Graphic design is more than pure aesthetics – it's the backbone of digital marketing for any business or industry. A stylish sales page raises your conversion rate, appealing email newsletters can effectively announce a new product release, and ads with expertly-crafted graphic images and lean calls to action will captivate your clients' attention.
As the competition in digital marketing is getting fierce, a poorly designed brand will eventually be overlooked, underestimated, or forgotten, as most people shop with their eyes. Therefore we must learn from competitors and make high-quality visuals work for us.
In this article, we analyze how professional imagery affects your product and what are the benefits of graphic design for businesses.
The Importance of Graphic Designing
Graphic design should communicate the brand's value in a way that will resonate with the target audience. For this purpose, designers organize images and texts in impressionable and consistent formats for websites, social media, presentations, ads, infographics, and printables.
Let's see how the right visuals impact your clients and sales.
1. First Impression
Evolution has developed our inclination to decide quickly and rely on first impressions. It takes one-tenth of a second to indicate truthfulness when you meet a stranger. The study of the Human Oriented Technology Lab at Carleton University says people conclude about the webpage visual appeal in 50 ms.
Potential clients may pass by because the first impression was dissatisfactory. Besides, it is about to linger in the minds those who do become your clients. This is where the visually appealing graphic design that clearly communicates the key messages of your brand will come in handy.
2. Professional Image
A professional image is a way we represent ourselves as a company or a brand. For example, the graphic design of a logo, a social media post, a presentation, or a website influences how others perceive us.
One of the answers to the question “What does a graphic design business do?” is that they carefully work on color schemes, CTА messages, wireframes, or user flows. Hundreds of visual elements are carefully constructed to pack your concepts and ideas appealingly and convincingly. All these ingredients contribute to a professional image and credibility. This is the second reason that shows why graphic design is important.
3. Website
Website is the first hallmark of your business. It must engage, attract and retain visitors. Combining visual appeal with smooth functionality is difficult, but this is exactly what UI/UX designers strive for. You should think about pagination, loading time, animations, and page hierarchy, even for a tiny personal site. Complex corporate web portals naturally require a more thorough strategy and resources for development and maintenance.
We recommend updating your site regularly. Fill your blog with fresh content, improve usability and SEO, and study trends because the website is the first place your customers will check out online.
4. Social Media
Why is graphic designing important for social media? Unified graphic design across the website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter establishes brand recognition and shapes the perception of your company. In addition, custom-branded graphics in your posts raise awareness of your business and help connect your communication and products.
If you lack time to create your own imagery for branded posts, try to customize stock images from Unsplash or Dribble with the help of AI tools such as RemoveBG or VanceAi.
5. Printable Collateral
In this article, we speak mostly about digital marketing instruments, but printable sales collaterals are also worth mentioning. When you publish a brochure, catalog, or flyer, it’s quite reasonable to tailor your digital designs for material information carriers. Needless to say that the quality typography, paper, and binding will lift your hand-outs and your professional image to a higher level.
6. Brand Identity
Consistent brand design is essential to step out of the crowd. If your website, social media posts, ads, and sales collateral share the unified brand color palette, characters, icons, and other graphical elements, this strengthens your visual identity and improves recognition.
It’s much easier to build brand identity from the very beginning than add elements here and there on the go. We felt this creativity drive with the Velonto courier platform. In this project, Arounda carried out the full product development cycle, from market analysis and branding strategy to mobile apps and website creation.
7. Visualized Information
Neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the human brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds. This is approximately 30 times faster than an eyeblink. Various studies suggest that visualizations help to perceive and remember information. This is why well-crafted graphics can communicate a message, emotion, and value almost instantly and increase your content absorption speed.
Think of a form that will represent your idea more distinctly. Should it be a chart, infographics, presentation, illustration, comics, or other graphics to attract attention to your product offering?
8. Increased Sales
Let's look at the question ‘Why is graphic design important for business’ from the mercantile point of view. It’s quite logical that quality visuals attract more customers and push sales. However, you will hardly find a linear formula to convert good graphics to revenue.
One way to estimate the value of professional design is to look at the statistics on designers' salaries. Indeed resource states that successful US companies are ready to pay 60 to 100 K$ per year for the work. Eventually, well-made imagery significantly increases companies' revenue and pays back designers' full-time positions.
9. Trust and Credibility
It is in our instincts to pick things that look better. A bright red apple with silky skin signals a juicy taste and benefits for health. By analogy, the marvelous designs of Apple company form the image of a high-tech and powerful cellphone. Why so? People tend to believe that things that look better will also function better.
Suppose you create an aesthetically pleasing web design with a beautiful color scheme and professional photos. In that case, it can counterbalance the challenges of finding information, purchasing, or completing other tasks. This UX law, called the Aesthetic-Usability Effect, gives another reason why graphic design is important.
10. Creativity As an Advantage
Have you noticed that people got used to quality graphics and balanced branding? For this reason, entrepreneurs are forced to invent new ways to engage customers.
Uncommon designs can become your competitive advantage. Luckily, in the AI age, crafting unique content has become easier. For example, you could check out the DALLE-2 constructor for fresh and crazy visuals.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap up why graphic design is important for any business. First, it helps to communicate the value of your products in the most natural and fast visual way. Another advantage is the professional image that directly influences your outlets' price. What is more, aesthetics attracts new customers and can even counterbalance the UX flaws to some extent.
Arounda agency has developed UI/UX design and brand identity for SaaS platforms, Fintech solutions, NFT marketplaces, AI tools, and more. Despite the diverse nature of the projects, we observe how our clients achieve their business goals thanks to the clear visual representation. Our experience proves that professional visuals are worth the effort and investment, so we hope you won’t underestimate the importance of graphic design in branding.
If you need assistance with product design or branding, just drop us a line.