Questions about whether design is necessary or affordable are quite beside the point: design is inevitable.  The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all.

Douglas Martin
Copyright 2010 SharpBeak Design
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The ‘self-made’ business image - cheap, fast, and easy - ruins thousands of companies every year. Budget constraints force people to do their own designs or use whatever ‘free’ design services are offered by their advertisers.  What ends up happening is a phonebook ad that looks nothing like their newspaper ad, which looks nothing like their business card, or worse, looks like a squished/stretched version of their business card! 

By utilizing the services of a professional designer, you can ensure that no matter what medium you are using for your marketing, your company image is consistent, professional, and memorable.

Because you can’t prevent people from judging a book by its cover. What you can do is make sure that the cover is an enticing reflection of the story inside.