Does Image Quality Matter?

Does Image Quality Matter?

What are you looking at? Oh I see it now. What a beautiful website, fantastic ad, or great piece of design. The typography is on point, the colors work together, the hierarchy keeps the message clear and present. BUT. THAT. IMAGE. That image used on the website, the digital ad, the printed marketing piece, is so low res that it's pixelated almost beyond recognition. And now all anyone can see, or focus on, are the tiny little squares making up your image. No longer will people say, "Hey, did you see that awesome ad?" but instead will say "Hey, did you see the image they used in that ad?" And that's not a compliment - that conversation was not going to continue with "It was such an awesome image." Maybe it was an awesome image, but at such a low resolution, who can tell?

Why Is Image Quality Important?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, why would you want to do the equivalent of visual mumbling by using a low quality image? Imagery is what graphic designers use to show you what they want to talk about when words just aren't enough. Marketing departments spend hours and hours working with graphic designers and photographers to create the best looking images possible because everyone at some point in their lives has bought something because the pictures made it look so cool. That's a lot of power in a picture.

How Image Quality Can Affect Your Business

Think about all the effort a small business owner puts into marketing their business. Realizing the importance of a web presence they invest in a website, digital ads, and create social media accounts. Printed marketing material like store signage, business cards, trifolds, or magazine ads are developed. Content is worked up to use on all these platforms. So much time and money has been spent, and the business owner thinks it is all going to look fantastic, until they see the mockups, the drafts, the prototypes, and then they realize that those product photos that looked good on the small screen of a phone are outrageously pixelated and unrecognizable on a computer monitor or printed ad. All that work, all that time and effort, is almost worthless because the low res imagery is distracting and incomprehensible.

An Easy Fix

The solution is simple - don't use low resolution images. When you're thinking about the best way to market your product or service don't overlook the power of your pictures. Find good stock photos that represent your business or brand so you can use them from your website to your trifold. If you want something more custom and unique then work with a graphic designer to create the imagery and graphics for your business - they'll make sure everything is sized appropriately so you'll never see a pixelated picture on your website again. If you sell products consider using a product photographer who will get multiple staged shots of every item and will provide you with a variety of high resolution file types that can be used for digital or print.

Looking For A Graphic Designer Or Photographer?

The team at Alt Media Studios has you covered! From graphic design, photography, videography, digital ad design, or printed marketing materials, we can provide what you need. Contact us today to get started!