By Alan Coleman on 28 Jan 2014
I have this pencil. It's my absolute favourite and it may just have magical powers. Stay with me here, this anecdote has a point, I promise. Whatever I draw with this pencil will be infinitely better, and everything about the drawing will work out perfectly. It's the weight, the way it pares so well, and how it glides about the page like a really excellent figure skater. I know, right? I don't have to think about the pencil being in my hand and can concentrate on just drawing. That's what great design does, it allows you to do your job in the most efficient yet beautiful way possible. Design should never say “Look at me!” but “Look at THIS!”, and having a design work for rather than against your brand can only be good for business. Sure you're here now, so we'll have a look at why it's good for business, shall we?
1. Making the right first impression
That old “don't judge a book by it's cover” pearl of wisdom, doesn't really apply anymore. We're all a bunch of Judgey Marys, and if something doesn't look nice, we're just not on board. Did you know it takes just one twentieth of a second for a user to form a first impression of your website? ONE TWENTIETH OF A SECOND! Some researchers have also found that it can take up to twenty meetings to erase a bad first impression. That's a LOT of time for you to spend being dazzling, when really you could just have your well-designed brand do the winning over for you, leaving you to do what you do best! 
2. Keeping everyone engaged
Statistics show, and I think we can all agree here, that nowadays our attention spans are less than desirable. Woeful is a word you might use. Having a really well designed layout of a website is so important in keeping the attention of your user. You want to get your valuable information across as clearly and efficiently as possible. Using nice, clear, legible fonts on lots of white space is just lovely, easy reading! Do try use some pictures too, a nice image can really break up a scary looking text heavy page, and(!) statistics (sure we're all about the numbers here) show that people react to visuals a lot quicker and better to text. In a completely unrelated matter, here's a picture of a bear, wearing a tophat, spraying some Lynx. 
3. Good Design is lasting!
Now that you're refocused after the bear interval, I'll hit you with the important bit! Of course not everyone can have a massive budget to pour into the design of their business. But a really good design is lasting. Even if the majority of your competitors have rinky-dinked their logos together in MS Paint, that doesn't mean you have to! A well designed logo can last you years and is so important to the credibility of your business. Just look at Coca Cola or Golden Syrup; OK they are truly exceptional cases, but these logos have barely changed since their creation in the 1800s. Nice, right?
I cannot stress enough that - whatever you do - do not underestimate the importance of your business's design. Investing in really great quality design will only serve to benefit your business in the long term. It's the first thing people will notice about you and the lasting impression you're leaving as they check out their other options available. Basically lads, all you need is some pretty swish design and sure you're laughing. Jen
