When it comes to engaging your audience as a business owner, graphic design has an enormous role to play. After all, if your websites and social media rely solely on text and stock images, audiences may end up looking toward companies whose digital presence is more visually interesting. While these content and imagery are important, consistent and well-designed graphics are much more attention-grabbing. 

This is where graphic designers, like those on our team at LA Creative Marketing, come in. We can help to bring your brand to life as well as give your messages a greater impact, allowing you to truly stand out from the crowd. From logo design and infographic creation to crafting attractive and easy-to-navigate websites, LA Creative Marketing is here to help visually tell the story of your company.

What Are Graphic Designers? 

So, what do graphic designers do? Graphic designers make use of visual elements including colors, fonts and images in order to communicate ideas to audiences. By considering how prospective customers will perceive these elements—green being positive and red being negative on a chart, for example—designers can help shape how audiences react to information. And when presented correctly, elements such as logos, brochures, infographics and buttons can help audiences better understand a company’s brand or message, as well as more readily heed a call to action. 

A graphic designer’s role will often depend on factors such as their education and training, as well as the needs of the company they are working for. Common graphic designer job responsibilities may include:

Building Your Brand Image

While one of the most recognizable aspects of your brand is your logo, building your brand image through graphic design involves so much more. It is the process of understanding a brand’s goals, values and unique personality in order to bring it to life in the eyes of audiences. Graphic designers accomplish this task through the use of elements including:

• Logos. A good logo should be memorable and instantly recognizable, allowing audiences to easily connect this trademark symbol to your business. 
• Color schemes and fonts. Choosing a few specific colors and fonts and using them throughout your platforms and branding materials creates consistency between these pieces. This, in turn, may boost audience confidence in your business. 
• Business cards. Like logos, your business cards should be influenced by your business’ purpose. An art studio, for example, may incorporate a variety of colors or designs in order to craft a business card which truly stands out. An interior design company, on the other hand, may focus on creating a stylish and minimalistic business card that showcases their ability to keep up with modern trends.

Digital Platform Design

When designing platforms such as apps and websites, graphic designers will likely be focusing on two primary disciplines:

• User interface (UI) design, which includes crafting the customer-facing aspects of digital platforms 
• User experience (UX) design, which involves planning and executing ideas for meeting user needs—for example, improving the functionality of a company’s website—through methods including audience research and usability testing

Within these two disciplines, graphic designers build out and maintain your digital platforms in order to keep them attractive, relevant and working smoothly. Some specific features designers may work on when crafting apps and websites include:

• Interactive elements such as buttons, icons and navigation menus intended to guide users through the site and encourage them to take specific actions
• Landing pages. This is where users may go after clicking attached links in emails, ads, social media posts and more. Landing pages are standalone and focused, designed to encourage customers to complete a specific task. 
• Motion graphics. That is, short animation pieces which may be intended to entertain, impart information effectively, improve UIs and more.

Creating Advertising Materials

In other words, actively promoting your brand to your target audience. Skilled graphic designers may incorporate various brand-specific images, pieces of text, shapes and colors into designs in order to create the maximum and most immediate impact possible. Some advertising materials graphic designers may work on include:

• Digital banners—that is, rectangular, clickable displays which stretch across the top, bottom or sides of a site and promote brands to potential leads.
• Social media and newspaper ads
• Compelling and informative print brochures and pamphlets
• Billboard designs
• Physical products. This may include shirts, travel mugs, stickers and more—anything audiences or team members can purchase, wear and/or utilize in public. This, in turn, may help to convert new leads.

Developing Infographics for Blog Copy and Social Media

Long blocks of text may drive audiences away, particularly if your goal is to share information quickly. By using data; visual charts; short, impactful blurbs; and other features in infographics, companies can simplify content, highlight specific information and engage audiences. Additionally, by sharing infographics across your social media channels you may generate backlinks, potentially boosting your business’ search engine ranking as well as traffic from target audiences. Depending on how you share the information and how accurate it is, you may also encourage greater audience trust in your business.

Crafting Packaging Design

Similar to advertising design, packaging can play a large role in customer impressions of your brand. Additionally, it can help companies to clearly display their values—for example, a sustainable clothing brand using only recyclable packaging components. Other specifics graphic designers need to take into account when designing packaging include:

• What is being packaged. A design meant for a drink can, for example, is unlikely to fit perfectly onto a box. 
• The size of the packaging
• Decorative elements
• What information should be included; food products, for example, must include elements including a nutrition facts label and ingredient list
• Color. While bright colors and designs may be more eye-catching, minimalistic packaging in neutral shades may seem higher-quality to customers.

How do Graphic Designers Benefit Your Business?

Now that you understand graphic designer job responsibilities, how exactly can they help your business succeed? Some benefits of hiring a graphic designer as a business owner include:

• Creating a strong, positive first impression with audiences
• Consistent use of design features such as color, text and layout in order to help to improve your business’ credibility
• Developing a unique brand style which helps you to stand apart from the competition
• Boosting sales through impactful advertisements and packaging designs
• Improving the usability of your digital platforms in order to make navigation easier and entice audiences into taking certain actions
• Effectively communicating information without overwhelming audiences with blocks of text
• Keeping current audiences engaged while also allowing you to convert new leads and expand your target audience

Build Your Brand Image with LA Creative Marketing

So, what do graphic designers do for companies? As a business owner, utilizing graphic design can mean the difference between success and failure. A skilled graphic designer can create compelling and impactful packages, infographics, websites, advertisements and more, allowing you to reach new audiences and boost your sales. And while knowing what graphic design tools you need may feel overwhelming, LA Creative Marketing is here to help. Our team will work with you to understand the core of your business, as well as what makes your company truly unique. Then, we can help create everything from logos to websites to photos to written content, ensuring that your brand and messaging will be seen by your target audiences.

Looking for graphic design services? Contact LA Creative Marketing via phone or email in order to schedule a consultation today.