As a graphic designer, I deal with a lot of business materials—from business card design, to website design, to advertisement design—and as a result, I pay a lot of attention to the materials I see out in the world. It surprises me how often those materials fail to properly include all three of these.
Who you are
This one is a given and, admittedly, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a design that completely failed to do this, but your business name needs to be presented clearly. Without this, your customers can’t find you again and they can’t easily refer other people to your business.
What you do
One that gets missed more often is clearly identifying your core business activities—the products and/or services you offer. This one is oftern a problem because of jargony or non-specific text. Generic terms, such as “solutions” or “systems”, need to be accompanied by wording that makes it clear exactly what you’re offering. Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who has come across your materials without context—would they know what your business does?
Why the customer should care
This is the big one—and the one that is missed most often. Your materials need to tell the reader why they should take interest in your business over your competition. This is also referred to as your USP or “unique selling proposition” and it can make a huge difference to how much of your target audience become paying customers.
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My name is Mark Garrison and I’m a graphic designer and illustrator based in Victoria, British Columbia. I have more than 20 years of experience producing creative work in a variety of media and using strategic thinking to build and grow projects.