Design Matters

Episode 1

December 12, 2005

Intro Music...

Introduction

Welcome to Design Matters on the Cubicle Escape Pod. My name is Bert Mahoney. I design websites and printed materials that enable any organization to reach its audience. I'm principal and creative director of HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc., a company I started in July of 2005.

This first installment of Design Matters is titled, “Why spend money on design?”

Its a simple enough question. When you are bootstrapping—or about to make the leap into self-employment—spending money on design, for most entrepreneurs is very low or at the bottom of your list of priorities if its even on the list at all.

This is a mistake.

Just as a solid business plan will open doors with banks and investors, using design to have your product, service, or message communicated clearly will make things happen. Why? Because things people see affect them. When things they see leave leave an unfavorable impression opportunity is lost. Spening money on design creates opportunities.

So what do I mean by saying “spending money on design?” It means partnering and paying a designer or design firm that will work within your exisiting communication strategy or create a solution to a specific business problem. Designers develop how your product, service, or message “looks” to the world at large. Designers can also help you develop a targeted look that can attract a target market to your message. Basically you'll be getting your stuff in the hands of the people that want it and need it.

What do designers do? In short, designers utilize layout, typography, color, shape, photography, texture, and form to structure corporate identities, literature and other media. These include package design, signage, three-dimensional exhibits and displays, interactive media, web sites, broadcast and publications. All these attributes engage the senses and hence the perceptions of you, your company, and the product and/or service you provide.

I have a real world example of how design can make an impact the marketplace and the bottom line. In Malcolm Gladwell's book “Blink” in which he explores how people make split decisions, he tells a story of two brands and a company that helped discover the difference of market share.

Quote: The Cheskin company.... refer to copies.

End quote.

How else would the makers of Christian Brothers known how to create the very thing that would tip market share in their favor? By partnering with a designer. Designers are experts at developing and providing visual solutions to business problems. To not include a designer in your business mix as you would a lawyer or accountant is, in my opinion, taking the long road to success. Designers are fluent in a visual language as a lawyer in fluent in contract law and an accountant in tax code. To not take advantage of their expertise you're not tapping into the potential of your company.

Listen, you can always fire up Microsoft Word and start typesetting a flyer in Times New Roman. I see examples of this all the time and forget what I saw just as quickly. Paying for and partnering with a designer will jump start your success by getting your message to stand out in the sea of sameness that permeates business communications today.

Successful companies have a professional “look” to everything they produce for public consumption. Think for a moment of all the brand leaders you know of. Their image is distinct and has helped them achieve their position in the marketplace. The image they have was created with the help of a designer.

Every physical and visual representation of a company makes an impression on people. Business cards, a sign, a logo on a truck, products and their packaging, brochures, web sites, t-shirts and name badges all offer opportunities to win repsect and can lend you instant credibility on their visual presentation alone. That respect and credibility mean sales, referrals, and regard as a professional—and in business these three things are the your blood—they are priceless.

It's simply a matter of paying for design.

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Next time on Design Matters I'll talk about how to hire a designer. For the Cubicle Escape Pod, this is Design Matters, I'm Bert Mahoney of HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc. www.hamiltonberchman.com

Cheers.

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fin.

Bert Mahoney

2005-12-09T14:39:58

Bert Mahoney