5 Design Skills Every Small Business Designer Should Know

Today’s small business designers have to do it all. You’re designing your company’s business cards, editing video, and creating animated images for a mobile-first campaign – often all in the same day. Mastering a variety of creative tools, finding inspiration, and being comfortable working in different creative mediums is essential for keeping up with today’s constant demand for content. To make the most of your Adobe Creative Cloud for teams subscription, check out our step-by-step tutorials to learn how to make great looking content for your company.

How to make a business card

Ten billion business cards are printed in the U.S. every year. Swapping business cards might seem outdated in a digital world, yet small business staff exchange business cards all the time: at industry events, with prospective customers, and to establish credibility. Whether you’re creating a modern, minimalist design or embracing one of the latest business card trends, you don’t have to start from scratch. It’s possible to start with a template in Adobe InDesign and customize it with your logo, color palette and font choices for a unique card that’s right for your business.

Design a one-page newsletter

Newsletters are one of the most important marketing tools for small businesses, and as a designer it’s critical to create a template which looks great digitally and in print. Eighty-two percent of companies are using email marketing today, and that number is growing. If you can help companies create professional newsletters which are optimized for print, email, and online sharing, your skills will be in high demand.

Make a logo in InDesign

Logos tell your brand’s story through shape and form. “The smile in the Amazon logo extends from A to Z, or the arrow in the FedEx logo between the E and the X may not be something you see at first glance. Yet, its purpose is revealed over time,” noted Adweek. How can your company’s story and visual identity come to life in a logo? Integrate color inspiration, vector shapes and typography to design a logo your customers won’t forget – and that looks great in both digital and print.

Create an image for social media

From the growth of visual social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to the fact that visual content gets 94% more engagement, images for social media are a must in every small business designer’s toolkit. It’s possible to combine original photographs or images from Adobe Stock, text and artwork to create original images for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels.

Create an event or business flyer

Seventy-seven percent of B2B marketers use in-person events as part of their marketing plans. Promotion is essential for getting the word out, increasing attendance, and getting the maximum ROI for your company’s events. Flyers are also a great way to get the word out about your business to a local audience or to leave out at events. As a designer, you know that a versatile event flyer can be mailed out, shared online, and serve as the visual inspiration for social media promotion. Use InDesign to repurpose existing visual assets, publish PDFs, and share your event flyers online.

To learn more about making the most of your Creative Cloud for teams subscription, check out our business design tutorials.