Those cute kids in the Mitre10 sandpit captured our hands-on, give-it-a-go spirit to a tee. But for your advertising and design, is DIY ever an option?
I have a confession to make. I love to play on Canva – the online tool for simple graphic design. There, I’ve risked the dismay of my professional graphic designer friends and said it.
I understand the basic principles of good graphic design: the value of clear space, the power of good typography, the impact of a compelling photo. So, with so many easy-to-use tools readily available to us now, why wouldn’t I give it a go?
Some friends and I recently clubbed together to give our friend a memorable weekend away. Relishing the opportunity, I leapt onto Canva to create a voucher. My friends were happy but I knew it had many flaws. If it was the retaining wall our Mitre10 kids were building, it would have collapsed in a heap.
Small businesses everywhere have frequent demands for quick new messages, particularly if they are active on social media, and need to stand out from the clutter with something that looks good.
When images have a short shelf or screen life, it’s hard to justify heavy investment, so online tools and apps have rapidly evolved to fulfil that need. But that doesn’t mean the outcome is always going to be appropriate for sustained marketing or important campaigns.
I’ve also noticed a rise in the use of professional design tools (InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop) by staff with no formal design training. YouTube to find out how to do anything, right? Well, maybe, but be honest with yourself, I say.
It could end up like a disaster-prone episode of a renovation or self-build programme, like Grand Designs. Like the owner who’d once knocked down a wall to make a kitchen diner so reckons, with a bit of Googling, he can build a 4-bedroomed luxury house in a ridiculous timetable and on a budget of small change.
We know from the initial conversation around his plans that something will go wrong. Eventually, they’re in by the Christmas two years after the deadline and the costs have spiralled out of control.
Admittedly, this unsurprising scenario isn’t always the case. There are plenty of people who can genuinely surpass expectations and create a masterpiece.
We’re growing up more tech savvy and pick up new technologies easier, so learning specialist design software may not be a challenge. However, doing it right is different to doing it well.
Even after three decades, the absolute greatest pleasures in my work is often when a designer shows me a new piece of marketing or advertising collateral for the first time. When briefing in a piece of design, you’ll have a vision of what it might look like and perhaps some practical ideas of what you might like to see. But the skill of a really good designer is taking those ideas and turning them into something special.
Sometimes they take an idea and come up with a concept that surprises and delights. And when you can see how it perfectly connects what you want to express to what your audience will relate to, and it’s something a bit different too, it’s pure joy. I’ve been moved to tears on many occasions thanks to smart and considered design.
But it’s equally true of much simpler things. For example, with sales materials that are more information heavy, it’s often the finer details and clever design techniques that can make the world of difference.
I once found myself in a reception area beside a wall of brochures, highlighting a range of the company’s services. From a distance, they looked consistent – same colour banner at the top, same basic layout. Then I got closer. There were different fonts being used for headings. Many of the photos were too low resolution for print so had come out blurry. Text over pictures was nigh on impossible to read. And so it went on.
“I’m so glad to have finally got these all done,” the owner of the business said. He had done them himself and it had taken him months, he told me, as he acknowledged that it probably wasn’t quite the most productive use of his time.
If it’s a “pretty big job”, or just something that needs to be done well, think carefully as you decide to DIY or “get some bloke in”, and consider the consequences of getting it wrong. Be honest about if you genuinely have the time and skills to attempt it yourself or if an expert hand is the more sensible option
