Three times when you need a designer and the one time you don’t
One of the areas that can often trip people up is knowing when you need to get a designer involved in your project. This post shares when you need creative support, and when you may not.
When you’re planning a new website or a website refresh
A website designer should get involved from the start so they’re aware of the requirements. Talking to me at an early stage about your website means that I can suggest the best platform, help you to achieve your website goals and create a bespoke design that achieves them.
I do not design a site until the content creation (words and images) has been completed to a good draft stage. If that’s a concern for you, don’t worry; I know lots of photographers, image libraries, and work alongside copywriters, so I can commission them for you or connect you to people I recommend. After the consultation, we’ve agreed on who is responsible for the copy, and the design begins.
If you’re not on a budget or want to play around with Squarespace first, you can sign up for the waitlist for Hello Lovely Website Templates, and get access to professionally designed templates and lots of options to get you started, all backed up with support from me.
When you want to publish a book
If you’re thinking of publishing a book, then you may be interested in Design Club which will feature a course on self-publishing, alongside the design course. This will walk you through the steps from imagining your published book and what you can learn from that, through being an author and all the roles that you need to be aware of as you embark on self-publishing.
A book designer is more than a formatter or a typesetter. A formatter will sort out the pages of an eBook, and a typesetter can create pages based on the design and layout provided by a book designer. Often the book designer does all these roles in self-publishing, and they may be separated out in traditional publishing via a publishing company. A book designer can work on fiction and non-fiction, to create bespoke design solutions such as titles with illustrated pages, workbooks, coffee table books, fiction, poetry or a magazine-style design. The book designer can also create your book cover and marketing material, including the book launch.
A book designer should be able to tell you about
print finishes
fonts
appropriate styles for your genre
suggest design solutions and choices
page sizes
work with an illustrator or commission an illustrator, and source images with awareness of copyright
work with or commission proofreaders, copy and development editors
produce an eBook.
When you’re stuck with your logo or brand
Branding might change as you grow your business, and you may find that what once worked doesn’t quite suit your clients or your market anymore. It might be influenced by external developments such as accessibility, platform changes or cultural sensitivity. You may lack critical parts of the logo, such as guidelines or a file type, or be stuck on what to use and where.
It’s a great time to talk to a designer, as we can solve those problems for you. It might be a refresh or a full brand overhaul, but the aim is to give you reassurance and the confidence to use it well on social media, brief third parties, and most of all, in your brand to be proud of your visual presence.
When to hold off calling a designer
When you start a new business, you might want a logo immediately. I know I did, but that’s relatively easy as a designer, but I had 3 logos in two years as they were not reflecting the path I took. Of course, I can design them myself but that’s a significant cost if you’re in the early weeks. I recommend that you save up the budget and look at logos and branding a few months into trading, maybe even a year. A designer can work with you to create a brand that’s perfect when you’re ready. I’ll work with you on a bespoke logo and brand that reflects you, your business, your customers and future customers. You may find this Branding and logo design Q&A useful, as it covers the most common questions around branding.
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If you’ve got a problem project or you’d like a bespoke design, then it’s never too early to get in touch.
