Design Matters in our Visual Culture
by Maya Sunpongco
Published on this site: April 19th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
First impressions often leave lasting impressions. Impressions
also result in people's perceptions. There goes that age-old
debate -- "Perception versus Reality." I say that
perception is someone's impression of reality. And sometimes...
no matter what is reality, you just can't change people's
perception of a situation or thing.
Let's define these words...(im·pres·sion) noun: a
characteristic, trait, or feature resulting from some influence;
the act of impressing. (per·cep·tion) noun: a result
of observation.
To make a long story short, "Yes, design does matter!"
- When you meet someone you hope to date, don't you want
to make a good first impression? You want to be in nice
clothes, have your hair just right and be in the right place
at the right time.
- When you shop for books at the bookstore, doesn't the
nicely designed books attract your attention... let's be
honest, we do sometimes judge a book by it's cover then
read on for content?
- When you meet people, don't you give them a firm handshake?
Why do you do this? Because you want them to know you are
confident.
- When you attend networking events and you hand people
your business card, you don't want to say, "These are
just my temporary business cards." I've heard this
many times at networking events. You lose credibility and
your ego and confidence gets deflated doesn't it?!
Your website can ruin or build your credibility. Which would
you prefer? People can judge how professional and/or serious
you are about your business when they start looking at your
website (or any other marketing materials they get their hands
on). Online (on the Internet) you have only a few seconds
to impress yourvisitors before they make a conscious decision
to click away or click for more information. So help them
make it easy to click for more information.
You should put the same effort and attention in your marketing
materials (business cards, letterheads, postcards, direct
mail, voice mail greeting, etc.) as you do for growing your
business. So if you decide to (re)build a website, remember
that impressions online should compliment what you'd like
your potential and current customers to remember you by...
as if you had met face-to-face.
To illustrate the before & after on how Design Matters, download
the full article at:
http://www.designinsomnia.com/..../before_after.pdf
Chief Imagination Officer and Website Mentor with DesignInsomnia.com,
Maya Sunpongco has designed over 100+ websites since 1999.
She is a mentor to entrepreneurs and designs websites that harness
the "Power of Design to Communicate" the benefits of your
products and services. Maya delivers her Website Workout Assessments
to help small businesses, like you, explore the impact of your internet
presence. Send Maya your "Web Design Question" at: [email protected]
Subject: [Ask Maya] Web Design Question.
|
