Question: Why do small businesses settle for poor to average design? Part Two: Center Justify, Just say no.

What with all the software available, online printers, and social media to use for marketing yourself, a lot of businesses are determined to do their own design to save money. Center justify is used, again, and again, and again on websites, business cards, brochures, Facebook cover photos, Facebook photo id’s, you name it. I’ve seen a whole brochure center justified. I’ve seen lists center justified.

Ok, I admit it. (Hanging my head in shame.) I’m guilty too. When first I started doing flyers for a local arboretum I center justified. Enrolling in a digital design program enlightened me. A good book for beginning designers is "The Non-Designer's Design Book" by Robin Williams. 

Why center justify? If others were working off of the same mistaken belief as I, it was to draw attention to the information. The belief is that having everything in the middle will focus on the text and important information. It offers balance. It looks good, right? Not really. If everything is in the middle, then everything is “focused” and, essentially, you aren’t focusing on anything. It also screams amateur. 

Basic composition principles apply to photography, traditional art and design. One of them is the rule of thirds. The main focus of a design or image is off center. This applies to text as well. There are exceptions to the rule but the key word here is “exception”.

Center justify is good for headings, titles, and sometimes logos. It is not good for lists.

Example of a center justified list.

Abilene   Albuquerque   Amarillo   Anaconda   Anchorage

Apple Valley   Arlington   Athens   Atlanta   Augusta   Aurora

Austin   Babbitt   Bakersfield   Baltimore   Baton Rouge

This city list is in columns and left justified. It’s professional looking, orderly and easier to read than the list above.

Don't center justify or center everything. The flyer below has everything center justified and the store image is centered. 

The second example has the store image moved down a little. The saturation of blue and largest text is at the top. Information for the store is at the bottom and aligned to the right.

The second flyer is more visually appealing.

Check out my website at http://leftofcentergraphics.com 

Question: Why do small businesses settle for poor to average design?

What is the goal of a business? Basically it’s to make money. First they have to attract customers and that means getting noticed. In today’s world there are low cost ways to advertise your business by using social media. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have free basic service and a small business can utilize the many free web templates available.

These free services make it easier for small businesses to get their name out there; in other words to get noticed. But is it a good notice or a bad notice? How important are looks? Would you go to an interview wearing your bathrobe or hand out your resume on a paper towel? No. Marketing, whether through social media or printed material is the resume for the business. In essence, the small business is constantly on interview when attracting new clients. So why don’t small businesses put their best foot forward?

Friend of a Friend

For most businesses design is not their area of expertise unless they are a design firm.  They don’t understand the impact typography; use of color and basic composition elements can have on their marketing materials. They do their own website, business cards etc. or they have a friend of a friend, daughter, son, nephew, or cousin do their design. They honestly believe what they have is fine.

The first flyer I did for the Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation (LWAF) I thought was fine. This was done before I enrolled in the Digital Design program at Pierce College.

The flyer I did this year for their spring plant sale looks more professional.

2013 Flyer for LWAF

2009 Flyer for LWAF

Money

Small business can save thousands of dollars when they do it themselves and saving money is a strong incentive. But the money that’s saved on advertising by using social media could be used towards better design and the material used for printed products. Business cards or brochures printed on plain copy paper have less of an impact than those printed on heavier weight paper – think paper towel versus photo glossy paper.

Options

I have often suggested using student interns. You’d be surprised at the quality you can get from a student intern. Typically, internships are unpaid but paying a stipend for their effort is highly recommended.

The other option is to find a designer who is willing to work within your budget. You may not get all the bells and whistles you want but you will get what you need that looks professional. 

Are you looking for a graphic designer? Check out my website at http://leftofcentergraphics.com