GRAPHICS PLAY A MASSIVE ROLE IN BUSINESS IDENTITY, REGARDLESS OF THE BUSINESS’S SIZE, BUT THE TIME THAT IT TAKES TO GET THEM RIGHT ISN’T SIZE DEPENDENT.
Which means when you’re a small business trying to nail 1 bajillion different things at once, sometimes the graphics simply take too long and get a bit left behind.
Now when I'm talking about graphics I’m not talking just about business branding - most small businesses have those basic pillars pretty solid - but I am talking about the wider graphic elements that you’ll use across the board, from marketing materials to your packaging to quickly putting together social media graphics (that may not be as quick as you’d like).
So here are my top 3 tips to get your graphics working harder, and better, for you and your business - which can be applied to branding too - and hopefully could get you in a great position for the run-up to Christmas!
1 - GET AN EXTENDED COLOUR PALETTE.
I know lots of graphic and branding designers will tell you to get a palette (approx. 6 colours give or take) and to stick to them. And they’re not wrong in that advice. But to successfully use those colours across a wider range of materials, and to help you make design decisions quickly and effectively, it helps to have an extended or secondary palette identified. What colours make great background colours that text shows up well on? Are there any colours that go best with your products, especially if they’re seasonal ones, that you can phase in and out of your wider palette as the seasons change? Whilst these colours won’t be the mainstay of your branding, using the same ones can act as a common thread and tie your graphics, and your brand identity, together (especially for the scrollers).
2 - PLAN TO REPURPOSE.
Dimensions may be subtly different for different platforms but if you get in the habit of creating two or three very similar graphics in different dimensions at the same time you’ll save so much time. For instance you may want a blog cover image, a social media post and a Pinterest graphic, all at their optimum sizes. Frames and title images are the perfect sort of content for this repurposing, and can be reused for multiple different posts (especially if you put them in a library - see point 3). Once created you can rotate them round, schedule them in, and have base template ready to recolour in future too.
3 - BUILD A BANK.
Of brand assets and graphics, that is. How many colours do you have your logo in? What about your submarks? If your palette allows for a few different combinations/variations have you got those made up and saved in multiple formats? If not this is a great place to start - it’ll make creating graphics quicker (are you seeing a theme?), it’ll make deciding on colour choices quicker too as you’ll know what you’re working with and, if you’ve got them filed neatly, then you’re future-proofing your graphics creation too.
Now I know these things take time, and yes I know it’s a busy time of year but like many I’m hoping to harness its energy and get some of these basics done now as I know I’ll appreciate it come the start of next month and there’s a final push for festive sales.
If you’ve found these helpful then do sign up for my mailing list as I’ve got a guide on designing great graphics waiting for you. And whilst I’m a firm believer that great graphics are something everyone can do when time is on their side, if you’re a small business who is feeling like time isn’t then do drop me an email or sign up for a totally free 20 minute chat about whether I can help you out. I’ve even got some small 3-month small-business-specific packages which I’ve developed just for people who need a Q4 helping hand (without it costing you all your festive profits!).
