Are you wearing all the hats in your business?
When you step into too many roles, you can start to let things… even in your area of expertise.
You want your business to look professional and highlight a powerful and clear message that speaks directly to your customer. So, when the need for graphic design comes up, do you put on your DIY Designer hat and get to work?
According to Investopedia, one of the top 6 reasons businesses fail is because of bad internet presence and marketing. (AKA – What you look like online, in an inbox, and in your downloadables.)
Some coaches in the health and wellness or fitness and nutrition industries think hiring a Graphic Designer isn’t worth the expense. Maybe you think it will be faster to do it yourself. The ol’ DIY game has its appeals, I feel ya. So you decide that graphic design is where you want to spend your valuable time, instead of in your area of expertise?
If that’s you, check out some of the surprising mistakes I find in many DIY design projects, that could be avoided by strategic graphic design decisions. (Your Opt-in especially is going to thank me!)
Before we start
But before we dive into the 4 mistakes I see all the time, I want to emphasize one thing. Your message is the most important part of your design project. Yes, a designer is telling you that your words matter more! If your message isn’t clear, then your customers won’t put the energy into trying to understand. They’ll move on to your competition. But, that’s a different blog post 😉
OK, that being said…
MISTAKE 01 – Too many words.
Yes, you know your stuff! But are you way too wordy?
You’re so knowledgeable about your business. So it’s easy to get carried away being too wordy. The reality of today’s readers is that they are actually today’s skimmers. We’ve all done it. Your reader will skim. Period. So, if you present them with dense, hard-to-digest text, do you think they can process any of it quickly? (This is true for your website, opt-in, emails, annual reports, anything really.)
Why is this a mistake?
When your content looks like a book report, your words have become visual clutter that overwhelms your reader. Ask this girl – who’s participated in my fair share of decluttering challenges. The first task is ALWAYS clearing the visual clutter.
The quantity of words is not what brings clarity. It’s your core message that brings clarity. And your goal in any marketing effort should always be to give your reader clarity.
Resource: Lacking clarity in your brand message? A great place to start is: Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
How to cut the words:
Once you think your content is final, try cutting the word count by 25%. If you feel like a challenge? Maybe cut it by 50%. (NOTE: I do recognize that blog posts may be a different line of thinking when it comes to word counts.)
MISTAKE 02 – Cramming Too much Stuff
Maybe you’ve heard this before, but white space is like a deep breath of fresh air after being cooped up inside all day.
Let’s imagine together… You’re designing your value-packed Opt-In PDF. Your written content is awesome. You’ve found a killer photo (or 3, or 5). You want your headline to stand out so you’ve hunted down a super bold font. You think to yourself, “hmm, that photo could use a caption.” Then you remember you need your logo so people know who’s providing this out-of-this-world content, and oh, let’s add your contact info somewhere.
Listen. It’s tempting to try to fit all the good stuff onto one page. But when our readers encounter so much packed into a single page it feels cluttered. Like, “GO CLEAN YOUR ROOM.” type cluttered.
Why is this a mistake?
Visual chaos can communicate company chaos. Adding too many components to a page can communicate chaos quickly. And we know by now, that chaos does not help bring clarity to your customers.
Readers will quickly move on when they feel overwhelmed. It’s overwhelming to absorb a mass amount of information all at once, sometimes not knowing where to start. Rather than overwhelming your reader, make them feel welcome and invested in absorbing your valuable content. Let them take a deep breath and breathe it all in!
How to clean up the clutter:
Add Pages. It’s as simple as that. Spread that valuable content over a number of pages. This lets each component breathe and gives readers space to truly take it in.
Even on a website, add pages or use a collapse-expand feature to hide the majority of content until the reader chooses to view it all.
If your marketing piece is legit only supposed to be a single page, it’s time do some design math. Figure out what can be subtracted without taking away from the core message you need to communicate.
MISTAKE 03 – Too Many Fonts
Fonts can be an expression of creativity. With so many fonts at your fingertips, why not try a few out?
Let’s use Font 1 for the header and Font 2 for the subhead. Font 3 looks good for general paragraphs. Font 4 and 5 will be fun for pull quotes and captions. And Font 6 is perfect for my call-to-action. And then there’s your logo font to add to the mix (Font 7).
Why is this a mistake?
Sensing a theme yet? You want to avoid visual chaos. Too many fonts on a page can easily be likened to the saying “too many cooks in the kitchen.”
When a reader has to discern between distracting fonts to figure out what to look at first, it causes hesitation. Any hesitation is an opportunity for them to begin questioning if they should spend their time or money with you.
How to Pick Fonts Wisely:
Stick with 1-3 font families. A font family includes font variants, such as bold, italic, regular, and light. Don’t be afraid to add variety within a font family. This is not the same as adding chaos by using many font families.
You’ll find that having 3 core fonts is perfect. One for Headlines/Titles, a second for Subheadings or accents, and a third for Body Text. But I want to point out again, that You could have a Bold 36pt Font for your heading, and the same font at 14 pt regular for your body text.
MISTAKE 04 – Center Everything/ Yucky alignment
There used to be a time when centering your text was new and fresh? It drew attention and made us assume it whatever was centered was important to read.
Soon it became over-applied, and the days of strategic centering have passed. However, the habit of centering still persists in DIY design projects. In fact, the pattern goes beyond text and flows into photos, logos, and any other element or graphic. If in doubt, center it? Someone somewhere must be saying that to people.
Why is this a mistake?
Centering every item on a page can confuse the reader. Where do they start? What’s most important? Is this a poem? It any lacks hierarchy. As you may be starting to memorize by now, you want to avoid causing confusion and aim to make your content visually clear.
How to align all the things:
As a general rule, keep text left aligned. This helps the reader glance through the content more smoothly. You want to make everything easy to skim.
Use centering strategically. Try center alignment for a pull quote, or a testimonial. Using this alignment sparingly can help imply emphasis.
BONUS: Veering Off Brand
Yes, you had 4 points to help you out. But I couldn’t help adding in something I know will be a good reminder.
Like I said with fonts, it’s tempting to see all the pretty things and say, “YES!” You end up with rainbow color palletes, a whole font library, and icons from 5 different design sets.
Great visual brands have a set Brand Playbook they use to keep them on brand. It’s the bible of their brand visuals. They know exactly what their colors are, fonts to use, all the way down to how small to size their logo, and what file types to use.
When your brand doesn’t have a playbook like this, it’s easy to veer off the path you wanted your visual brand to be on.
How to stay on Brand:
Create a Brand Playbook that helps any and everyone who touches your brand visuals represent your brand the same way every time. And Stick To It!
As you head into your DIY design project keep these in mind. Your readers will be grateful for your clear and strategic approach to design, even if they can’t put their finger on why they like what you’ve created.
Ready to avoid the mistakes a surprising number of coaches are making in their DIY Graphic Design projects? Clear the Clutter. Give Clarity. Stay on brand.
If you need a bit of help creating your brand playbook, I have a tool that could really help. Get your Brand Playbook Template today.
Ready to avoid the mistakes? Level up your brand by using the exact systems I use for my clients in Canva:
