Design as a business priority

09 May 2006 | Angie H

Several weeks ago we received the following excerpted email from a prospect to whom we sent out a proposal:

I think we are going to hold off on the logo and site redesign for now. The budget is very tight and the graphic design are [sic] not a high enough priority for my business at this point.

We've heard this several times so it's not a big deal. Either the prospect is telling the truth or just letting us down easy. If it's the former, they're in trouble. Well, most of the time.

This particular prospect, as you may have gathered, already had a website (sort of) and logo (sort of). And he already had work coming in. But despite this, he mistunderstood the role of a good designer. Often, that's exactly what start-ups do too, especially when they have no brand or identity of any kind to speak of.

These folks have limited themselves to thinking that design is mere decoration. A facade, if you will, simply to impress customers. If you read The Soapbox regularly you'll know that that's just not true. Well, it's only part of the story any way.

Design does have a major role in terms of aesthetics, but that's not where it ends. A good designer will design a site (or logo, or whatever) with the audience in mind which can have a big impact on your bottom line. Making it look pretty is important, but knowing how to get your message across is too.

Quite simply, this is why design should be a priority for any business. If it's not, you're already losing out on one way to make your business grow and thrive by making it easy for your customers to communicate with and trust you.