TODAY ART-ICLE | KarmaGraphic

Few years ago, I had an opportunity to discuss with one of Indonesian well-known ‘branding expert’ about “how we can survive as a graphic designer, specially a freelance graphic designer. Does style affect?” He said, “What is style?! Go to hell with it. Style is killing designer!”

His answer really shocked me, because I am a graphic designer who likes certain style of design, and without I realized people recognized my work by that style.

What he said might be true for graphic designers who work at advertising agency or some creative boutiques, because they have to be able to fulfill what clients need and obey their boss.

It made me think. Do I have to change my style?

Then I tried to trace all the way back. I have been 10 years working on graphic design field, during that time I always design with a certain style which more oriented to German style that has a certain characteristic such as ‘neat, compact, well alignment with strong square or rectangle geometrical shape’. In fact, in my early years I broke the design style one of the biggest local bank which already known as a very conservative bank with ‘minimalism, modern and geometrical’ kind of design.

That makes me sure that graphic design style is not always about era, just like many people think. Style is more related to like or dislike. In other word, a certain style won’t kill designers’ life.

On the other way around, a freelance graphic designer will be able to survive with his/her own style.

A freelance graphic designer, who has his/her own style, unconsciously would create his/her own target market. With their portfolios, prospect clients would see the characteristic of their artworks.

So, to those (future clients) who like our design style will fall in love automatically when they see our artworks without wasting more time to brief us what they want. The only information we need is about product they sell or message they want to deliver. They already trust us on how we will visualize it.

We don’t need to deal with hard to please kind of clients.

But still, it doesn’t mean that we are stuck and stop digging our creativity. Explore and strengthen the style in order to get the personal touch, that way our style will be our identity in graphic design industry.

Design style that becomes identity is very important for freelancers, because it is not easy for freelancers to get new clients. That is how to attract new clients.

Article by Anton Ardjanggi

A good business brochure gets attention most of the time. It has a maximum marketing power that when optimized your business brochures generate enough command for the right kind of attention to get you your aimed-for sales. A good business brochure contains text and information that makes your target readers asking for more.

One thing a good business brochure is not is boring. If you want your business brochures to bore the heck out of your target readers, then you can rave all you want about you and your business and you’ll definitely get a nod – a nod to never neverland, that is.

Your business brochures definitely gets on the top of the list of boring items when you focus more on your company’s name and image rather than what you have to offer in terms of your products and services.

Your business brochures are considered boring when you go on and on about your company’s story and abandon what is most important in your brochure printing project – how you can help ease the nagging problems that beset your target audience.

On the other hand, excellent business brochures are more about your target clients and their concerns, and how you can make this world a better place for them.

So how do you develop excellent business brochures that get your target readers’ attention?

You can have excellent business brochures when you know everything about your target market. When you write your brochure printing copy, include everything you know about your clients – What problems do they encounter on a regular basis? What frustrations do they have? What threats do they encounter that impede their business growth? What are their fears and desires?

You can have excellent business brochures when you have a stand out headline that grabs your target readers’ attention. A headline that addresses their innermost issues and helps them to confront their worst fears, that is what would drive them to get a better view of your business.

You can have excellent business brochures when your target clients see that you have addressed certain issues and concerns, which gets them to believe of your interest in really understanding their situation.

You can have excellent business brochures when you have concrete proof that you can solve a problem. This can be made possible by including a case study or testimonials to your business brochures.

Finally, you can have excellent business brochures when you can state clearly a specific, unique and memorable proposal that differentiates you from all the other dick-and-harry who have presented the same things you are now offering.

Get your desired outcome by providing your target market with business brochures that gets their attention. Looking at the things that will make your target clients the main focus of your business brochures can help you soar in ways that you have only dreamed about previously.

Article by Colleen Davis

Graphic Design is a composition (lay out) of some elements which are shape, form, line, typography, color and image as well.

Graphic design communicates visually using text or images to present information, or deliver a message. The art of graphic design strives for a range of skills and crafts including typography, image development and page layout. Graphic design is applied in communication design. Like other forms of communication, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created, and the products (designs) such as creative solutions, imagery and multimedia compositions. Graphic design is basically applied to static media, such as posters, flyers, magazines and brochures.

Things to be considered when you do Graphic Design:

- Harmony
- Rhythm
- Balance
- Repetition
- Unity
- Color Scheme

There are varying degrees of graphic design. Graphic designer involvement may range from verbally communicated ideas, to visual rough drafts, to final production. In commercial art, client edits, technical preparation and mass production are usually required, but usually not considered to be within the scope of graphic design unless the client is also a graphic designer.

Article by Anton Ardjanggi