I came across this post and couldn’t help but cringe a little over how common the practice of “fast food design” is. Not only is design being done quickly in these situations, it’s often being done cheaply. Too often, this means it is being done poorly.

Over the years, I’ve had several jobs with the turn-around of a day or week. They weren’t fun and they weren’t always great, but the clients were happy to have something in their hand or on their website. I was shocked to see companies spend so much time and money on developing their product/service, brand, and identity, and then throw a quick logo together. The logo is what people see first and what they will (hopefully) automatically associate with a company. The logo is the greeting, in a sense, that welcomes people into a brand and asks them to care about who a company is and what they do. Having an amateur design, done quickly and with little time for thought, automatically makes a company look amateur.

Similarly, marketing materials that are not done well can make a company appear unfocused, unorganized, and desperate. Clients need to why they should trust one company over another. By putting together well designed, well planned materials in the beginning, companies can move forward with a strong brand identity and a clear message to their clients.

My friend often points out that you can judge the state of the economy by how many designers have jobs. Almost every designer I know has been laid off recently. Unfortunately, design is too often considered an “extra” and is one of the first things to be cut from the budget. That doesn’t mean that the need for design disappears, it just means that companies are letting go of the people who know how to do it. Secretaries become the new designers and Word becomes the new Photoshop. The freelance gigs most designers are getting are quick, low budget jobs. It gets ugly pretty fast.

Quick and cheap designs will put something in a company’s hands, but these design usually have to redone and mean more time and money in the end. I would encourage companies to really think about spending the time and money early in the process and start off strong, saving both them and the designer time and stress. If nothing else, do us all a favor: no comic sans or papyrus, folks.