Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

We’re all familiar with this adage. Unfortunately, in the business world, people heavily rely on first impressions when making buying decisions. People don’t see the market as a place merely to spend money, but as a tool for building their persona. In today’s world, where sharing your lifestyle is merely a thumb tap away, people want to align themselves with brands that make them look and feel valued and valuable. Because of this, design plays a huge role in the snap judgements people will make about your business. How does it make them feel when they see and interact with it? Is the experience worth sharing with other people?

If everyone is special, no-one is.

Because of the amount of choices available today, it’s no longer enough just to have a logo and website - everybody does. Because of large corporations like Apple, Microsoft and Google, good design is available en masse. Often times if your brand aesthetic and web presence aren’t well-put-together or don’t make the customer feel an emotional attachment to your idea, that will be enough for them to throw you out with the other 500 brands they’ve seen, whose websites look like they were created back in the times of dial-up. We’ve all witnessed that fantastic local spot close their doors and have been left scratching our heads as to why - especially when that other place across town - the one with the cool sign, easy-to-use-website and cohesive atmosphere, whose food is only 85% as good, seems to be thriving.

Treat others as you want to be treated.

Ultimately, good design is your first message to the consumer that you care about them, because it shows you care about yourself. Instead of sitting back and hoping people will approach you, it is you saying, “Hey, I’m here reaching out to you. I care about what I’m doing and I think it will add value to your life.” In a sense, good, clean, approachable design is the visual equivalent of “the customer is always right.”

Look, you’ve got a great product to offer people.

If your service will be what creates loyal customers that come back time-and-again, good design will be the thing that brings them through the door in the first place. While it’s unwise to judge a book by its cover, people more-than-likely will when their money and reputation are on the line. Combining a powerful idea with a well-designed aesthetic will ensure you create a book with a cover that will attract new readers, and whose pages will instantly become a classic to everybody who reads them.

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And you know what they say? Classics never go out of style.