Hi, I'm Allison, a graphic designer based in Western Massachusetts. I work with entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they do. My goal is not only to provide effective graphic design, but be a valuable business resource to my clients.
Good graphic design helps you make that all important positive first impression. It gets you noticed, and helps you communicate effectively with your potential clients. We all know how valuable a first impression and clear communication can be, so then why do so many business owners skimp when it comes to hiring a graphic designer?
Many small business owners have developed a small voice in the back of their mind that tells them that they should be able to do everything on their own. Because they are capable, intelligent human beings they should be able to handle everything from producing their product to managing their bookkeeping, and yes, even producing their own graphic design.
Others believe that hiring a designer is too much of an investment. I urge you to consider that working with a graphic designer can not only grow your bottom line with increased business, but also save you time and money.
Lastly, many entrepreneurs believe that a good product will speak for itself. In an ideal world, I totally agree with you. But, that’s not the world we live in. People’s attention spans have grown short, and if your product is going to have a fighting chance, it needs to look its best.
Hiring a professional graphic designer to assist you with the development of your business has many benefits.
1. A Graphic Designer can save you time.
I’ve tried to do my own bookkeeping. Yes, I CAN do it. It’s painful, and it takes me three times as long as it should, but it is possible. The question is, is it the best use of my time? My answer: not really. I now pay someone to do it for me, who completes the task in a fraction of the time, and I now use that time on design.
I know that it is possible for many of you to create a brochure, but my question is the same to you. Is it the best use of your time?
Given the choice, would you rather spend your time working with a client, capitalizing on your talent and bringing in $75/hour, or would you rather spend 8 hours staring at a blank computer screen and battling your printer in an attempt to make somewhat professional looking business cards? Yeah. That’s what I thought.
Let the designer take care of your design so that you have more time to do what you’re good at.
2. A Graphic Designer can save you money.
This can go in a few directions-
a. Because most business owners are not familiar with the technicalities of graphic design, they may go ahead and design their own marketing pieces, only to bring it to a printer and have major revision fees tacked on because they did not set up their files correctly. Professionals understand how to use the standard graphic design programs, what color modes print properly, and scary terms like bleed and cropping.
b. I have seen many cases in which business owners will design their own branding materials, and one year into their business realize that what they created really isn’t working, and that it would probably be wise to bring in a professional. All of the money they spent on printing their original items like brochures and business cards was essentially in vain.
c. Professional graphic designers are familiar with the legalities of the trade. We know that it is absolutely necessary to purchase licenses for the images and typefaces that we use in projects. Without these licenses you could face legal action, which I guarantee is not cheap. Bottom line– that clip art and those free fonts that you found on the internet? Not going to cut it.
3. A Graphic Designer will bring attention to your business.
Design is about communication- it’s a language unto itself. Successful design will take the message that you want to share to the world and send it directly to the people you want to reach and deliver it in a way that they can receive. A professional graphic designer understands the many subtle techniques used to craft these messages, and deliberately uses them to get all eyes on you.
More attention means more customers, and more customers means more cash in your pocket.
4. A Graphic Designer will provide you with a professional, polished image.
We live in a society that runs on perceived value. “What is perceived value?” you ask. Perceived value assumes that the better something looks from the outside, the more valuable it must be. What this means for business owners- no matter how amazing your product is, no matter how unbelievably talented you are, if you’re not presenting yourself in a shiny package, people will instantly decide that what you have to offer is simply sub par. While this seems extremely unfair, don’t let this point keep you from being a successful entrepreneur.
A professional graphic designer can help you develop a brand that matches the quality of your products and services. They can provide you with beautifully printed business cards and brochures. They can design a logo that not only gets attention, gains recognition, but communicates the ideas and values behind your business.
Believe me, I know. You started out with an idea that you were over the moon excited about and jumped right into the world of business development- only to have reality hit hard. You suddenly need to know things about marketing, graphic design, and “what the heck is a copywriter?” And oh, where would I ever find a photographer?
This is a common story I hear from brand new business owners. They’re not really sure what they need, and if they do know, they don’t know where to find it. On top of that, it can seem like you’re blowing through a lot of cash at once in the beginning. It’s a scary feeling to be parting with your dollars when your livelihood is dependent on your newly born business.
With all this being said, some of my favorite clients to work with are budding entrepreneurs. They are passionate and inspired. Every step is exciting. More than anything, I want to see these people succeed. And to make sure that they do, I am now releasing my specially designed Graphic Design Starter Packages for Small Business Owners.
These packages combine the different elements that a new business might need, such as logo design and business cards, as well as other services like photography and copywriting, and arranges them into an easy to understand pricing structure. This takes out the questions of what you actually need, and passes on the savings that small businesses can really appreciate.
Another benefit of these packages- I’ve already gone through the process of vetting a photographer and copywriter for you. You don’t have to search through Google results and hope for the best. I am offering you the best professionals I know.
As an entrepreneur it can be way too easy to let business take over every corner of your life. But like many of us have learned (the hard way!), you need to take time for yourself and the people you care about.
Remember when you were in kindergarten and you got a star for every time you did something good? It felt good, didn’t it? I know that I work better with a to do list, and I feel liberated when I cross things off of it- so why not make it fun?
I’ve created this weekly to-do worksheet for myself, which I’d like to share with you as a totally free downloadable PDF! Simply print it out, write in the items that you want to make sure that you do, and every time you complete one of those items, check it off! (Or add a star or smiley face, totally no judgement.) The worksheet has been divided into four major areas of life– physical, mental, housework, business/finances. (I include spending time with friends and family part of my mental well being, so that’s where I stick that.) And you can change things up from week to week. Completely up to you.
Please share this with anyone you think could benefit. (Did I mention it’s free?)
There is a special place in my heart for stationery design. I love to do it, and yet it doesn’t happen very frequently. So, you can imagine, when a dear friend of mine got engaged and wanted me to design her wedding stationery, I was beyond excited. And to top it off, this happy young couple is pretty open to my design ideas. They’re fun people.
Today, I’m featuring their Save the Date cards (I’ve changed the names and dates on the samples here). The bride and groom love to cook, and wanted both their affinity for food and their quirky personalities to come through.
Here is the final product, which got rave reviews all around!
I work with brides on wedding stationery on a case by case basis. If you’re interested in discussing your wedding needs, send me an email.
After working with several newsletter distribution providers, I recently landed on MailChimp. I had seen it being used with other newsletters that I subscribe to- graphic designers that I admire, and trusted business resources. I figured that there must be something to this.
Some pretty awesome features provided by Mail Chimp:
Always Free Service for Accounts with up to 2,000 Subscribers
Pulls your branding colors from your website and creates a custom color scheme for your emails
Facebook integration
Make custom QR codes for your newsletter signup form
Shows screenshots of how your newsletter will look on 60 different email clients
Allows comments from your subscribers on your newsletters
Custom signup forms and autoresponders
Below are two examples of recent newsletters that I’ve created and sent to my subscribers. Click on the images to be brought to the full version. To sign up to receive valuable graphic design information and goodies on a regular basis, click here.
I recently celebrated my 30th birthday with a Nerdy Thirty party (inspired by this book.) We all rocked out our high waters and black glasses, while chowing down on Nerds (the famous Wonka candy!). Being an obsessed graphic designer, I began a project for this party that I never finished, but I enjoyed too much to hide it. I started creating nerdy stickers. I am sharing them here. Feel free to take them and use them at will. They need a good home.
After Google’s little Helvetica/Comic Sans April Fools stunt, I was reminded of how fun font humor could be. This video and it’s sequel are brilliant. I always knew fonts had their own personality, and now it has been proved.
A lot of design work is going on for the upcoming Inward and Upward show. In the last post you saw the postcard (there are also coordinating posters and programs- what can I say, I get carried away!) In addition to the branding materials, I thought it would be fun to do some headshots- especially for this show. These are no stuffy headshots either. As a group, we decided that it was necessary to remain authentic, and if we were going to show our faces to our audience, we should show ourselves as we really are– fun and a little bit goofy.
Sarah, artist and photographer extraordinaire, started out by photographing us in front of a white wall. Later that night- that’s when the Photoshop fun began. I was inspired by the front pages of one of my favorite magazines, HOW. Each month, it features headshots of contributing writers and designers in an artistic treatment, one month may be watercolor, the next charcoal illustrations.
First reactions to the final product? “Hey, have you ever seen the video for Take On Me?”
I was just introduced to a new site that essentially allows you to make an online inspiration board. And not only can you create your own inspiration boards, you can peek at other people’s as well!
On Pinterest, you can set up several inspiration boards, one for fashion, art, interior design, whatever it is that fluffs your peanutbutter. After you’ve created these boards, browse the web as usual. When you see something that strikes your fancy, you can “pin it” by simply clicking on the Pinterest button on your browser, and it adds an image of your item to the appropriate list.
This is brilliant not only for inspiration, but also for cataloging. Planning a special project, designing a room, and need a place to keep all your sources and images in one place? Pinterest is perfect for just that.
I like to go poking through other people’s boards. By doing this, I find new shops I’ve never been to, blogs I’ve never read, photographers I had not yet discovered. Take a poke through my board here.
You need an invitation to join Pinterest. If you are seriously interested, I have four remaining invitations. Pop me an email. The first four people to request an invitation will get one!
I’ve long had a crush on Converse sneakers, namely Chucks. That’s why I find it hard to believe that after all of this secret swooning, I got my first pair only a few months ago.
The other day, someone turned me onto the fact that you can actually design your own Chucks now. You control everything, from the outside color, inside lining, laces, even the racing stripe. Whoa! You know I had to give it a go. Here’s my experience. You can try it yourself at the Converse website.
