Hi there. It’s time for another Be My Guest (Interview Series) where I introduce you to someone in business and they share some practical hints and tips with you. Today I would like to introduce you to the lovely Chichi Eruchalu of Kanso Creative.
Chichi is the Creative Director of Kanso Creative and has a passion for helping female entrepreneurs elevate their business through gorgeous graphic design, clear communication tools and one to one business coaching and support. For those of you who recognise it is time to move your business forward professionally, but are not sure how – she can help you get started on the journey!
Describe yourself in 3 short, fab and fun sentences
Hi I am Chichi Eruchalu and I own Kanso Creative. I have a passion for helping entrepreneurs elevate their business through gorgeous graphics and clear, well designed communication tools such as websites, newsletters and social media. It pains me when I see poor design, especially when I know that the image being portrayed is not reflective of the business. I am married with one daughter and live in Essex.
What motivated you to pursue the field of Graphic Design?
I love to be creative whether it is drawing, sewing or baking. My dad was a printer and I used to spend endless summer holidays helping him with jobs. I learnt so much and it spurred my passion. I found it fascinating how you could go from a concept in your head to a full fledged design and would spend hours on my computer playing about with my own designs.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
No one person, but anyone who has taken life’s challenges and turned them into opportunities, inspires me.
What’s the best business advice you’ve ever been given?
Know who your ideal client is and then focus your time and energy meeting their needs. Knowing your ideal client is foundational to all that we do in business. Get this right and everything else flows.
What three tips would you give to people when choosing a Graphic Designer?
- Be clear in your own head who you are targeting and what you want to achieve with the project. That way you will be able to effectively communicate this to your designer. Also what are your long term design goals? Right now you might be looking for logo design, but later down the line web design and print design. If you have a design journey in your head, look to choose someone who will be able to travel alongside you, rather than using different people for different things which could lead to inconsistent items. Give your designer the opportunity to get to know your business inside out.
- Is the designer personable and professional? Are they able to communicate effectively? Do they ask the right questions? Do they listen to you? Can you work alongside this person, bouncing ideas back and forth? What is their design style? Design is very much a collaborative and communication process, so look to choose someone who has a style of design that matches your brand and what you need, not the style you prefer personally. This way you will have a better chance of getting the design you require.
- Listen to word of mouth and ask to see their work. Referrals from people you know is a great start. Also make sure you see examples of previous work and are confident that they can deliver what you have asked for. A good graphic designer will be able to tell up front whether or not they can undertake your project.
What are the three biggest mistakes that people make when designing their own materials?
- Using the wrong tools for the job. Often I see people trying to design images or logos in something like Microsoft Word which in reality is NOT suitable at all. I get that not everyone can afford the top design software, but there are plenty of good free alternatives e.g. Picmonkey which will allow you to do the basics.
- Colour and font clash. I see this all the time. My advice: choose a palette (Color Hex [link www.colorhexa.com] and Design Seeds [ http://design-seeds.com/] are great for choosing colours schemes) and work within it! Also aim not to use more than 2/3 fonts on any given project.
- Lack of consistency across print and web. You can overcome this by having your designer create branded templates for you which can be used across Word/Powerpoint, Social media etc. I have done this for several clients creating newsletter templates, Facebook meme templates and Powerpoint templates thus ensuring consistency across different platforms.
What strategies do you know work when it comes to clients providing you with a brief for a project?
- Being clear on the outcome of what you want to achieve. What is the end goal?
- Mood boards and other sources of inspiration – Pinterest is great for this. Create a mood board and share with your designer.
- Sketch it out, give examples. Even a basic outline of what you are after will go a long way in helping your designer understand what you want to achieve.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Graphic design done properly will elevate your business and set you apart. It is worth the investment.
If I wanted to connect and/or work with you where would I find you?
Thanks Chichi, it has been great to have you as my guest and really good to hear how we can all drive our businesses forward through fabulous design. Chichi has kindly offered us 15% off her Social Media packages and templates, just use this discount code: RM2013.
Be sure to pick up her ebook ‘6 Ways to take your business from Rookie to Respected’ (here) which tackles some of this stuff.
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On a final note my new Cappuccino Coaching Sessions are now up on my Events page. Why not book a session for someone for Christmas? It would make a lovely unusual gift and be a great start to their new year (a personalised gift voucher can be provided). For more details click here.
Thanks for having me on here Ruby, pleasure!