Mistakes…. Sure we all make mistakes at one point or the other. They can be little or outrageous and costly in nature but in all, they can put us in an awkward situation. Therefore, it becomes very important for graphic designers to try as much as possible to avoid certain silly mistakes. However, the good news is that graphic designers can actually avoid such mistakes if they make conscious efforts to overcome them.
Graphic design is a field of work that requires seriousness and dedication, considering that it involves different aspects including branding and image of companies. As such, any mistake when designing things like logo, website, brochure, business card, etc, can potentially lead to damaging consequences for a company. On the other hand, a perfectly created graphic design can present a company and its products or services as a trustworthy brand to its target audience.
Company or business logo can also pass across important messages to the public in a subtle yet powerful way through its colors, images, symbols, etc which a graphic designer would have to use to convey a particular message.
So, below are a rundown of the silly mistakes graphic designers have to overcome in order to have the perfect results.
Make Sure You Understand Instructions
Effective communication is important in all things, but when it comes to graphic designing it becomes critical because it could make or mar the outcome. The client and the designer must understand each other, and while it is the duty of the client to provide all necessary details very clearly, it is also the responsibility of the designer to understand every instruction accordingly so they could be on the same page.
The designer should analyze the client’s instructions while brainstorming and taking note of the points. Whenever the designer is confused about any aspect, he should not hesitate to reach out to the client and clear any such issue.
Do Not Be In A Rush To Deliver
While it might be tempting to hurry up and deliver ASAP so you can get paid, however, you need to apply caution. Graphic designing is not a “fast and furious” game where speed is crucial; instead, it requires careful and meticulous work so you can be able to produce an impressive result. Being in a hurry and using shortcuts, workarounds or quick keys to gain speed could also depreciate the quality in the long run. This is not to say that you should go at a snail pace but knowing areas where you can apply speed and others where you need to be meticulous is important.
Ensure There Are No Spelling Mistakes
Nothing can ruin the work of a graphic designer than having silly typographical errors. That you are not a writer does not mean that spelling errors are excusable. Also, while you may have a spell check, remember that they are not always reliable and can miss some graphic design mistakes. Therefore, carefully go through your work and ensure that everything is in order before sending to the print.
Do Not Sell Yourself Short
Do not sell yourself short by accepting a task that is beyond your skillset. It will be counterproductive to pick up a task you are yet to fully develop skills for. As a graphic designer, you should only accept jobs that are within your capacity to deliver effectively and efficiently. Otherwise, you may end up delivering a shoddy result that would disappoint your client and give you a bad reputation. Worse still, they may decide to underpay you or outrightly refuse to pay and your time and energy would have been wasted.
Avoid accumulating too many projects
While it is the desire of most graphic designers to be getting lots of patronages, you should know where to draw the curtain to new projects. Having to work on diverse tasks with definite timeframes could easily burn you out as you battle to beat deadlines. In addition to that, quality may be sacrificed as you multitask yourself with clients breathing down your neck. Delivering low-quality jobs or missing deadlines because of mistakes that occurred due to divided attention would adversely affect your reputation. Regardless of how tempting it can be, you should know when to say no to new orders if you already have enough on your hands.
It is worth more than gold as you will be better served in the long run by having a good reputation due to high quality and timely delivery to your clients.
Be A Professional
Always ensure that you follow through on the instructions of a client. You don’t have to make changes that are outside the specific request of a client just because you felt it was better. Remember that the client is not paying you to create something you like so always stick to a client’s needs and vision.Here are the few resource list of free graphic design websites and tools
Likewise, granted that it may be convenient, cheap and fast to always use stock images, you should rather do so with moderation. Lots of people have access to stock images so it would appear a little unprofessional when most of the images are easily identifiable.