Figuring out how the world can be perceived in unique ways requires a level of creativity. A creative individual looks for hidden patterns in everything. A ‘creative design agency’ does exactly that. Not only are employees at a ‘creative design firm’ creative enough, they also uphold brand guideline. Creative design is a technique that looks for connections within these brand guidelines, to derive sustainable solutions.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
– Maya Angelou
1. Introduction
A ‘creative design guide’ or ‘ultimate creative design guide’, needs to answer all our creation-oriented questions such as, what creative design is? What does a creative design agency do? And what are some factors that indicate how good a creative agency is?
The language we use in our blog posts are clear to understand. Although this is a guide, we will ensure that every section or sub-section on this post is covered in another standalone post. We would also love to get notified by you with regards to how we can make this post better. Feel free to communicate with us in the comments section below. Let’s get started then…
Introduction to Creative Design
2. What is the Meaning of Creative Design?
Creative design is associated to both advertising and marketing. Creative designing involves the designing of organization collaterals such as brochures, videos, product labels, annual reports, presentation decks, billboards and even signages.
Creative design can be processed either a digital illustration software or paper sketches. Creative designing follows a streamlined structure where each step from layout, prototype and final project, is planned.
‘Creative designers’, are usually a team that comprises of graphic designers, photographers, artists and copywriters. Creative design agencies are client-centric and provide solutions that engage, inspire and increase-revenue.
A dedicated creative design agency will ensure that the designs are unique. It could be something as simple as, a hand-drawn logo; which is then converted to vector. Creating engaging iconography inspires and makes your project stand-out.
Meaning of creative design
2.1 What are Some Key Creative Design Principles?
A creative design needs to align with a number of principles in order to produce a finished graphic or model. Some key creative design principles are:
1. Collaboration
There must be a general concept for a creative design. It begins with a rough layout, which then gets transformed into illustrations. There needs to be healthy collaboration between designers, project managers and the client, that leads to creative designers achieving credibility.
2. Prototyping
An approved rough sketch is just the beginning. Without a workable prototype, any creative design development will fail. A prototype is the closest thing to a finished project, which is created as per approved expectations and specifications.
3. Inter-connection
In case a design needs printing from a third-party vendor, technical requirements or any engineering service, the design needs to be compatible with all inter-connected entities to succeed.
“Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it.”
Salvador Dali
Creative Design Principles
3. What is a Creative Design Agency?
A creative design agency offers a combination of advertising, technology, design and strategy services to its clients. A good creative design agency is defined by its business model, core values, employees and services. An agency of creative designers builds their business on either one or multiple service categories. Four such categories are – Advertising, Design, Strategic & Technology.
1. Creative Design Services
Agencies within this category primarily focus on design as a service category. They maintain excellent relationships with external partners such as consultants, agencies, and engineers. They offer both print & digital design services. Product design, interior design, and branding services are covered as well.
2. Complete Service Digital Agency
A creative firm that identifies itself as a ‘service digital agency’, excels at executing complex projects. They combine all major service categories i.e. design, strategy, advertising, and technology. The design aspect includes UX, photography, and visuals. Advertising projects deal with PR, B2B marketing, and promotional content.
3. Creative Interactive Agency
Here, the agency focuses on building fantastic web-based projects. These agencies are hired to provide immersive digital experiences. Clients look for engaging multimedia content, robust design, and innovative technology.
4. Creative Digital Design Agency
Agencies falling under this category do not provide advertising services. Their main focus lies in building a product or a platform over microsites. A digital strategy is created for clients who hire them. They also strive to maintain a long-lasting relationship with clients, so as to deliver services related to design, strategy and technology.
A subset of a creative digital design agency would be called a product agency. A product agency creates products for clients, as well as, for themselves.
Creative Design Agency Tasks
5. Creative Advertising Agency
A creative advertising agency will focus purely on advertising and marketing requirements for their clients. They build a good rapport with specialist partners. Social specialists, PR companies, and traditional ad agencies are their designated partners. Advertising and strategy are the key areas they cover.
6. Creative Engineering Agency
Agencies here are focused on becoming technology experts. They combine partnered agencies with in-house design teams to build complex client projects. Solving technical challenges is what they strive to achieve. Some strategy, with a lot more technology, is what they look to cover.
Synapse Quick Tip: Always Question the Brief
7. Creative Innovation Agency
Agencies within this category make use of design extensively to solve client problems. Armed with industry knowledge and data-driven insights, they create innovative ideas or products. The focus again is on design and strategy.
8. Creative Consulting Agency
Strategy is what they base their ideas on. In-depth research is performed on various industries & markets. They encompass both creative services as well as professionals within the same office. They approach is strategy driven.
3.1. What are the Values of a Creative Design Agency?
Every creative agency believes in a set of core values. It makes a huge difference to a creative agency’s reputation and brand identity. We need to understand creative design values because that is what clients look at, before hiring them. 8 such values are:
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- Ethics – They do what is right, instead of what is good for business
- Responsibility – The agency operates in a socially responsible way
- Personnel – Excellent workplace breeds purposeful creativity
- Innovation – Prototyping, and R&D are always set as priorities
- Quality – The ‘overall quality’ always trumps over ‘hunt for revenue’
- Growth – Focus on profitability allows growth in margins & efficiency
- Agility – New ideas & flexible operations ensure a rise in reputation
Creative Design Agency Values
About Synapse.co…
After such a long blog post, we wouldn’t want to harp on about our services. But, for those who want to know what we do;
We are an India based, business communication agency that offers the best services for digital marketing, advertising, content marketing, and brand storytelling.
Our copywriters, graphic designers, and project managers provide the best services in content & digital marketing, and business communication.
Synapse’s brand design team works as per your brand guidelines to create an impactful brand identity. We work on crafting impactful brand experiences for every business.
We ensure better internal communication between you, your employees, your clients, your customers & your investors. Improve your company workforce efficiency and grow your profit margin through creative business communication.
Improve your company sales targets by designing marketing collateral that attracts your customers and clients. Increase business sales by opting for effective content & marketing strategies.
We help businesses fix communication problems between clients, prospects & employees. With our bespoke content marketing services, content creation will never be a problem.
If you want to embed business storytelling into your business’ mundane internal or external business communications, then hire us. You won’t regret it…hit the button below to get in touch with someone from our team
