There is a malady going around. It's not fatal, and it doesn't really strike individuals. It strikes small businesses, clubs, small volunteer organizations, and so on. I call it the "Cousin Bob Syndrome." It works this way.
Let's say the group needs a logo (or something similar). When this is being discussed, someone will say: "I've got this cousin Bob who's pretty good with that stuff." If the group is run mostly by one person, this might happen without any discussion at all.
So rather than have this task done by a more skilled individual, it ends up being done by someone's cousin (or brother, or roommate, or the kid next door who owns Adobe Illustrator). It may even be someone within the group, though that isn't really relevant.
And this in a way is completely understandable. A small group or business usually starts on a shoestring budget. The entire budget may be only four digits (to the left of the decimal, we hope). In a case like that, a group can't be expected to spend thousands on a graphic designer or a web designer or anything of that sort.
But frequently we tend to go too far in that direction. We underestimate the importance of good, professional-looking design. These things matter, whether we're talking about a logo or a web page or a business card.
If you are starting small, and you don't intend to grow, your cousin Bob's work may be prefectly fine. But if you want the organization to grow and evolve, you need to allocate more and more of your resources to these things.
The problem, of course, is that people tend to be short-sighted. When the overall budget has grown by a factor of 10, there is little inclination to increase spending on the things that are "for show." A business or a group naturally wants to concentrate its efforts on its primary purposes, not on the "incidentals."
But if you don't project a strong, professional image, you are handicapping the group forever. You're placing limits on its growth.
Not everyone is a graphic designer, and some people can't even recognize good or bad design. But most people are affected by it, consciously or not. They may draw a negative conclusion about your group without even really knowing why.
Let's look for a moment at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. Let's look at Coca-Cola, whose red and white logo is recognized by an estimated 94% of the entire world.
With a net worth of 74 billion and an annual revenue of tens of billions, you might think that Coca-Cola could "rest on its laurels." And to some extent, maybe it could. But instead, they spend more on advertising than Microsoft and Apple combined -- a whopping 2.9 billion a year. They know that their corporate image is important. The "little things," the "details" -- these things matter.
Imagine that your overall budget increases by a factor of 20, but your budget for advertising, marketing, and so on doesn't increase much at all. You may have a problem. Your group may stagnate, stop growing -- or even reverse its progress and die.
Of course, it isn't just about graphic design. It could extend to writing, proofreading, web design-- almost any area.
At the very beginning, your cousin Bob may do an acceptable job. But try to avoid going down that road for too long. Spend the most you can afford for the best work you can get. In the long run, it will pay off.