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Are You Ready To Be Our Client?

This may sound strange to you, but hear me out. If you are a company that isn't ready for us, maybe this will serve as an eye opener.

Graphic design is a tricky business in that it is highly subjective and its results can be somewhat hard to quantify. The end result may not intuitively reflect the work and knowledge that went into it.

Most businesses value professional work. Many of them hire accountants to balance their books. No business in its right mind would think about trying to represent itself legally. Many companies are even willing to hire cleaners to come in and empty the trashcans.

And yet, there seems to be a disconnect between the businesses willing to hire design firms and those that aren't. For some reason, many businesses view graphic design as a frivolous expense or as something that they can do themselves. When current advertising efforts aren't working, they have a hard time seeing how spending money with an ad agency is going to help.

Looking at this in a different light, consider the process of fixing a broken down car. Maybe you have some general knowlege of cars. Maybe you know a lot about your own car. However, when that car breaks down and does so in a way that is beyond your ability to fix it, refusing to take it to a professional mechanic is exactly along the same lines as refusing to let a professional design service fix your advertising.

Sadly, many businesses simply aren't aware that their advertising requires fixing, or don't realize that it isn't working. Many simply assume that there isn't any more business to be had and therefore can't justify any further advertising expenses. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, if your business isn't performing up to expectations (and let's be frank, who wouldn't prefer for their company to make more money?), then the only way this will change is if you take action. A broken down car won't fix itself.

Part of the problem is that the end result of successful graphic design often disguises the process. A logo, for instance, is by nature a very simple graphic. This is its purpose as it is the very simplicity of a logo that assists with making it memorable. But that simplicity is what makes many businesses balk at spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on the design. Their perception of cost versus value is centered solely on that tiny little graphic and not on everything that it represents, or that such a simple image may define a company for the remainder of its lifespan.

Our agency doesn't have some magical pre-assembled reservoir of symbols and designs. We don't just pull a piece of clip art out of a bag. Each design process is uniquely tailored to each client. In order to create a symbol that effectively communicates what a business is all about, we must learn as much about the business as possible: its history, its past, current and future customers, the personality of its owners, the competition — all of these factors must be studied and considered.

When we present our clients with a design, we haven't just thrown elements together. Rather, we are proposing an advertising solution that is based upon not only our research of the client's business, but also upon our experience of what works and what doesn't. Your area of expertise is running your business. Ours is advertising your business.

We don't view any business as too small or too large to work with. Often, we are able to come up with effective solutions to fit within any reasonable budget. However, our one criterion for all clients is that they must all have enough of a desire to improve their business that they are willing to accept professional help to do so. For these clients, we will bend over backwards to help them succeed.

Does this describe you and your business? Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

This article is copyright © 2005 by Freshly Squeezed Design and may not be reproduced in part or in whole without permission.

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