In the modern age of competitive business, the ability to differentiate and stand out in the marketplace is essential. The designing of company logos, branding, marketing materials, internet marketing strategies and eye catching websites has now become standard practice in the business world. As the quality of such design work directly affects the consumer perception of the quality of your business and the services it provides, it is imperative that the professionalism and creativity in the designs are of the highest quality.

With the advent of the internet, both consumer behaviour and strategies in business positioning have altered significantly. In a world where businesses can be compared visually over the internet in a matter of minutes, the visual impact of such business branding and marketing must be targeted to appeal to the desired customers and be effective in rising emotive responses of consumers to purchase from your company over the endless and growing supply of competition in your given industry.

There is now a plethora of research information highlighting the importance of the internet and the visual experience in consumer behaviour and decision making processes. Online shopping is increasing at an exponential rate. ABS recently released figures showing that over 17 million Australians spend at least half an hour per week online, with over 61% of those spending more than eight hours per week online. The same trends are being experienced in New Zealand, with the United States topping the charts with nine out of 10 people now purchasing products online. According to research, the most popular online activity is reviewing products and services before a decision to purchase online and offline is confirmed. Those companies that are able to differentiate themselves with a superior online visual design are experiencing increased demand and sales, both online and offline.

With the knowledge of changing consumer behaviour, businesses are now investing large monetary sums into the development of a professional and unique online presence. With the rising popularity of social media sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and blogging accounts, the need to create a format and design that separates a business from the competition is becoming increasingly difficult. The escalating demand for educated graphic design professionals is a direct result of these businesses attempting to create a unique selling proposition and to stand out from the crowd.

From the success of visual design in these business practices, roles traditionally the premise of marketing experts are now employing specialist graphic designers in the process of designing effective email marketing campaigns, newsletters, company profiles and the like, to build upon the success experienced with engaged internet and website marketing strategies, while reinforcing the visual brand and logo that has been portrayed. The results have shown that a concerted effort to promote a professional visual presentation of the business contributes to increased customer loyalty, engagement and purchases. As the world we live in becomes increasingly visual and interactive, the demand for graphic design professionals and quality tertiary courses is only set to increase. If you are contemplating a vision for your future, enrol in a graphic design course, and let your creativity take you away.