Thinking of starting a design agency whose sole focus is creating Microsoft Word templates? Yesterday I covered the need for this unique and undervalued service. Today we cover why one should not create an agency with a focus on Microsoft Word templates.
1) Word templates are extremely undervalued
Approach a company and say, “we’ll redesign your general use Word template” and you’ll proabably get a response of, “ok, for what? A hundred bucks.”
2) Time to learn each company’s branding
Designing a company Word template per their branding guidelines means diving into that company’s branding guidelines. Learning all their nuances. And then streamlining that into one Word file. Yipes. That would take some digging.
3) Time to make nuanced details in Word
Since Word isn’t the best program to design in, it does take extra time to push Word to make the finer details come to life.
4) Value not seen
The real value in having everyone using a branded standard Word template has immense value, but many at a company won’t see that value.
5) The mission of Word
Do you really want to make your company mission about promoting a Microsoft product?
6) Tied to one company
Anytime Microsoft comes out with updates, you have to know these updates left and right. Microsoft is one of the worst companies with it’s lack of consistency across releases.
7) Microsoft Word is fading out
With Google docs on Google Drive, why would anyone use Word? Google docs are collaborative and much easier for everyone to be working on the same file–live. Microsoft Word docs are like old ancient pieces of stone. Yeah, there is some live collaborative version of Word, but do you know anyone who uses it? I don’t.
Five years ago I tweeted:
To use Microsoft Word is to hoard. To use Google Docs is to share.
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) October 1, 2010
Designing a Microsoft Word template is like designing a WordPress template. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes detail to address in both situations. You have to do lots of testing in various environments. The end user of the template will do lots of crazy things to your work.
I’m so glad you pointed out Microsoft’s lack of consistency for updates among their products. It’s quite annoying.
Indeed, Microsoft is a giant.