What does good design do?
What does good design do? What positive effect
will it have on my business? These are questions
we often hear from clients who are nervous about
investing in design. Despite its dominant role
in successful businesses, design is often an
overlooked component in most business schools,
leaving the majority of business professionals
unprepared to confidently partner with a
design firm.
A common misconception is that design begins
and ends with aesthetics. It makes you look good
but it doesn’t achieve much else. This notion can
be both correct and incorrect, but it is based entirely
on the quality of the design team enlisted, not on
the overall effectiveness of design as a tool. Long,
labored messaging, confused structure and a lack
of consistency are characteristic of poorly conceived
and executed design solutions. The tangible result,
whether print or web, is that the solution has a
diluted message, is difficult to use and overall
frustrating. In short, it ultimately fails to deliver
a return on investment.
Aesthetics are a byproduct of good design, not
the goal. Strong design solutions are characterized
by clarity, succinct messaging and a seemingly
effortless ability to communicate. In essence, they
are easy to use, read and understand. Good design
should also deliver a strategic solution, one that
works as both a single entity and as a cohesive
unit within a much larger puzzle. This becomes
your brand. Good design answers the client’s
immediate problem but it is also structured with
an understanding of future needs. This helps
ensure the wheel is not regularly reinvented
but rather, that it continues to turn smoothly.
The role that design plays in business as an
indispensable element to success is keenly
understood by market leaders, such as Nike
and Apple. Take a look at their messaging;
it’s immediate: Just Do It and Think Different.
Visit their website or pickup some of their
collateral; it’s clean, simple, easy to use and
engaging enough to keep you focused on
what they’re telling you.
Both companies use imagery that conjures
up emotion and immediate brand recognition;
Nike with its portraits of iconic athletes and
Apple with its signature white silhouetted
figures. The result is that people like these
brands, identify with them, and ultimately,
buy their products. This success is not an
accident or dumb luck; it is directly attributable
to decision makers who understand the
power of good design and communication.
Fortunately, with the right design partners, any
business person can harness the same type of
intelligent, purposeful design into a powerful
revenue generating and brand building engine.
Some of the results are tangible and immediate
while others are not but all will positively
impact your business.
