Graphic design can be time consuming, which is why most businesses require someone with a unique set of skills and the right amount of experience to create their corporate graphics. However, that isn’t always a feasible choice for smaller businesses. At Majestic Sign Studio, we specialize in graphic design services—here are some of our graphic design tips and tricks to help businesses save time with design.
Time Saving Graphic Design Tips:
1. Get Inspired
Instead of going to the idea board for new design concepts each time you need to create something, start with taking a few minutes to look at other designs and get your creative juices flowing. Our Pinterest page is full of ideas. We recommend creating your own inspiration boards on Pinterest to see your possibilities and easily reference your ideas. It’s important to not get bogged down on details at the beginning of your project. Instead, get a general idea of what you want to do and the tone you’d like to have. This will help you create a more cohesive design, and will save you time determining a direction for your piece.
2. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Instead of going to the board for new ideas each time you need to create something, take a look at what you already have. Do you have corporate design guidelines that you need to work within? Can you utilize stock photos or templates? Look for free fonts to use that can easily enhance the quality of your design. To help with your color scheme, try and find premade color swatches to use in Illustrator.
3. Plan Your Idea First
Now that you know what you want, and what you have to work with, plan out your idea. Sketching your idea on a paper helps plan what steps you need to take, and also helps decide if your ideas are fully feasible. Planning your idea in advance helps minimize problems you may run into, thus saving time on unnecessary problem solving.
4. Use Shortcuts
Programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop can be difficult for beginners. While practice makes perfect, shortcuts help save time in your design. Keep a list of Adobe shortcuts that you can utilize whenever possible. If you don’t want to use an Adobe program, research some free graphic design tools and find out what works best for you and your needs.
5. Understand File Formats
You want to ensure your file has the right resolution for your application, whether it be print or web. So when it comes to saving your files, arm yourself with some basic knowledge on file types to help save time when you’re ready to complete your project. See our graphic design tips for more information on file formats.
If you need further assistance in your graphic design, contact our team of experts for a creative consultation on marketing graphics.