The best companies understand design’s value and know how to prioritize it. Good design creates great first impressions; helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors; solves problems; and improves brand awareness and the bottom line.

In this article, we’ll go over why your business should invest in quality design.

Five Reasons to Invest In Quality Design

1. Good design sells.

Good design can help your potential clients see you as the clear choice. Good design works. Good design sells. And if your design doesn’t work, you’ll have a hard time competing with the businesses that do.

An impressive 50% of consumers will not buy from a business with a poorly designed site. Good design matters. Don’t underestimate its potential to make or break your business. To succeed, you need to show why your product or service is the best choice.

2. You won’t be able to compete without it.

The days of business as usual are over. Today, everyone is a competitor. And the best ones are making consumer experiences a priority. Now is the time to enhance your visuals and communications with a focus on quality and attention to detail that makes your brand stand out.

Consumers have countless options to choose from, and they’re more informed than ever about your product or service. You need to give them compelling reasons to choose you. An awesome design is just the start.

3. It lets you tell your story.

Quality design helps you tell your unique story. Great design helps you capture the interest of potential clients and tells them what sets you apart.

The design you choose should capitalize on your unique strengths. Whether you offer unique services, products, or even a great price, you need to tell your story clearly, so your audience understands what you’re all about.

4. It will attract the right people.

If you’re serious about making an awesome first impression, then take the time to make your design awesome too. Why? For starters, you’re more likely to gain the attention of the right people.

When you invest in awesome design, you’re likely to attract the right people to your cause. People like working with other people who get it. That’s why great design is a key ingredient in successful partnerships, whether you’re in business for yourself or running a startup.

5. It reveals a thought-out strategy.

Quality design shows a level of management and expertise that makes your company a pleasure to do business with.

People can sense the difference between a company that takes the time to invest in its design and one that doesn’t. A company with a great design helps your clients understand you care about the details. It lets clients know you’ve put a lot of thought into how to do whatever you do. You’ve got a well-thought-out strategy, and you’re going to deliver.

So, if you’re going to take the dive, it’s a good idea to do a little research first.

Conclusion

55 KNOTS is one of Australia’s leading creative agencies offering on-demand graphic design subscriptions. Get in touch with us or sign up today to see how we can help you create high-quality graphic designs!

Universal design is a common enough term, but what it actually means isn’t really top of mind. Thankfully, exploring that isn’t as tough as it seems. The term ‘universal’ may be all-encompassing but in this case, universal design has core principles.

Understanding Universal Design

As the name suggests, universal design is a strategy in design that ensures that whatever is being designed works across all possible audiences. When it comes to advertising and marketing, there’s usually a target audience, right? In those cases, everyone’s the target. This means that the design will be able to meet all needs, hence the term ‘universal.’ It aims to deliver a message that makes lives simpler through products that are both practical and convenient to access.

Universal design essentially levels out the playing field in order for digital and physical designs to be accessed by a wide variety of abilities, ages, nationalities and more. Your business will be more ethical since it will be evidently espousing diversity and inclusion. The best part is, while that happens, you will also have a wider audience in terms of marketing. Bottom line? More opportunities for a bigger profit.

The Beginnings

Wheelchair-bound Ronald Mace promoted nascent-stage universal design during his days at North Carolina State University. He was the Center for Accessible Housing’s director at the time. At that point, he became known as the father of Universal Design. For him, it was crucial for environmental design to be more universal. There were issues with existing architecture that he found particularly concerning. Universal design being implemented meant it would be simpler for many people to go about their daily lives.

Ramps are an example of universal design. By eliminating the need for stairs to enter buildings, even people who struggled with walking or who couldn’t walk at all could go to and fro.

As previously mentioned, there’s no doubt in the ethics of universal design as a design practice. It creates a standard design with a wide reach since the aim isn’t particular one way or the other. “Normal” is redefined in the best possible ways in order to establish equality.

Examples of Universal Design in the Digital Space

Graphics – Whether it’s to accompany a post or an informational item in itself, these are very helpful
High contrast – Good for people with vision issues and people in bright areas
Minimal requests – Avoidance of time-consuming and/or tedious tasks such as long forms or creating an account before being able to access certain things
Resizing of text – Lets users make the text smaller or bigger as needed without issues on the app or website navigation

How Universal Design Differs from Barrier-Free and Inclusive Design

It should be noted that universal design does not equate to barrier-free or accessible design. Those differ from inclusive design as well. They are three separate things. Primarily, both accessible design and inclusive design still have a particular target audience.

Conclusion

Universal design is a concept that many people are familiar with by name, but not necessarily by meaning. It’s an ethical design practice meant to make things more accessible and convenient for all. For websites, this means high contrast, minimal requests and resizing of text.

In need of the best unlimited graphic design service in Australia incorporating universal design? Reach out to 55 Knots today! We’re a creative agency that has graphic design subscriptions on-demand.

A logo is one of the most definitive aspects of any brand. Consider the most well-known names of our time, from Google to McDonald’s, and note how easily recognizable they’ve become to people across ages simply from their logos. Studies have shown that individuals are highly influenced by logos in their purchase decisions. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that businesses put weight in their logo design.

How does this come into play when you are rebranding? Is replacing your logo that one defining factor of change, and is it enough as the sole focus for a shift? If you’re thinking of the implications of a logo change in terms of brand recall and identity, read on.

Is Your Logo Your Brand?

An important thing to remember is that your logo serves your brand, not the other way around. Though it is a major symbol that can represent your brand, it’s important that you do not completely hinge your identity on it completely.

If your brand has something to say, your logo can work as an immediately recognizable summary of this messaging. In that sense, it’s important to create complementary visuals that go beyond just your logo.

If you’re going to change your logo, it’s important to follow through with more significant changes within the business. Otherwise, this could simply boil down to nothing or even translate negatively. If you have a built audience around your brand, a new logo would suggest a major change or a step into a new direction.

This means more than a concept; it means buildable actions that your target audience can witness. Without that follow-up, it could just become a forgettable expense that didn’t produce anything buildable.

On top of that, there’s the idea of going too distanced from your old logo. If you’re going to do a sudden shift that is as major as that, it needs to come with a marketing strategy that involves rebranding of other aspects of your business, too. With crisp ideals, new messaging, or improved procedures, you lessen the risk of turning your brand into something unrecognizable.

What Is a Good Logo Worth?

Everyone throws around the word “disruptive” when envisioning their rebranding goals. But one cannot discount the fatal mistake of becoming a viral joke or turning into the next target to cancel culture.

One needs to only look at the biggest blunders in logo redesigns to know the value and importance of centring your logo around a solidified brand voice. JCPenney had to issue an apology to its consumer base after its dastardly attempt, and Gap’s own brief redesign was quickly undone after a massive outcry over the new look.

Note how these examples aren’t a matter of budget, though. It’s all about making sure your new logo still feels like a visualization of the brand your consumers know you to be. It’s also easier to swing and miss when you try to change just the logo for no good reason in the eyes of the public.

You could easily opt for an affordable logo design and see better returns if you work closely with a skilled team to make sure that your identity and next steps are clear and based on consumer perceptions. Remember that a brand new logo will not necessarily be met with new eyes, so any change must have a justifiable context.

Closing

Affordable graphic design can perfectly encapsulate your brand. The right direction can steer public sentiment in your favour. As long as you can buckle down on your brand identity and mesh visuals with action, you should be able to use a logo redesign to achieve your goals.

Finding cheap graphic design in Sydney does not have to mean scrimping on vision and aesthetics. 55 KNOTS is one of the leading creative agencies in Australia because of its on-demand graphic design subscriptions that can cater to various industries and elevate brands while staying affordable. Check out their vast design portfolio now and get your own impactful logo.