5 design resolutions to make this year.

Ah, the feel a fresh new year. It seems like everyone is making goals, getting healthy, and getting their hustle on in their businesses.

Whether or not you subscribe to the tradition of resolution making, January is still a great time to reset and evaluate what you are doing in your business. No matter what you do, implementing great design can only take you further.

When setting your goals, there are lots of ways that design can elevate your brand, product, and documents. I challenge you to make these 5 design resolutions this year:

1. Strive for consistency. Nothing says "I'm a stellar business" like consistent design. Give your clients a beautifully branded experience. Bring a cohesive look to everything from your social media post graphics to your proposal docs, invoices, emails, packaging, and more. You want someone to see your graphic on Pinterest and instantly know it is yours! A cohesive look in all your output will do just that.
2. Stick to a defined color palette. Not only will this help build the cohesiveness mentioned above, it will help you feel intentional about what you are putting out into the world and bring a professional look to your materials. Color has a huge effect people (see this post on color here!) and you can easily use that to your advantage with a carefully selected color palette.
3. Use pro typography. Want to look silly? Choose a font that is hard to read, juvenile, or trendy. Everyone knows not to use Comic Sans, but it's just as important not to use a font that has the wrong personality for your brand. (See this typography post here for reference!) Instead, make readability a priority (not just something pretty) and use those carefully selected fonts in everything you put out. Surprise, surprise: this ties back to the consistency tip above!
4. Make your design your own. No one likes a copycat. You may love the branding that someone else developed, but making a mediocre copy will only make you look silly and unprofessional. For one, how can you stand out in the crowd if you look just like someone else? Plus, you want something that truly reflects the heart of your business, which by definition is unlike anything somebody else could offer. Making it yours will make it both timeless and unique.
5. Hire a professional when needed! Make this the year you stop struggling with DIY design and hire a fab designer for those projects that are out of your ability range. You may be able to put together a blog post graphic, but think how lovely it would be to have your logo looking awesome, get your website into shape, or spruce up all those digital downloads or lead magnets that you offer. Not only will you look oh-so professional and serious about your business, you'll get back all those hours you spend tinkering around with Photoshop to use in something more productive for your business.Maybe this is the year you hire a copywriter, photographer, biz coach, or assistant as well! Make good investments and you'll see them come back to your business many times over. Do what you do best, and delegate the rest.

What are you hoping to achieve this year? Think about how great design can help make that happen!