Design Council Launch Free Small Business Guides

The Design Council has created 3 new free guides to help start-ups and small businesses find and work with designers effectively, use branding to their advantage and create more successful websites.

Based on research with both small businesses and the design industry, all guides include step-by-step advice, real-life examples and ideas that other small businesses can learn from and put into practice.

Over 25 case studies are included across the guides, showing how business-owners have overcome challenges faced by all small businesses.

Finding & Working With a Designer - this guide explains how to choose and work with designer, focusing on the needs of a small business by demystifying the processes.

It includes how to agree budgets, get the most for your money, writing a brief and establishing the best rules of engagement and processes needed for running a successful project.

The Power of Branding - this guide sheds light on the subject of branding - what it is, how it works and how it can be used to help improve a business. It includes why a brand is needed, how to identify a brand, how to communicate it and the relationship between design and branding.

Getting a Great Website - this guide deals with how to improve a business with an effective website. It leads business-owners through steps on how to find the right web designer and work out business needs, and shows how websites can increase sales, reduce costs and encourage interaction and feedback from customers. It also covers going-it-alone and a glossary of terms to help understand a potentially confusing topic.

For further information and to view the guides please visit the Design Council website.