Businesses are always looking for ways to simplify their work, and designing products or ads is no exception. If you are looking for tips to simplify your business design, this is the right place. But make sure to remember that simplifying a process won’t always speed it up, and this is often a good thing.
Simplifying a process—especially a creative process like design—leaves more time for preparation and analysis. And time to review any edits or corrections. This will result in a better result or product. instead of using the added time to surf the web, use the time to ensure a successful outcome for your business.
Here are six ways to simplify your business design.
Outsource
Leave it to the professional(s). Yes, it will cost you some money, but your time is valuable too. And I guarantee that if you outsource to a good designer you will get a better product in a fraction of the time it takes you or your in-house assistant (unless you have hired someone who specializes in exactly what you are needing).
Download or create templates
If outsourcing isn’t your thing, you’ll need to learn how to simplify your own design process. The best way to do this is to work off of templates. You can find templates for almost any standard design product by just googling them. Here are a few: VectEezy.com, Template.net, Brandpacks.com, Freepik.com, Free-logo-design.net.
It’s also pretty easy to create your own template. It will take you a little bit of time and effort initially, but it will save you a lot of time in the long-term.
Learn shortcuts
If you are using design software like Adobe, there are hundreds of keyboard shortcuts. And learning a few of the ones you use the most is essential. Rather than searching through the Adobe Photoshop drop-down menus for an option like Camera Raw, you could just press Shift+CMD+A (Shift+CTRL+A on a PC) to edit your photo. Or instead of manually doing a step over and over on Adobe Illustrator, you could just press CMD+D (CTRL+D on a PC) and it will automatically do whatever action you just did again for you. You can use this shortcut an unlimited number of times.
Using these shortcuts will make your work fast and smooth, and you will impress your coworkers.
Here are three free files I created with some of the most used shortcuts for Adobe Illustrator (Ai keyboard shortcuts), Adobe InDesign (Id keyboard shortcuts), and Adobe Photoshop (Ps keyboard shortcuts).
Design simple
Unless you are a design expert, complex design should be avoided. Simple design will look a lot better and be a lot faster and easier to create. It is difficult to make complex design look good—even for good designers. In marketing, clarity is essential, and complex design can quickly make a message unclear, turning it into complicated design. A complicated message is never helpful in a marketing setting.
Legendary designer Michael Bierut put it well when he passed on some advice given to him by his first mentor: “I was reminded of something I learned from another mentor, my first boss after I graduated, Massimo Vignelli, who once described the difference between complication and complexity. ‘A love affair that’s complex is wonderful,’ he said, ‘but a love affair that’s complicated is a disaster.’”
Draw or write a clear idea before you start
Starting with a blank canvas may be fun, but it will slow down the process. Experiment on your own time. Create on your business’s time. If you have a very clear idea of what you are creating before you start, it will eliminate the long experimentation phase and get you to your goal faster.
Use sites like Behance or Pinterest for inspiration
There are millions of artists out there who are better than you (and me). Use them as inspiration. Don’t copy their design, but copy elements of multiple designs to create your own. This way you don’t have to struggle to create everything on your own or try to be “original.” A true artist understands that originality is a very nuanced term.
