Why Your Business Needs Creative Services

Creative services compose and design visual communications for all kinds of public- and private-sector clients, from major corporations and government agencies to charitable organizations and small businesses. While this discussion focuses on the creative-services needs of small businesses, it applies to any size company.

For many small businesses, using a creative service seems like a luxury or an unnecessary expense, so discussing the idea is sure to raise questions. What makes visual communications so important? Why does “good design”—and using a creative professional—matter? What’s the big deal about copy? Can’t business owners just create their visual communications themselves? Why should the graphic designer work with the copywriter? Are creative services a justifiable expenditure? What kinds of visual communications might a small business need?

What makes visual communications so important?

Driving past a restaurant painted in unattractive colors that clash with its signage, are you enticed to stop and eat there or do you wonder immediately whether the restaurant’s exterior appearance says something about the quality of its food? While waiting in a medical examination room, you notice that it isn’t very clean; do you just shrug to yourself and say “What’s a little dust or a few spots here and there?” or do you start thinking about looking for a new doctor?

Everything visible about a business should create a favorable impression. Why is that so? The American Institute of Graphic Arts’ Chicago chapter says that it’s because “things that people see affect them. Every physical representation of a company’s image that people notice … offers an opportunity to win respect and admiration” (AIGA/Chicago 1995a).

Remember the camera commercial that said that image was everything? Well, that’s true, and every business has an image—just not necessarily the most appropriate one.

“Good graphic design is about image building,” says Creative Business. “Positive…images and brands…are often among the most important properties any organization possesses. In today’s world, not to try to reinforce positive ones…is to leave a positioning vacuum [to be] filled by competitors” (Creative Business 1993/2001b).

AIGA/Chicago (1995a) says that high-quality graphic design is one of the major industries’ most effective tools and that consumers in their twenties “respond only to high quality design.” But don’t think for a moment that those over 30 won’t. Even if your target market is the over-40 demographic, investing in good design to reach that audience is worthwhile.

“Successful companies hire graphic designers to plan and produce business communications,” says AIGA/Chicago (1995a), “[because] they realize that they need professionals.” You see, creative-service professionals can help you build the right image for your business—the visual identity that will represent your brand in the marketplace.

Why does “good design”—and using a creative professional—matter?

Creative Business points out that our world is cluttered by an over-abundance of information, often too much to absorb. The creative professional’s challenge, therefore, is to cut through the noise with design and content that “not only [distinguish] an organization, but [also communicate] its many messages well.” So good graphic design must be more than just good-looking; its chief purpose must be to communicate the client’s most important message—the one that generates revenue (Creative Business 1993/2001b).

“Design is about the whole, not the parts,” says the American Institute of Graphic Arts. “Inconsistency raises doubt and doubt makes people wary. …So, it isn’t enough for a company to have a great logo if the communications effort isn’t carried out across the full spectrum of the company’s interaction with its marketplaces” (AIGA 2001a).

Professional designers, AIGA explains, are “qualified…to assist organizations with strategic communication design” and have “mastered a broad range of conceptual, formal and technological skills.… [They apply their] knowledge…to communication planning and the creation of an appropriate form that interprets, informs, instructs or persuades…, [and they combine] creative criteria with sound problem-solving strategy to create and implement” (AIGA 2001b).

Simply put, good designers are good planners, are thoroughly trained, and use their knowledge and creativity effectively to solve problems for their clients.

What’s the big deal about copy?

“Design is not just about photos or illustrations. It’s the overall layout,” says Direct Mail For Dummies® (Goldsmith et al. 2002). It’s also about the content and getting the message across unequivocally, which requires effective copy that good design can enhance and reinforce.

Perhaps some forms of visual communications can convey their messages effectively with few or no words—but not many and not often. Most of the time, the words are the message that the visuals reinforce, and if the copy isn’t good, then even the best design can’t make up for it. You need both good writing and good graphic design.

Creative Business says that “effective visual communication not only requires eyearresting design and graphics…, [but] also requires wellcrafted words.… In a world where the emphasis is on speed and visuals, many…overlook and minimize the importance of wellwritten words” (Creative Business 1993/2001a).

So what are the characteristics of good writing? Writing experts Richard Lederer and Richard Dowis say good writing is clear, correct, concise, complete, and considerate. “If writing is not clear, it …can cause serious and perhaps costly misunderstanding.… Good writing is correct…as to its content as well as grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation.… [It] is concise, [without] a lot of unnecessary words …, [yet] complete…, [not lacking] pertinent information…. Good writing is considerate…[of] the reader’s time, intellect, needs, and sensibilities” (Lederer and Dowis 1995).

Errors in copy do get noticed, so if you’re concerned about being recognized as professional and quality-conscious, then you won’t want to risk harming your credibility with business communications that are ungrammatical; that contain spelling, punctuation, or syntax errors; or that include inaccuracies. “You can always break the rules…,” says Direct Mail For Dummies®, “but you need to know the rules to break them” (Goldsmith et al. 2002). You also need to know which rules not to break.

In short, good business copy says exactly what it’s meant to say, with all the components of the language used properly; it includes all the information that’s needed—no less and no more—and is written specifically for its audience. A good copywriter, says Creative Business, can take your essential information and figure out how to convey it to your audience clearly, convincingly, and credibly (Creative Business 1993/2001a).

Can’t business owners just create their visual communications themselves?

Perhaps you believe that writing and designing visual communications doesn’t really require as much work and skill as the cost seems to indicate. After all, you know more about your own business than anyone else does, plus you have computer software to help you create your promotional materials.

Lederer and Dowis (1995) point out that “writing is not easy. At least, good writing is not. It requires work and thought. It requires knowledge of your subject, an understanding of the mechanics of putting together coherent sentences, and at least a working knowledge…of grammar, punctuation, and syntax.”

Good design isn’t easy either, no matter how simple the result looks. The designer must not only be skilled artistically, but also comprehend fully the message that his or her design is reinforcing and conveying.

“Many budding entrepreneurs are tempted to write and design their [print material] unaided,” says Direct Mail For Dummies® (Goldsmith et al. 2002). Maybe they believe that they can design promotional pieces for their businesses as well as a professional or “way down deep,” as Robert Bly (1985/1990) writes, “fancy themselves better writers than their copywriters.” If you do write or design visuals well but that’s not what your company does, then you need to free yourself to concentrate on your core business and let professionals create your visual communications.

Principals of the smallest businesses are the ones most likely to avoid outsourcing such work. Dixie Evatt, for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), reports that “CEOs in micro businesses frequently perform all the tasks…that in a corporation would be assigned to more than one department…, [serving as both] the marketing manager and the public relations chief” (Evatt 2001).

When you attend Chamber networking functions, committee meetings, and business mixers, you’re engaging in public relations and even marketing. Certainly, this is necessary, but serving as copywriter and graphic designer isn’t.

“Being constantly attentive to image and brand building,” says Creative Business (1993/2001b), “is one of the ways [that] smaller organizations get bigger.” Your business needs good, effective visual communications to enhance its image in the marketplace, and that’s why you need professional creative services.

Why should the graphic designer work with the copywriter?

AIGA/Chicago (1995b) says, “Graphic designers serve businesses by helping them communicate their most important messages to customers, employees, stock-holders, and the general public.… [They provide] businesses with a strategic tool that can inform people, move them to act, and influence how they perceive products, services, and companies themselves. In fact…graphic design can literally transform intangible assets—spirit, attitude, personality—into tangible objects that people immediately understand.”

However, graphic designers can’t do this alone—or at least can’t achieve as great success alone. They need to work with well-written copy, because the copy articulates the message.

The designer and writer, working as a team on your visual communications project, can produce a better creative work, according to Creative Business (1993/2001a). This kind of team can comprise creative professionals from different companies or can come from one organization—for example, AdvantGroup, which offers both design and writing services. Working as a team means that the designer and the writer not only share information about the project and perform their own creative functions, but also scrutinize each other’s work and offer valuable suggestions for improvement (Creative Business 1993/2001a).

By the way, that “team” includes more than just the creative professionals; it also includes you. A unified effort by the client and the designer will produce visuals that best meet the client’s needs, says AIGA-Chicago (1995c). “Talented designers and savvy clients produce effective graphic design by making the most of their common interests and their individual preferences.… A union forged by success can generate profits and growth for both of your companies.”

Are creative services a justifiable expenditure?

“In today’s information-saturated world,” says AIGA (2001b), “where an organization’s success is determined by the power of its brand, professional designers become even more important in ensuring that companies communicate effectively—an imperative with bottom-line impact.”

Creative Business (1993/2001b) advises companies not to “confuse cost with value.” Design takes time, and time is money; quality design takes more time, which means that it can cost more. The price you pay for creative services should correspond to the overall quality of the creative work. Choosing the least expensive creative service might not be worth the initial savings in the long run if the creative work proves to be inferior, because you’ll end up spending more money to replace it.

“Graphic designers are trained commercial artists,” writes Jennifer Proia (2002) of Massachusetts-based Fire Creative. “It is their job to understand, interpret, and graphically convey a company’s personality in a way that is honest, unique, and memorable.… It is important for your business strategy [that you] view graphic design services as an investment in your business, not an expense. A well-designed piece and a sharp presentation will make your company stand out.”

As AIGA/Chicago (1995a) says, “Positive impressions create higher perceived value which boosts sales.”

What kinds of visual communications might a small business need?

Your company, if it’s been in business for any length of time, says AIGA/Chicago (1995a), has already developed “a public image or identity.” Do you know what your company’s public image is? Is it what you wanted it to be?

“Leading companies,” continues AIGA/Chicago (1995a), “enjoy the benefits of a well-planned and administered, and therefore, consistent and universally recognized identity.” Industry leaders don’t leave it to chance, and neither should you.

So, first and foremost, every organization needs a corporate identity. For the major players, says AIGA-Chicago (1995a), that “includes a system of visual elements—the company’s symbol or logotypes, [and] its name, colors, and typography…. Corporate identities must…withstand extended visibility.… Good [ones] offer a company a powerful asset that it can leverage in” many areas. At the very least, every small business should have a well-designed logo and stationery suite, including business cards.

In addition, nearly every business needs literature—with both good copy and good design. Creating business literature, such as “annual reports, brochures, mailers, catalogs, announcements, and the like…,” says AIGA-Chicago (1995a), requires that the copywriter and graphic designer work as a team. “When a writer and graphic designer work well together…the verbal and visual elements form an integrated and more powerful whole.”

Visual communications come in countless other forms, which can’t all be named here. A few that are important to many small businesses are product packaging, Web design, and other types of print design not already mentioned, such as ads, flyers, and direct-mail pieces.

Well-designed packaging is essential for businesses that sell to retail—so important, according to AIGA-Chicago (1995a), that “some retailers refuse to carry poorly packaged products.” As to Web design and print design, both need to be accessible to the members of your target market. “Web sites bring information and people together through intuitive graphical interfaces,” and “a good [publication] design makes information easy to find and easy to read.”

So does YOUR business need creative services?

A recent study conducted for IABC reached this significant conclusion: A company’s overall “communication competence…[is what determines] its success…. Successful companies…[tend] to focus on a few key messages and constantly reinforce them” (David Clutterbuck 2001). One of the most effective ways to do that is through well-planned corporate identity components that are integrated consistently into every form of communication that your company uses.

Tom Peters—the management consultant who wrote In Search of Excellence and Re-Imagine!—has said he believes “that in a crowded marketplace DESIGN may be the most potent tool for differentiating one’s products or services” (AIGA/Chicago 1995c). Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto—now its chairman and chief executive officer—has said, “Recognizing the importance of design is a corporation’s first step to creating great design. The second step is talking to good designers immediately” (AIGA/Chicago 1995a).

If you want powerful and effective visual and written communications that contribute to your company’s success, then get creative service professionals to do the job.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). 2001a. A Client’s Guide to Design: How to Get the Most Out of the Process. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts. Available from www.aiga.org [accessed 10 October 2003].

American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). 2001b. Business and Ethical Expectations for Professional Designers. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts. Available from www.aiga.org [accessed 10 October 2003].

American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter (AIGA/Chicago). 1995a. Graphic design as a strategic business tool. From The Graphic Design Handbook for Business [on-line excerpt]. Chicago: American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter . Available from www.aiga.org [accessed 10 October 2003].

American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter (AIGA/Chicago). 1995b. What graphic designers do and how they can help businesses become more successful. From The Graphic Design Handbook for Business [on-line excerpt]. Chicago: American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter . Available from www.aiga.org [accessed 10 October 2003].

American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter (AIGA/Chicago). 1995c. Working with a graphic designer. From The Graphic Design Handbook for Business [on-line excerpt]. Chicago: American Institute of Graphic Arts/Chicago Chapter . Available from www.aiga.org [accessed 10 October 2003].

Bly, Robert W. 1985/1990. The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells (1st Owl Book edition). New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Clutterbuck, David. 2001. “Linking Communication Competence to Business Success: A Challenge for Communicators.” San Francisco: IABC Research Foundation. Available from www.iabc.com [accessed 10 October 2003].

Creative Business. 1993/2001a. “Considering Cost Effectiveness: The Rationale for Professional Copywriting” [on line]. Boston: Creative Business. Available from www.creativebusiness.com [accessed 8 October 2003].

Creative Business. 1993/2001b. “Considering Cost Effectiveness: The Rationale for Professional Design” [on line]. Boston: Creative Business. Available from www.creativebusiness.com [accessed 8 October 2003].

Evatt, Dixie Shipp. 2001. “The Communication Function in Small Businesses” [on line]. San Francisco: International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Available from www.iabc.com [accessed 10 October 2003].

Goldsmith, Richard, Dan Breau, Sandra Blackthorn, and Kelly Ewing. 2002. Direct Mail For Dummies®. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc.

Lederer, Richard, and Richard Dowis. 1995. The Write Way: The S.P.E.L.L.* Guide to Real-Life Writing (*Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature). New York: Pocket Books.

Proia, Jennifer. 2002. “The importance of graphic design.” Cambridge, Mass.: Fire Creative. Available from www.firecreative.com [accessed 10 October 2003].

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