15
Ways to Save Time and Money on Your Next Design Project
By
Kim Schlossberg, Andersen Alumnus Marketing Manager 1992-2002 and owner
of Kim
Schlossberg Designs
Design is a two-way process, and no designer can
create their best work in a vacuum. Whether we are designing a logo, a website,
a brochure, or an advertisement, we need meaningful participation from
our client to create the most successful design.
Recently a client asked me what he could do to make
the design process faster, smoother, and more effective. That was a good
question! Sometimes I hesitate to give clients assignments, but we really need
client input to get the best possible result. And, to get the best design
solution more quickly, efficiently, and therefore less expensively.
Why should you care if you make my life easier? It has
nothing to do with you being a nice, generous person (which you are). It’s all
about getting a better, more appropriate design solution. It will probably be
done more quickly. And it just might save you time, money, and frustration.
Here are some things you, as a client, can do to help
move your design project along.
How Clients Can Help
- If
your designer gives you a questionnaire (like we do), put some time
into thinking about and answering the questions. Some may not apply, and
that is OK, and some take considerable thought.
- Deeply
understand your organization’s mission and vision and be able to
communicate them clearly. If you cannot do that yet, we can help you get
to that point. But it is the first step of a successful design project.
- Understand
who your market is, and who you are trying to reach with a
particular project. Logos and websites might need to communicate to a
variety of audiences, while (online or traditional) advertisements,
brochures, direct mail, emails, etc. can appeal to a very targeted
audience.
- How
do you want to be perceived in the marketplace? What is the image
you want to cultivate?
- Compile
a list of your competitors and others serving your same market, to
expedite the designer’s research process.
- Gather
ideas for logos, websites, layouts, etc. that meet your
communication goal. Pinterest is a great tool for gathering visuals. You
can create a private board and share it only with your designer if you
don’t want to share your thoughts with the whole world yet.
- Respond
to requests and questions promptly.
- Decide
who is responsible for creating content, getting photographs,
writing and editing text, etc. We offer these as part of our integrated
marketing services, but not all designers do. Make sure everyone knows
who’s in charge of doing what.
- Be
clear and direct about your budget, timeframe, etc. We
really want to meet your needs, but we can’t do that if we don’t know what
they are.
- Give
productive feedback. Rather than telling the designer exactly what
to do (move this ½” to the right, make that piece red instead of blue) let
us know the problem you are trying to solve. There might be better ways to
meet your goal that you haven’t considered.
- Rather
than sending edits one at a time, compile them into a single
request.
- If
the designer is using a project management tool, it is to make the
project go more smoothly for everyone. Please use it.
- When
you get your drafts from your designer, run them by someone familiar with
your organization but outside the design process. This is to see if the
project communicates what you want it to.
- The
point of a design (especially a logo) is not to just reflect your personal
likes, but to communicate something about the brand.
- We
appreciate you looking for images online. But if you want to use
one, make sure you are legally licensed to use it, and that it is of high
enough resolution for your use.
These suggestions will help us all achieve our goal of providing successful solutions to business issues as efficiently and effectively as possible.