What to expect when working
with a graphic designer
So you're thinking about
using a graphic designer to give your business
a professional edge, but you're not sure what
to expect. Whilst every design firm has slightly
different procedures, all work to a logical process
that is much the same from one studio to another.
Let's start with the initial consultation. The
designer will sit down with you to discuss your
requirements. They will ask about your business,
the products and services you provide, the industry
in which you work, your competitors and your target
market. It is helpful if you can bring any of
your existing marketing material, competitor's
marketing material and samples of marketing material
that you like, from any industry or profession.
This helps to give the designer a clear idea of
the people you are selling to, who you are up
against and most importantly, who you are and
what is special about the products or services
you sell.
The
designer will then ask for details of the proposed
job, including the nature of the job (logo, business
card, brochure, website, etc), the number of colours
to be used in the job (single colour, spot colour,
process colour), the stock or paper to be used,
the number of copies to be produced and any other
details relevant to the design and production.
If you have not yet decided what form the piece
will take, they will discuss your requirements
with you and advise you of the most appropriate
way to proceed. Be open with the designer about
your budget. In this way they can plan to work
within those limits.
To do this they may produce less concepts from
which to choose, select a less expensive method
of production or recommend an alternative printing
process or paper stock. They may also discuss
alternative options you may not have considered.
If you intend to use a printing company unknown
to the designer, give the designer the contact
details for them now so that they can discuss
printing specifications with them and plan to
prepare the job around these.
Ask to see samples of the designer's work, preferably
something similar to what you intend to produce.
Check the quality of the work, and ask them to
explain how they came up with the design. What
were the specifications of the job? How do they
work? What are their payment terms? Keep asking
questions until you are satisfied that you have
all the information you need.
After the initial consultation, at your request,
the designer will provide you with a quote outlining
all expected expenses. Be sure to read the fine
print of the terms and conditions and if the designer
doesn't call you when you within a week of receiving
it, call them - and ask lots of questions. If
you accept the quote, many designers will request
a deposit and a signed agreement to proceed before
commencing work on the project.
You
will now need to provide the designer with any
digital copies of your logo or livery, standards
manuals for existing designs, all copy to be used
in the piece and any images to be used.
Alternatively, you may request that the designer
provide services such as logo recreation (if you
only have a hard copy or a low quality digital
copy of your logo), copywriting and image sourcing.
If you require these services, be sure to tell
the designer at your initial consultation so they
can quote accordingly.
The first thing the designer will do once you
start the project is to research your firm, your
competitors and your target market. They will
then produce a series of initial concept designs
that are appropriate to both you and your target
market as a starting point from which to work.
From these, one base design will be chosen to
be further developed and refined. Your input and
feedback is essential to the design process. Consider
each design carefully and discuss each concept
with the designer in detail.
Once you have chosen your preferred design, the
designer will prepare it for final production.
Depending on the nature of the project, this may
mean few changes from the original concept or
significant additional work. For example, if you
are producing a manuscript or booklet, the designer
may have only given you one or two pages for each
sample concept. At this point the design will
be applied to the whole document and a complete
layout produced. Once the layout and production
has been completed, the designer will provide
you with a copy for proofing. It is expected that
any changes at this point will be minor and these
are costed into the quote. Significant changes
or changes beyond this point are classed as additional
author's corrections and are usually charged by
the hour in addition to quoted items.
If
the work is purely digital and there are no printing
requirements you will now be given digital copies
of the job (usually on CD) and an invoice. If
the project is to be printed, final colour proofs
are now produced and must be carefully checked
by the client before signing-off for final printing.
Some smaller design studios request a further
progress payment to offset the cost of printing.
If the designer is managing the printing process
for you, they will now contact the printer for
information on submitting the artwork for printing.
They will advise the printer of all specifications
for the job including colours, stock and quantity
and will ensure all relevant pieces of the job
are delivered to the printer in a format that
is workable to them.
Once the job is complete, the designer will check
the print quality and take delivery of the final
printed product. This will then be delivered to
you or distributed to your choice of location
and an invoice issued. Again, smaller design studios
may ask for full and final payment before releasing
artwork or printed material. Once the process
is completed, talk to the designer about how you
felt it worked for you. Give them some feedback
on their customer service as well as their design
and how they might be able to improve it. Tell
them what was most important to you about the
process and the outcome and talk to them about
areas where they may be able to help your business
further. Because if a designer has done their
work right, you should see a significant increase
in sales and an improvement in customer perception.
Worthy returns for your investment.
