Beauty is only skin deep, but when it comes to your business image, being easy on the eye could win you clients.
On the other hand, an unappealing logo design, a poorly laid out business card or low quality photos on your brochure may drive them away.
If you're in the process of contacting potential clients, it may be time for a fresh look at the image you're portraying in the marketplace.
Is your logo a turn-off?
Your logo may look good and appeal to your personal taste, but you may be inadvertently sending potential clients away if it's not doing it's job. That is, appealing to the people you're trying to impress with a graphic representation of your business name.
A good logo is simple in design, uncluttered, unique to your business and easily recognisable. Take a look at your logo and imagine you're seeing it for the first time. Would you continue reading the brochure, click through to more pages in the website or consider using your services?
Does your business card pass the trash test?
Size: Does your business card conform to the traditional size of 90x55 or 89x54mm? Anything greater will not fit in wallets or most business card holders. End result trash.
Paper Quality: Is your business card design of professional quality or is it flimsy with perforated edges? Cheap cards are trashed.
Ink: Drop some liquid on your business card. If the ink runs, it's in the trash.
Color Test: Colorful cards can add to your professional image. Too much color can be detracting. Trash your card if it is black and white or has more than 3 colors unless it's a photograph.
Message Design: Your business card should clearly tell people what you do and offer a meaningful benefit. No message adds confusion so your card ends up in the trash.
Image Match: Your business card design should match your business image. If you're a designer, then the card should be creative. If your card is out of synch with your image, time to toss it.
Font Size: Is your card crammed with information? White space on the card will make it easier to absorb your message. If you have a lot to say, add it to the back of the business card. Is the print so tiny you have too squint to see it? This one is heading for the trash.
Contact Information: Your clients or potential clients should have as many means as possible to contact you based on their preference. Your business card design should include: voicemail, phone, fax, email, and website. Lack of contact information puts your card in the trash.
You only have one chance to make a great first impression. Make sure you invest in the best business card design you can afford. The business card is your introduction to a client, for the low cost per card that is money well spent.
Are your photos enhancing or diminishing your print collateral?
Great photos, or just one really great photo, can be the backbone of your print campaign. A bad photo, whether it's just a poor quality reproduction or an image that's not appropriate to your marketing message, will make your brochure worthless.
High resolution images suitable for printing hold far more data than screen or web quality images, so a high resolution image file will be far larger in file size than it's low resolution equivalent.
As an example, a web quality photo 200x100px, approximately 7x3.5cm, will be 72 dpi and only 60kb in file size. If this image is to be printed on a brochure at 7x3.5cm size, it needs to be 300dpi and the file size will be around 1,000kb (1mb).
Ensure your original image has sufficent resolution to print at high quality on the printing press. If you're using a digital camera, have the quality setting on "high" or "best". As long as the camera is reasonable quality, using this setting should result in a high resolution image file. Give your designer the image file just as it is off the camera, with no cropping, resizing or editing.
If you'll be using a professional photographer, check before they start that they'll be able to provide large, print quality images with sufficient resolution at the intended print size. As a general rule, ask them to shoot at the highest possible resolution as your print designer can easily resize them to smaller sizes as required.
If you're downloading stock images, for example from istockphoto, choose the appropriate size for your print job based on the final size of the image. If the photo is to be used on a smaller item like a bookmark or small magazine ad, the "medium" size image should be sufficient. If the final image will be any larger than that, you'll need either "large" or "extra large". Just ask us for advice before buying stock photos so we can help you choose the best option.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Leisa Dent is a graphic designer of 18 years experience in the printing industry, providing unique design and quality printing throughout Australia, at a sensible price. Services include business card printing, logo design and stationery, brochures, postcards, advertising design and more. http://www.alexandradesign.com.au
