Solving Your Identity Crisis

Graphic Designers Provide Creative Marketing Tools

Article by Heidi Thomas
Photos by Dave Brumbaugh

We all have computers and scanners these days. We can all go down to the local office supply store and buy a graphic-design program. So it should be easier and cheaper to design our own logo, brochures and marketing tools in-house, right?

Not necessarily.

Business Pulse talked with the following full-service graphic-design agencies that specialize in identity development and branding: MB Design, Toolhouse Design, Three Sixty Productions and Cartwright Zeiler Group, all in Bellingham, and GBA Design Group of Ferndale.

“I can go out and do some minor work on my car, but does that mean I should do the big jobs myself? No,” declares Matt Barnhart, owner of MB Design. “The level of experience, knowledge and sophistication in the business is the reason you go to a professional.”

Business owners need to be focused on running their business, he adds. The experience and knowledge to create “strong branding solutions” takes years to develop.

And it’s not necessarily cheaper to hire someone in your company to do your design and marketing in-house. Usually, the quality suffers, Barnhart states. Also, in addition to wages, in-house compensation includes vacation, sick time and other benefits. If your business is seasonal, you don’t need someone in this capacity year-round.

If you are doing a simple flyer that is copied, then you’re better off doing that in-house, Barnhart says. However, if you are looking to establish a corporate image or to gain name or logo recognition (branding) outside your community, then the professional designer can help you from concept to marketplace.

Rand Lien of Toolhouse Design agrees. “If you’re a small, local business who talks personally to all of your customers, a recognizable logo is not quite as vital as when you’re dealing with outside customers, where it is the only thing they see.”

A business can get a single project, such as a brochure, done by a professional agency, but most will likely realize the need for a stronger overall image and will grow into other aspects of marketing with that agency, explains Barnhart.

Another reason for doing everything through the same agency is consistency, adds Rodney Zeiler of Cartwright Zeiler Group, which provides full-service integrated marketing communications.

 

Research important

The first step is gathering information or concept development. What is the market audience? What are your goals in reaching them? What does your logo and marketing say to them?

“There is a tremendous amount of research done the first time,” says Lien, “so the cost is always higher on the first project. But we’re here to make sure it represents the client in the best manner.

“You want your branding to say ‘quality and professional service,’” Lien continues. “So often we are called on to correct marketing situations or recreate logos that have been done wrong or the business has outgrown the design.”

“We work closely with our clients to familiarize ourselves with their market and customer base,” agrees Barnhart. “We identify who they are currently working with and who they’d like to be working with. Once we establish a goal, we can offer solutions to get there.”

Next comes design development, with initial sketches developing the theme through images, copy, type styles, colors and paper to support the desired message.

“There are many talented designers in the country who sometimes create a design because it looks cool,” avers Barnhart, “but we like to concentrate on what is appropriate for our clients’ industry and audience.”

“All marketing tools, including printed collateral, must be part of strategically planned marketing to realize the business’s full potential,” adds Zeiler.

 

Fee arrangements vary

Another important step in the process is to develop a cost and scheduling proposal.

“As a business, you want to look at whether you’re being charged by the hour or by the job,” points out Whitney Pearce, who owns Three Sixty Productions with her husband, Michael. “It depends on the job, and sometimes it’s much more expensive to pay the hourly rate. Find out if the agency will bid on a per-job basis. Also, find out how many changes a client can make without being charged.”

The production process involves high-resolution scans of photos and artwork. Each individual element (often comprised of hundreds of separate pieces) is checked and rechecked, according to a brochure developed by GBA Design Group for its clients.

The design agency also can deal with bids and the printing process. “There are so many minute details in the process of putting ink on paper that we take care of,” states Lien, “so the client doesn’t have to know or deal with all the technical aspects. And it makes a huge dollar difference on how you print items if you’re dealing with a national market.”

 

They’re not ‘Just’ Artists

Graphic-design agencies offer many more services than just designing a company logo, as shown by the following Whatcom County companies:

Toolhouse Design (www.toolhouse.com), in business six years, started as a print design agency before expanding into computer design, but “we still do a ton of print,” says principal Rand Lien, who has 20 years of design experience. “We have a lot of clients who are very large and a lot outside Bellingham.”

The agency does everything from brochures, direct mailing and multipage catalogs to packaging, including cartons or corrugated boxes.

Cartwright Zeiler Group (www.czg.com) was founded six years ago as Wright, Hart & Mather. It now has four full-time employees and works with clients from Vancouver, B.C., to Seattle. Rodney Zeiler, design director, and Yvonne Cartwright, advertising director, are partners. Both have 15 years of experience in the field.

The agency can take the client from the planning stage through completion, working on product recognition, corporate identity, logos and packaging.

“Our expertise is part of our service,” Zeiler emphasizes. “Once we take on a project or a client, we have a strong sense of responsibility for achieving the desired results.”

MB Design (www.mb-design.com), also in business six years, has local and national clients. The agency employs four plus an intern. Owner Matt Barnhart, with 14 years of experience in the field, is the art director.

GBA Design Group (www.gbadesign.com), owned by Gerrit Byeman, is a full-service agency that handles a wide range of projects, including market research and surveys, packaging, trade-show exhibits, brochures, advertising campaigns and Web sites.

The name says it all for Three Sixty Productions (www.threesixtyproductions.com). “We’re a small, full-service agency who will work with you in any capacity,” notes Whitney Pearce, co-owner with husband Michael. “We can start from scratch, taking a client’s idea and work through the design phase. We can also rework a design, or we can take ads that are ready to go and do media placement.”

In business since 1993, Three Sixty Productions has seven employees.