But it will present a poor image to your prospects, who will in turn, choose your competitors over your company. The effects may not be apparent for quite some time, because unlike a situation such as a lawsuit, which is an active consequence, poor graphic design, which motivates your prospects to do business elsewhere, is an inactive consequence.

Another potential challenge in handling your own graphic design is that it often will take longer than turning it over to a professional designer. A professional has the knowledge and experience, along with the ability to utilize the necessary tools, quickly and efficiently, so you can generate revenue sooner.

You have to determine the value of your time. If you’re starting a business out of your spare bedroom with a few hundred dollars from your savings, then you’ll probably need to design your own marketing materials. On the other hand, if you’re running a business, chances are that you time is better spent focusing on running the business instead of trying to do everything yourself. If you’re the expert in your field, don’t you deserve a chance to get in front of your prospects so that you can help meet their needs while earning a profit? A professional graphic design company can help you present the image that will let you earn that chance.

Let’s say I wanted a cake. I really like the big fancy cakes you see at the bakery, but I can’t justify spending all that money on one. After all, it’s just a matter of mixing up a bunch of ingredients and cooking them, how hard can that be? So I think to myself, I’ll just make my own cake, it will be just as good, cheaper, and no one will know the difference.

So I get some flour, milk, eggs, sugar, water and a few other ingredients that I found in my pantry and start mixing them vigorously in a big bowl. How much of each? I don’t know. I just put in what I felt like putting in, because how important could it really be? It’s just a cake, right? Ok, so everything is mixed up pretty well but I feel like something else could be added, and why not? It’s my cake. Well, I like steak, which I just happen to have left over in the refrigerator, along with some tuna casserole, a half of a quesadilla and a handful of peanut butter cups, so I toss these into the mix and stir it some more. I like them all, so my cake should turn out great!

Now it’s time to bake my glorious cake. I set the oven to 250 degrees and toss my masterpiece in for about 30 minutes or so. In the mean time, I’m thinking to myself how it’s ludicrous that these bakeries charge so much money for something that is clearly so easy to do. Look at me, with not a single cooking class under my belt I’ve created my own recipe on the fly, and in less than an hour I will be enjoying my very own scrumptious cake.

It’s been about 30 minutes, so I take my cake out. I had totally forgotten that I had some friends coming over, but what a perfect opportunity to share my newly learned skill. So, plates in hand I start passing out my confectionary ambrosia to each of them. They each take a bite and inform me that if they hadn’t already eaten, that they would certainly stay and eat more of my wonderful cake.

Well, it’s been a good day. I saved some money and learned how to make my own cake, which I then shared with my friends. They loved it and they told me so.

In the real world, baking a cake can be a lot like graphic design. In my previous example, I chose a random list of ingredients, mixed them together and then cooked them, which is surprisingly similar to what happens when most people do their own graphic design. You see, graphic design isn’t just about knowing what to put in and why, it’s also about knowing what not to put in and why. It’s a delicate balancing act that takes years to master.

Graphic design, like baking accounting or just about any other skill, is something that you can do yourself, but you’re going to have to take the time to learn the skills necessary to be effective. As in the example above with our retched cake, simply going through the motions is not enough. The proof is in the results. You can show your marketing materials to your friends but most of them are just going to tell you what you want to hear. In business, the only opinion that really matters is that of your clients or customers, and they’ll let you know what they think with their wallets. While it may seem like it’s too expensive to invest in the services of a professional graphic designer, sometimes it can be too expensive not to.

Is it a combination of the right colors? Perhaps a lot of white space? Could it be a particular style of art? In reality, it can be any of these factors, none of these factors, or even a variety of other factors. Graphic design, unlike art, generally should not be a subjective thing. Graphic design has a business purpose and that being the case, means that it should accomplish a particular goal. That may mean driving sales, promoting a political agenda, educating, or whatever applies to your business model.

Experienced graphic design companies, freelance graphic designers and in-house graphic designers know how to craft your marketing materials to do just that. They know when it’s a good idea to use a lot of copy to explain a complex message and when it’s a good idea to use just a little bit of copy to get your message across quickly. They know when to use a rich, textured design and when to use a clean modern design to stir up the emotions of your target market and incite them to take action. They know when to use a subtle color pallet, when to use a vibrant, eye-popping color pallet, and when to use a combination of the two. They know what images are going to work best with your designs to convey the image that you are looking for. More importantly, they know the reasons behind the decisions they make. Many other businesses are very black and white where in situation “1″ you take action “A” and situation “2″ you take action “B” but with graphic design, you must take human emotion and experience into account as well. More than a few businesses have learned this the hard way when using inexperienced graphic designers or even doing their own graphic design to save a few dollars. On the other side of this coin, as a start-up or small company, there is no need to invest in the largest ad agencies because even if you can afford their prices, you will be such a small account for them that you won’t get the attention you need. By investing in the right graphic design company or freelancer, you’ll generally see greater results more quickly at the best possible price.

So what is good graphic design? It’s something that conveys the image that you want for your company and accomplishes a particular goal.