Often times a good service, or business idea might not have inherent vision or strong visual. For example, financial services, lawyers, or even clinics might not be built on a foundation of highly interesting visual subject matter. This represents a challenge for designers, the goal is to represent what a business offers in a way that is attractive, but with a limited set of photos and content to engage potential clients. Lets talk about the ways a high level creative designer can inject a bit of soul into an otherwise uninspiring business plan.
The first step is to always understand what that business offers, and who its audience is. What do they want and/or what do they need? Its crucial to talk directly to the audience in ways they understand and are willing to approach. Since we offer creative consulting, we are kind of experts in this department. Lines and lines of text can only take you so far, and lets face it, people don't really read these days! Understanding potential clients requires research, so always talk to your previous clients, ask them how they found you, and why. What were they looking for, and what would they like to see if, say, their friend was to reach out. Also researching online to view competition, trends, and opportunities can help narrow new vision or outlook on opportunities to connect.
Once your audience is defined, its important to show them that split second imagery that conveys your message, without much text. This is done through clever font choices, color palettes, and icon design. A well developed icon speaks volumes about what a brand does, and how they approach their services. This is one reason hiring a creative graphic designer is essential, a sloppy, or underdefined idea will definitely get lost in the fray of any competitive marketplace.
The other critical step, once you have your potential customers attention is to draw them in using a unique and properly textured website. We don't normally think of a website as being textured, but adding feel and dimension to a website can change the overall experience for customers in a big way. Our brain is finely tuned to recognize the 'feel' of an object, even in digital format. This speaks to how the service will be handled, and the approach to expect.
For example, lawyers are not generally regarded as approachable. To overcome this sometimes negative stereotype, we focused on building a brand that speaks more to the empowerment of the individual who chooses to utilize a lawyer; to help them be their own hero and seek justice and fairness for their own case.
To communicate this in design, we utilized rounded fonts, and incorporated a caring heart shape, cool clean palette of calming approachable colors and softer textures, and mixed it with customized illustrations of super heroes to create a website presence that 'feels' good, and stands apart from the competition. Check out www.Ihelpkc.com to see the site, brand, and imagery. If you and your service could use a little design tune-up or website texture, Let us know, we'd love to help you elevate your brand experience! scott@forcefielddesign.com
