You are Unique, So is your Brand!

I must make a confession. I don’t like stock graphic design. Why? Because we are all unique, so why should we have design that looks like everyone else?

My motto for my design company, and let’s be real, my life, is dare to be different! I strive to help small businesses and individuals get custom designs, fitted to their needs, to help them stand out.

Lately there has been a rise in do-it-yourself platforms such as Canva for creating branding and marketing materials. This is a great resource for designers who know design principles, mainly because they can make their designs unique! However, I see so many using Canva (it claims design is for everyone), but don’t understand basic design principles AND, worst of all, they are using the same templates as everyone else.

Tools like Canva are not always bad, but personally, I think you can do better! I can help! Let’s talk about how you can stop blending in and catching the attention of your target market!

But what about your Return on Investment (ROI)?

Let’s say you create a graphic from a template in Canva for an event. It looks great, has all the information and call to action. You post it and you’re feeling good. A few hours later you realize your competitor is having an event… and used the SAME template from Canva. Which event will the customer choose?

I cringe every time I see the same social post template used for different companies with nothing changed but the text. Fonts, colors… all of it remains the same. Sometimes these different companies are competitors. What is making one stand out from the other? Nothing. The design is becoming white noise for social media users.

In the time you are spending creating a quick graphic, ask yourself:

• Is someone else using this template?
• What do I want out of this graphic? 
• In the time and effort spent on a graphic, am I being pulled away from other important tasks for my business?

I get it, it all boils down to cost! Aka, the money!

You think you don’t have the funds to hire a graphic designer. Trust me though, in hiring someone you are getting quality, smart, and unique designs… suited towards your needs! The return on the investment will be better than if you create a graphic that looks the same as your competitor or doesn’t speak to your target market.

I pride myself on not offering crazy expensive services. I understand small businesses need support and don’t want to spend their entire marketing budget on a graphic designer. But every time I see a designer offering cheaper options, I cringe. They are NOT making designs unique to you or your business. It takes time to learn about an organization, its target market, its marketing needs, and more. It takes time to build a relationship with the organization.

If they are taking the minimum dollar amount for the work, they are putting in the minimum amount of effort. They may be doing what you would be doing… using Canva to create a graphic with a provided template. Smart designers work with the organization that hired them to learn about marketing goals, strategic plans, target market, etc.

Let’s talk about files!

Someone makes something, you love it… next they want it as a poster. Oops, they made it as a social graphic and it isn’t scalable! That means they made it in a program, such as Canva, at a small size and it can’t be made larger without being pixelated/blurry/low resolution.

Vector files setup properly will remain editable so you can open them back up in Adobe Illustrator and edit any text or other elements within the graphic.

If a designer is making your logo and can’t provide you a vector file at the end, something is wrong. Logos should never be made/finalized in programs such as Canva. You need a vector file (eps or ai).

Logos should be created to be used on anything from small, web graphics, to large, printed decals. You won’t get that in Canva, not to mention your logo will look like everyone else and can’t be copyrighted. 

After hiring a designer, developing a unique brand, there are ways a tool like Canva may be helpful:

• A graphic designer created a custom logo and imagery for you, and you are pulling it all on Canva to maintain your custom branded look.
• You are using the CUSTOM templates the designer created for you in Canva for you to make quick edits/updates.
• You just need something quick/easy and you don’t care if it blends in with the rest of the noise in the world.

Still think you can’t afford or you don’t need a professional graphic designer?

I love working with small businesses to help solve a problem they have. I love building relationships and helping remove potentially unwanted tasks off someone’s to do list so they can focus on the items they are passionate about.

With my background in marketing and my love of design, I’m a strategic thinker for the entire process. I have made so many things over the years. I love to see all the items I create go together to create a cohesive look for an organization. From email signatures, social media graphics, signage, digital billboards, car decals, and more… your organization can make an impact…  so you should make a UNIQUE impact!

I don’t have a graphic design degree, but I did take classes (still do to keep up with trends) and use my marketing experience and education to provide a well-rounded approach to help solve design and marketing problems for small organizations.

While my degree might not say Graphic Design, I have education that has helped me grow strategically to help my love of creativity and design. I have a bachelor’s in mass communication, master’s in business administration, a digital marketing certificate from Emory University and a Social Marketing Certificate… just to name a few! I’m always taking new classes to learn more!

I also want to point out that, while you make look at my website or social feeds and feel like my style doesn’t “match” what you need, my skills go beyond my style. I have a unique style I use for myself, but what I create for organizations won’t be based on what I “like” it will be based on research and strategic planning. The designs I create will be smart, aesthetically pleasing, and, most importantly, work for you and your organization. 

A final quote from Jon-Stephen Stansel, as social media strategist:

But here’s the thing. Canva makes you a graphic designer the same way a microwave makes you a chef. Sure you can make a decent meal in minutes, but like a TV Dinner, it’s flavorless and bland. It homogenizes design. Everything designed on Canva looks like it was designed on Canva. Have you ever seen something that was created on Canva that made you sit up and say “wow?” The content is merely passable and mediocre at best. It’s hotel art, meant to look nice in the room and not offend anyone’s sensibilities…but not really stand out either.

Worse still, the danger is not that the average consumer will notice that you are using Canva templates, the danger is that they won’t notice your content at all; having been bombarded with so much other similar content, they will just tune yours out.

Jon-Stephen Stansel