The Most Common Graphic Design Myths Debunked!

What is graphic design?

Graphic design is so much more than just how something looks. An ancient Japanese philosopher once said: “A picture is worth a thousand words” This phrase is really the backbone of graphic design and marketing today. A good, professional design will speak to its audience in a way that mere words could not.

Professional graphic design isn’t shapes and colours aimlessly thrown together; it is the result of skilful analysing and understanding of the purpose, the desired outcome and the message needing to be portrayed. It’s not simply what you or a designer might think looks good.

Graphic design can take many forms, from brand identity creating to website and print medium design, the term ‘graphic design’ is broadly used.

 

Below are the most common graphic design myths that are not true:

 

• Graphic Design Is Just for decoration

No, no, no!! The aim of graphic design is to make something look good and aesthetically pleasing, nonetheless, it is not the only aim. If graphic design was purely for decoration, it would not be half as effective marketing tool as it is. It does not replace copywriting in any way but does enable a message to be communicated to an audience by visual means. The goal of any graphic design is for it to be functional.

 

• Anyone Can Do Graphic Design

Whilst anyone can purchase Adobe Creative Cloud Suite or similar, it does not mean everyone with that software can produce professional graphic designs. Just because you can make a cup of coffee, it doesn’t mean you are a barista! Graphic design is an art, but that doesn’t infer that all artists are graphic designers. Even if you are a small business, it’s best to hire a graphic design studio as their knowledge and skill will be highly beneficial to the designs you require. With websites like Canva, it is very easy to be fooled into thinking someone is a good graphic designer. With hundreds of premade templates, designs and ‘drag & drop’ editing its simple to create material; however, this requires no skill, and won’t take into account your specific business, brand or audience…it is not true graphic design!

 

• You Don’t Need To Spend Money On Graphic Design

The phrase, “you pay for what you get” is very true when it comes to graphic design. You can’t pay £5 for a logo and expect a professional design that is unique to your business. Beware, if you are being offered ‘cheap’ graphic design for your business’ marketing, it could be that pre-made templates and designs. Good, professional graphic design will set you apart from your competition and enable you to attract more of your target audience. You should not underestimate the power of professional graphic design. As highlighted above, you might be offered ‘cheap’ graphic design created from templates, just remember, these won’t be unique to your business. Graphic designs should be created uniquely for your business, to communicate with your specific target audience so you should budget and expect to pay a sensible amount for such services.

 

• Graphic Designs Must Keep Up With All Trends

Trends come and go, sometimes quite quickly too. You don’t want your graphic designs looking outdated, but at the same time keeping up with all the trends will mean you are constantly changing your design styles. This is not a good idea, as your branding should be consistent. Keeping up with all the trends will only confuse your audience and damage your brand image. The best graphic designs will have the perfect balance of trends and a company’s established identity.

 

Hopefully, from the points above you can see that graphic design is far more than a pretty image to enhance some copywriting. Make sure graphic designs for your business are aligned with your company identity and values.

At Guzzbury Studio, graphic designs we create are inspired by research into each client we design for. Our creative team love building engaging, interactive graphic designs that will help your business develop a unique identity to stand out from the crowd.

 If you are very unsure of anything related to graphic design, just give us a shout! hello@guzzburystudio.com or +44 (0)1823 746647