The more I work with businesses just starting out or even businesses that have been around for a while the more I’m amazed by the ingenuity and hard work that owners put into their businesses. I’ve gone over this before but small business owners have to be knowledgeable about an incredible number of things. Marketing, accounting, insurance… it’s really amazing that they find the time to do the work that makes them money!

I want to talk today about the business owners who take design into their own hands.

This is not an easy thing to do. Sure the software that most designers use can be bought by anyone but it’s not cheap and to an outsider, it’s definitely not easy to use. Creating your own design when starting out can be a frustrating experience. There’s things to learn like RGB & CMYK color modes, the difference between vector & raster images, fonts, image resolution sizes, stock photo copyright, the dozens of file formats and much, much more. Those are just some of the basic things you can encounter when working with design programs but it doesn’t stop there. Just because you can buy the software and push some pixels around doesn’t mean your work will be good or that it will me the requirements for a successful ad. These applications are just tools that a good design uses.

Design is hard but necessary work.

Some people have an eye for composition and can put things together that look good for their needs. Designers usually go through years of training but knowing a program is only part of the battle. It’s hard work. I respect the heck out of anyone who wants to try to take on these tasks. I spent years learning about how to create engaging composition in addition to working with color schemes and learning lessons in gestalt theory. Because it’s become my career it can be easy to dismiss the confusing and often contradictory things that go with good design and the tools it takes to create them.

I know not every business owner can afford to hire a designer and I want to sincerely express how impressed I am with people who try to undertake it. I hope one day, you can let someone in my profession take over that area of your business and help you out. In the mean time, don’t give up and keep following your passion!