Pre-made graphics templates have become increasingly popular in recent years and there are three main reasons for this:
Graphics templates allow non-designers to create professional-looking graphic designs with just a few clicks;
They offer a quick and easy solution for businesses and individuals
The most popular apps/software that offer these templates are free!
In short, pre-made graphics templates are easy, convenient, fast and inexpensive. But can they truly replace the expertise and creativity of a graphic designer?
Pre-made graphics templates have limitations
While pre-made graphics templates can provide a good starting point for your design, they come with limitations. Here are the three biggest ones:
Limitation 1: you won’t own the right of usage of that design
One of those limitations has to do with… the rights of usage of whatever graphics are created within the app/software that provides the templates! As an example: did you know that if you create a logo using a template in the popular app Canva, you cannot register it as part of your branding? This means that literally any other person/business in the World could create a logo exactly like yours, use it as they please and even trademark it if it was created by a graphic designer using professional software like Adobe Creative Cloud. Can you imagine the legal implications of a situations like this to your brand or business? From night to day you’d need to re-do ALL your branding from scratch, potentially remove/destroy all assets you have with that logo… and I’m not even considering the legal implications of it if the other person/business would decide to sue you for using “their” logo. I can confidently say that marketing and branding wise would be an absolute nightmare that would impact your business in the most negative way.
Limitation 2: your designs won’t stand out from your competition
Another large limitation is the lack of originality in your design. These pre-made graphics templates are often used by many people, meaning that your designs may look similar to others or even a full copy if you don’t try to customise it in a certain level. In practical terms, this means that if you use pre-made graphics templates for your social media posts and stories, you won’t be standing out from your competitors! Your post will be just another one on people’s social media feeds and you may be losing potential customers because visually you couldn’t catch their eye.
Limitation 3: you may not be able to fully customise the elements in your design
And finally, the third limitation: templates are limited to the elements that are included in the design, and you may not be able to fully customize the design to fit your specific needs. Let’s say you found a template with a lovely green patterned background that actually fits your branding… apart from one thing: the colour green is not part of your branding. You may be thinking “Oh, I can just change it to purple as purple is my brand colour!”. Well, you cannot if that background is a JPEG or PNG image and the app/software you’re using doesn’t have an option to colorize images. Having the nice elements won’t be of any use if you can’t customise them to be a perfect fit your brand.
Good news: a Graphic Designer can easily overcome these limitations!
For a business to have a successful branding and marketing strategy, it needs to have a distinctive look and feel.
A professional Graphic Designer can help you achieve that because they have the expertise and creativity to create exclusive and bespoke designs tailored to your specific branding needs and marketing goals.
This is only possible because a Graphic Designer has a deep understanding and knowledge of design principles, colour theory, typography, rights of usage, trademark laws and can use those skills to create designs that effectively communicate your message and stand out from the crowd.
Besides their knowledge, a Graphic Designer can also provide valuable feedback and recommendations on your design concept. They can propose changes that will improve the overall look and impact of your design, and therefore help you to achieve your branding and marketing goals.
Plus, it’s always worth considering this: a professional Graphic Designer not only creates beautiful designs but also runs a comprehensive research work before starting any designs to ensure they’re bringing you something truly unique.
In conclusion
While pre-made graphics templates can provide an easy, convenient, fast and inexpensive for basic design needs, they cannot fully replace the expertise and creativity of a professional Graphic Designer.
For truly exclusive and effective designs that successfully communicate your message, it is best to work with a professional Graphic Designer.
