"Not working!" is the sad and disappointed exclamation I get all too frequently from our new daughter when something isn't working properly.
As you may be aware, my husband and I have a daughter now! Jubilee is the cutest, spunkiest, bravest little girl, and it's such a privilege to be her mommy.
But besides catching up on five years of parenting skills we didn't have, Shawn and I are learning a lot of lessons. And I thought I'd share some that may apply to you and your business.
As new parents to a 5-year-old, we know that Jubilee is the age where she needs to begin learning how to read and write.
I don't know if they are recent or not, but back when I was learning how to write, I don't remember having dry erase markers. But they are plentiful now, and I am certainly thankful (…until the carpet is colored with them).
And as I’m sure you are well aware, parenting itself comes with its own unique set of challenges (besides markers on the carpet):
- One of the challenging things about children is... they generally don't know what they haven't been told (i.e. markers don’t go on the carpet), and kids don’t necessarily make the best connections or remember everything they HAVE been told (i.e. these markers ONLY go on this surface)
- One of the challenging things about dry erase markers is... they dry up when the cap is not put on correctly.
So we are trying to teach Jubilee to write as well as to be careful with her things. In the process, we I keep spending money on dry erase markers. When Shawn was going to Dollar General the other day, I asked him to pick up some more markers. He responded to this query rather forcefully, “at Dollar General? That's almost as bad as Walmart! They are so cheap.”
And it occurred to me, “oh! That might be why they are drying up when the cap is only off two minutes.”
You think I would have learned from the time in high school when I tried to buy shoes for running at Payless. (Can you say shin splints?)
All that to say, you get what you pay for.
The same is true of design. Often, when you are paying pennies, the quality of work you're getting is worth just that: pennies.
You need someone who knows WHAT they're doing and WHY they're doing it. Your designer needs to make thoughtful decisions that benefit YOU and YOUR BUSINESS — not simply do "what looks good."
As my professor once told us, "there needs to be a reason behind every design decision you make." A good designer will be able to tell you why they did something and what it means for you. (My professor’s line still runs through my head.)
For example. If you get something done from *cough* Fiverr, sure, it may “look good” on the outside, but does it actually meet your needs? Were your needs actually considered? Does it target your audience? Is it high-quality work?
Case-in-point, customers can't see everything a designer does. One of my pet peeves AS a graphic designer is getting a logo that someone else designed that was… not done well. Often, the logo looks good “on the surface,” but “underneath,” the file is extremely difficult to work with and may not even be high-quality. (You might be able to use it on a business card or flyer, but definitely not a billboard.)
If this is the case, many times, a logo or file from a different designer even needs to be recreated. This puts both the designer and the client in frustrating positions. i.e. the designer needs to spend time to get it right and the client needs to pay (and may not understand why).
Need design work done? Reach out to us today for quality work and a memorable company.
