Marketing versus Design

While I would never claim to be a graphic artist, I’ve done my fair share of design work over the years.  Newspaper ads.  Websites.  Presentation boards.  Coupons. Displays.  Business Cards.  Vehicle wraps.  You name it and at one point or another someone has come to “the guy I know that knows Photoshop” to get some design work done.

It’s always been the most painful part of my technology career.  Yes, even worse than friends and family asking me to help them fix their computers.  I could probably write an entire book on the horror stories of people wondering why their Word documents and PowerPoint presentations didn’t look sharp when blown up to poster size and why they weren’t able to just use that cool graphic they found on Google in their prints.

Going beyond the technical challenges of modern graphic design is the fatal flaw of the customer not having a clear vision of what they want their hired artist to create.  Almost every graphic design project I’ve worked on has started out with an initial meeting that started with me opening with, “So where were you thinking of going with this piece?”  The meeting then promptly collapses when I get back from the client, nearly without fail, “I’m not really sure.  That’s what you’re here for isn’t it?”

Graphic artists are not marketing experts.  In fact, most graphic artists I know don’t get along that well with marketing people because whatever they recommend is either a huge cliche or damn near impossible to create given the time and budget.

I’m here to tell you that the graphic artist is often wrong.  Sorry graphic artists.  Love you but it’s true.

Graphic artists do have a strong creative talent, but not necessarily the best vision for your piece.  Graphic artists have the skillst to execute the vision of the marketing folks and they may even be able to take that original vision beyond what you might have thought possible, but my advice to you is to not bring a request to a graphic artist for a new logo for your dog food company without some idea of what you’re looking for.

Find yourself a marketing person you can consult with.  Let them generate your creative vision.  Then turn to your graphic artist to get the work produced.  If, by some wonderful luck, you come across that rare breed of artistic genius and marketing guru, offer them a six-figure salary, give them the corner office, and sign them to a lifetime contract with your firm.

You won’t be sorry.
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Cover photo provided by fotographix.ca
Article photo provided by kasrak