The Problem With Homegrown Design

I did it myself for 20 years. I mean I designed my own marketing materials and ads. I started Kennon Aircraft Covers out of my garage. Money was always tight. We spent $60,000 to $80,000 on ads a year but next to nothing on professional design.

• As I look back, here is how I rationalized it:
• No one knows the product better than me.
• I know how to scan images and use Adobe Pagemaker to layout the text. Might as well use what I know.
• I will save time if I do myself because I won’t have to communicate with anyone. In fact, I never have to leave my office. A few magazines occasionally "reworked" my ads. They must have been really bad.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the quality of the ad design is a reflection of the quality of the magazine. They reworked the ads, and spared me the embarrassment of ad rejection because of poor design.

Things changed when I started Bella. Our graphic artists took over the design responsibilities from this novice and now I look back and see how silly I was over all of those years to spend well over a million dollars publishing my own poorly designed ads. I am a believer in professional design, not only because I own a business that provides that service, but because I was blind but now I see.