Guide For Do-It-Yourself Graphic Designers

If you’re looking for the perfect image to complete your latest full color brochure, you may be tempted to search the popular clip-art sites to procure an image. There are some things you can do that will save you money on printing and make your materials look professional and be unique.

But beware – selecting an image from these websites may cause you to feel like a girl at the prom wearing a copycat dress.

Here are some things you can do to ensure your clip art is as unique as your company:

• Change it. Use what’s there, but modify it somehow. Combine individual pieces into one. Break apart images and use just parts. Stretch, shrink, flip and rotate. Colorize black-and-white images.
• Keep it simple. Get the appearance of custom artwork by using basic shapes and symbols to create original images.
• Plug it in. Use the many plug-in filters and special effects in your graphics software to enhance or distort stock photos.
• Do it yourself. Draw your own illustrations or take your own photos.
• Control your rights. If you are serious about an image, consider contacting the agency and licensing a particular image for your exclusive use.
• Hire a professional. Wilson Printing has graphic artists who are here to help you with the graphic design. Professional designers can help you develop a consistent theme and look so that all of your marketing materials tie together and complement one another.
• Commission specific images from professional artists and photographers. The cost is generally high, but the results may be worth it. Make sure that you are purchasing exclusive use of that commissioned artwork.

A lot of people buy programs like MS Publisher and try to save money by designing their own materials. Most of the time the project ends up taking a lot more time and the finished product is not as good as it can be. Everything that is exposed to your client can be classified as marketing materials. Your letterhead, business cards, full color brochures and color pocket folders to your invoices and quote forms say something about your business. A sloppy, unprofessional look communicates that your business is less than professional. When given a choice between doing business with a company that looks professional and one that looks sloppy most people choose the professional, even if it is more expensive.

The small amount of money you would spend paying one of our graphic designers to design something for you is nominal compared to the amount of business you will get with a clean, consistent and polished image.

Mark Hale

CEO