When I drive through town I see a myriad of signs, some of them look as if the design hasn’t been updated for 80 or even 100 years. Few scream for help as they look like they had been designed on Microsoft paint with overused fonts like comic sans, Papyrus, and bleeding cowboy. While others, I can tell were bought by a cheap “Make your own” logo company where the art is too basic and doesn’t tell you much about the company or people.

I find that there are four main reasons for these signs:

1. The Owner is a DIY or AI designer.
2. The Owner doesn’t think there is a need to update/ improve Designs.
3. The Owner feels that a professional costs too much.
4. The Owner did hire a designer, just the wrong kind.

In the world of AI-made Design, it is increasingly difficult for graphic designers to prove why they make a far better choice than a computer. While designers see the answer simply, I find an increasing number of business owners that do not. The benefits to hiring a graphic designer are simple but powerful; Designers help you stand out from your competition, Help you appeal to the right audience, give you branding reliability, and save you time and money.

Most designers that are worth their salt will research you, your needs, your market, and your competitors before they create you a logo- and as much as your mother told you that the art you made her on the fridge is amazing, not everyone is cut out to be a graphic designer. The AI-assisted design also provides new business owners with cheap custom designs, however- it cannot replace a human being’s intelligence or creativity.

Another benefit to hiring a graphic designer is that designers are knowledgeable about the most current trends and fashions. People judge businesses by the content that they put out. You wouldn’t hire a plumber for an electrical project, the same is true for Graphic Design. These people are trained to help the design, and your marketing, reach the most of your target audience.

When I was a beginner, my mentor taught me that I should “Begin with the end in mind” even when the design was just being used for a simple business card. Every logo that I make now is easily translatable to other mediums- so that in the future when logos are needed to be screen printed, embroidered, embossed, put on canvas, cut out with a CNC, enlarged, or shrunk for any medium we didn’t have to create a brand new logo for each and every project, making it easier for business to expand. This keeps the branding similar- ever seen a company with four or five different logos all being used at the same time? It gets confusing! A graphic designer will help you keep your branding the same across all platforms and mediums!

94% of first impressions are related to the designs that your business makes! If that is a startling statistic to you, then it should also be worth it to invest in your first impression! But that is also the greatest benefit of a designer! We actually save you money in the long run! Consider the examples below:

• Example 1: You have created a logo on Microsoft word and MS Paint, but you are finding out the hard way that it is not embedding the same font throughout your wide array of published works on other computers. through trial and error you find out and figure out how best to solve the problem, but you spent an entire week learning how to solve the issue, and as business professionals would say “Time is money” you end up avoiding your logo because you hate reformatting it every time for it to work. Ultimately costing you more money than the $500 it would have been to have somebody make your logo.
• Example 2: You have purchased a website domain and have been playing around with the widgets and design of the page, however, your technological expertise is not that great and you end up making mistakes, several mistakes, which cost time and money. Not to mention you probably also don’t understand or know how to best use SEO techniques, costing you potential customers! Whereas you could have hired a designer for $800 to $1000.

To conclude, while there are many businesses and DIY solutions for small business, it doesn’t always make the best choice because designers help you to make the most of your time and money while targeting your main audience, standing out from your competitors, and giving you reliability for your brand.