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a guide on how to give

aw e s o m e b r i e f s
to g r aph i c d e s i g n e r s & ot h e r to p s ec r e t s

co nte nt s
i n t r o d u c t i o n w h at to p u t i n yo u r b r i e f d e a d l i n e s au d i e n c e / ta r g e t m a r k e t m e s sag e b u d g e t b r a n d i n g o n a b u d g e t t h e n ot s o s m a l l p r i n t h ow to g i v e f e e d bac k 3 5 7 9 11 13 17 2 2 2 3

Caroline Duffy, 2011 Written, designed, illustrated and published by Caroline Duffy 12 Leckwith Road, Cardiff CF11 8HJ Caroline Duffy asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. 2

I nt ro d u ct i o n
Hello, my name is Caroline Duffy and I am a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. I was inspired to write this little guide because, until recently, I believed I had experienced my fair share of clients who provide bizarre, esoteric or even non-existent briefs in my ten years in this job. However, in the last six months Ive received some of the most ridiculous requests from people who really should know better so-called marketing experts included. I have a few friends who are also designers who say that it isnt just me who is left scratching my head at some of the things clients instruct me to do. And, being the sort of person who believes that if you dont like something you should do your darndest to change it, I thought Id come up with a little help for clients existing and potential to enable us all to work more effectively together and thus live happily ever after.

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A couple of months ago, the marketing executive of famous charitable trust, headed by a member of the royal family, asked me to create a sample design for said trust when tendering for some work. She did not provide a logo, brand guidelines, target market, or desired look and feel. Unfortunately I dont own a crystal ball, so was unable to scry into her mind for what was needed. Last year, I received a request to help with a logo and some branding from the MD of a local company. I questioned him thoroughly about his target market, niche, the history of the company and the look and feel that he wanted, then went off to create initial designs. All rejected. This had never happened before how could I have got it so wrong? I spoke to him again, asking for more detailed feedback, then created more designs. All rejected again. It soon became clear that he didnt want any of my original designs he wanted an exact copy of the branding of one of his competitors. If hed said that at the start I could have politely declined and walked away without wasting days of my time on a hiding to nothing.

The essence of a good brief is clear communication of what you want, both for the look and feel you desire and the technical specifications required. This guide attempts to walk you through the process of creating an excellent brief, and then when thats done, some tips on how to work with designers to ensure the best results all round. 3

w h o t h i s g u i d e i s f o r anyone and everyone who might ever have responsibility for briefing a designer, in short. You might be considering starting up your own business; you might suddenly be given responsibility for your companys newsletter. Whatever, this guide will help you communicate your needs to a creative type.

w h at t h i s g u i d e d o e s is to break down into sections the things its important to consider before briefing a designer, so you can give them the best brief possible. The sections start off with a list of items a brief should include; later sections deal with those items in more detail youll find information on target audience, message, budget, and deadline, along with a list of things to agree with the designer before you proceed and the best ways to provide feedback. Some of these things may be obvious to you; some may be irrelevant (for example, if your company already has a comprehensive branding guideline), but be assured they are in this guide because someone somewhere has got it completely wrong and it has caused problems for me or my colleagues. Another essential little section Ive added is Branding on a Budget hints and tips to get the most bang for your buck when youre starting off and cash-flow is limited. Its not strictly related to briefing, but some of these shortcuts mentioned at the start to a designer could save the both of you time and money. f e e d bac k Id love to hear feedback from other designers and non-designers alike. If there are any glaring omissions here, please feel free to mention, so I can update this guide and make it as comprehensive as possible. Email me at hello@carolineduffy.co.uk. I will of course credit any suggestions used! r e c o m m e n d e d r e a d i n g If your job, or a large part of it, is to work with designers, I heartily recommend investing in the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. It does an awful lot more than it says on the tin.

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w h at yo u wa n t 12 page newsletter, logo device and full brand guidelines, 40 page quarterly beauty magazine, 800 page website about ponies, etc. Self-explanatory, really. d e a d l i n e When the artwork has to be signed off (approved for print), when the website has to go live, when the publications have to be delivered. If the project is a large one, you may wish to give deadlines for the completion of various phases. t e c h n i ca l s p ec s For a brochure what size? How many pages? How much copy per page? How many images? Whos providing the images (you or them)? How many colours? What kind of printing (digital or lithographic this affects the design)? What kind of stock (paper)? What kind of binding (saddlestitched, perfect-bound, wirobound)? If you want the designer to get print quotes for you therell be other info theyll ask you for. For a website how many pages? E-commerce? CMS (content management system)? What kind of server do you have? Etc. If this sounds like gobbledegook, ask the designer/web developer what info they need from you & how to get hold of it. b r a n d g u i d e l i n e s Give your designer a copy of your brand guidelines, if you have them. If not, tell them: WHo you ARe: Brief history, aims of your organisation. TARgeT mARkeT/AuDIeNCe Who youre trying to reach. More on this, later. messAge What youre trying to communicate. More on this, too. NICHe/CompeTITIoN A few words about how you differentiate yourself from the herd. m e d i u m ( s ) If there are several things you need for one project (eg a printed brochure, an e-commerce website/brochure and a series of adverts) list them here. A designer 5

may be able to price a bundle of items more competitively then s/he would the individualy. b u d g e t ...if you have one and are prepared to release that information yo u r c o n tac t ...obviously! i n f o r m at i o n

D ea d l i n e s
This is less of a problem than I always imagine it should be, however issues often crop up, particularly around printing. A printer friend once told me of a client he had who expected her brochures to be delivered the day after shed signed off the designers files, and became very unreasonable (ie. shouty) when told that this wouldnt be the case. In the end he had to take her on a tour around his print factory to show her the various processes pre-press, platemaking, printing, drying, folding, binding, trimming, packing etc. Suffice it to say that she left the factory feeling a little foolish. If you have to have something produced for a certain deadline, dont assume ask the designer and printer how long each of their parts of the process will take, and mention your deadline at the very start of the briefing process. If your job is a rush one, the designer or printer might be too busy to handle it. Depending on the project and time of year, I tend to allow one to three weeks for printing, but have known of bespoke box production to take six weeks before Christmas. I always check production times with the printer before confirming with the client, and will inform the client of the latest day we can go to press to meet our deadline. d e s i g n t i m e s If you have to ...are something else, and Im inclined to say theyre as have something long as a piece of string. A lot depends on the attitude produced for a of the client. Ive turned logos around in two or three certain deadline, days with a switched-on, communicative client. Other dont assume ask logos drag for months. I have clients I know so well I can design something for them and theyll love it the designer and straight away (naturally I charge these people less as printer how long working with them is such a quick and easy affair). I each of their parts can design a 40-page magazine in seven days because of the process will I know exactly how it should look. If I were to design a new 40-page magazine from scratch with a new client, take, and mention it might take a month of to-ing and fro-ing to get the your deadline first one perfect. Websites can be turned around in a at the very start couple of days, or take weeks on end. I tend to estimate of the briefing more time than is needed for new clients as were unknown quantities to each other, to allow for amends process. and revisions without missing deadlines; the client is then often delighted when were finished with plenty of time to spare. When estimating timescales Ill take into account how switched on and decisive I feel the 7

client is, how many people need to oversee the design, etc. It changes for every job. You get my point, right? Check likely production times from the start. w h at yo u ca n d o You can speed up the process by ensuring that the copy you provide is final, proof-read and in digital format (ie Word), and that all images are present and youve checked with the designer that theyre good enough quality. Be quick with amends and detailed with criticism (see page 23). Try to organise it so that as few people in your company as possible are involved with proofing process it delays the project and youll find that the old saying that a camel is a horse designed by committee is a true one. Make sure that anyone who definitely needs to approve the files is present and not sunning themselves in the Maldives or some such. An experienced designer will work plenty of fat into the schedule to allow for amends, etc. And, as Ive pointed out, the better your designer gets to know you, the faster theyll be able to come up with the goods. c h r i s t m a s is a law unto itself. If you want something printed for the festive period, plan to print in October. Seriously. The world and his dog want things done for Yule, so it pays to get ahead of the game. Although it can seem depressing to be planning Christmas brochures in July (which is when the big companies Ive worked for do it yes, really) youll be grateful for your foresight when every printer in Europe is blocked up from mid-November.

Au d i e n ce / Ta rg et

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w h o a r e t h e y? Who are the people you are trying to reach? If you havent done this before, its very useful to spend some time thinking about this in detail. All the great brands do this. To communicate with someone effectively, you have to tailor your message to them, therefore you must know them. How wealthy are they? How educated? What gender? How old? What are their political affiliations? Whats their attitude to life? What car do they drive? What car would they LIKE to drive? What are their hobbies? Form a very specific idea in your mind of the exact person you are trying to reach. Now, examine the way other brands have targeted Vagueness around themselves at a market. Cosmopolitan and Thats target market is Life are both magazines aimed at women, but how not a very good do they communicate their differences? Mercedes Benz and Ford both sell cars, but their markets are selling point different. Furthermore, Mercedes, BMW and Audi sell competing models of car, but sell themselves as subtly different. They all speak, consciously or subconsciously, to different types of person, and a person who chooses one of these brands over another usually does so in order that ownership of the car will say something to others about who they are. The same goes for your product or service. In what obvious or subtle ways do you differ from your competitors? Who would someone buy your product or service? What would buying from you tell that person about themselves, or tell others? Sometimes this exercise can seem difficult. We dont want to narrow our focus too much and lose potential customers or our current range of customers is pretty broad and were unable to narrow that down. To the first problem, Id say that vagueness is not really a selling point, and to the second related query, Id say that, with a bit of creative thought, you will find some link, some common factor between your current clients. You may find that its just that they appreciate the way that you work. In my case, Ive worked for all sorts of clients, from FTSE 100 companies to brand new shiny start-ups, including a museum and a soap manufacturer, a life coach and a scientific publisher, a shamanic practitioner and a TV production company. What do they have in common? Nothing apart from they like the way I work. They say I am intuitive, easy-going and theyre confident that Ill always come up with exactly what they need. So what I do is sell the way I work and my target audience is the kind of people who like a designer who uses instinct and intuition 9

as much as logic and reason (apologies for the self-bigging up here, but really, did you expect such an awesome little guide like this to come without even a wee mote of advertising?). You might be a plumber who services the boilers of the poor and installs the ensuite wetrooms of the wealthy. You might take pride in the quality and timeliness of your work. Your audience may well be people who are sick of cowboys who dont turn up or rip them off, and want a prompt, reliable, honest technician. Its really up to how you shape your audience just make sure youre comfortable with it, its realistic, and you know you can deliver.

Ask others for their input partners, friends etc. Outside opinions can be interesting. Look at how your competitors define their audience. How is yours different? What information can you give your designer about the big difference you want to highlight? Try to deconstruct the way big corporations communicate to an audience. Pay attention to adverts, marketing materials and in-store displays. Notice tone of voice, colours, typefaces, imagery, etc. Who are they trying to reach?

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So youve decided that your target audience is a Porsche-driving degree-educated mother of two whose hobbies include skiing and dressage. What are you going to say to her? The messages Im talking about here might be explicit or implicit. Mention both in your brief. The explicit message might be that you sell chandeliers, or maybe that you sell chandeliers and you have a sale on. The implicit message the one you want to say about yourself, perhaps is that you are an exclusive, long-established specialist in the finest bespoke lead-crystal chandeliers who sells to only the most discerning customers. After all, one can purchase chandeliers at B&Q, no? The implicit message can seem to be a bit of a nebulous concept. Its rooted in right-brain feeling and emotion. The right style and tone will push the important buttons in your clients head, making them more receptive to your message. If this sounds horribly manipulative, well, maybe think of it another way. There are subtle messages we have all learned to read from a young age certain codes, if you like. Take a look in a large newsagents all the bridal magazines will look roughly the same (pinks, silvers, white, script fonts), all the childrens comics too (bright, primary colours and simple typefaces), and the gossip magazines (shocking red, shouty headlines). When we go into our newsagent looking for a particular kind of magazine, we disregard the designs of the different genres. Think of it as a visual shorthand. Therefore, if you want your establishment to appear exclusive, there are certain codes the designer will use to give that impression. Ive been designing CIO Connect magazine (a quarterly publication for top IT executives) for seven years I design it to feel fresh, informative, authoritative and precise. Id design a surfing magazine in a completely different way. See? h e l p ! If youre struggling to come up with the implicit message, meditate on the following exercises: How do you want your customers to feel about your business? What words would you want them to use to describe you, and the experience of working with you? Perhaps some of the following: innovative, reliable, exclusive, everyday, cheap, conservative, passionate, therapeutic, efficient, hard-working, quirky, egalitarian, prompt, creative, professional, edgy, fun, consistent, serious, capable, experienced, helpful, relaxing Think of other businesses that communicate the same message about themselves that you want to say. They dont have to be in the same industry as you. For 11

example, I was briefed by the MD of the UKs largest bathroom retailer that he wanted the new catalogue I was to design for them to be like Ford Motor Companys a bit aspirational but not out of reach of the common man. If youre a hairdresser, you may see interior decorators selling the same exclusive & bespoke femininity that you want to sell. A mechanic might want to replicate the reliable value-for-money experience IKEA provides. NB this doesnt mean that the mechanic would brief the designer to copy IKEAs branding just to tell the same story about the brand. There are many ways to skin a cat!

Get other people friends, colleagues & family to describe your company its values & their expectations of it. Flick through the Yellow Pages & look at how various adverts make you feel about that company. Do the same for magazines, newspapers and any consumer product. Develop your visual literacy!

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Hi, I was wondering how much it would cost for you to design us a band logo and CD cover. We got quoted 50 quid for this from another bloke. Dont worry if you dont have the time or deal with bigger clients we wont be offended LOL. LOL indeed. Sometimes I dont know whether to laugh or cry when Im presented with requests for quotes from clients who have totally unrealistic pricing expectations. One wonders at the sanity of the other bloke. This would-be client and rock-star has found someone who will do what I reckon is at least two and probably four days work for 50, equivalent to at most 3.13 an hour, and hes asking me to do it cheaper. ROFLMAO, as they say. Some people seem to think youre a rip-off merchant when you give them a price which is much higher than they imagined. After all, Im just charging for my time, right? Never mind the 4,000 Ive just spent updating my computer, display and software, never mind the knowledge, talent and experience Ive accrued over the years, never mind the fact that hes just asked me to solve a complex visual problem for half minimum wage or the fact I have a mortgage to pay and starving cats to feed as far as they see it, by asking for 500 for a logo instead of 50, Im taking their dreams away from them and theyre angry. To be honest, its fine, because I have no desire to work with someone who cannot see the implicit value in what I do. It does leave me saddened and defensive, though, and Id rather avoid the situation if at all possible. Thus, Ive started to put some prices on my website www.carolineduffy.co.uk, to give people a rough idea of what I charge. From what I can see this seems to be fairly rare among graphic designers and agencies, and I guess it leaves me open to undercutting or whatever, however Ive come to the conclusion that my prices are fair, reasonable and value for money, and also that the wise person knows that you get what you pay for. There is no way I could do my best work on a logo for 50, and I never want to do less than my best, right? The above little rant attempts to illustrate that many clients new to commissioning design are a little lost when knowing what to expect to pay. For tips on how to get the best out of whatever budget you have to hand, go to Branding on a Budget on page 17. Read on to work out what you need to do, who you need to talk to and the questions you need to ask to formulate a realistic budget how to work out how much money you need Firstly, most if not all designers quote based on how much time a project will take, whether they quote hourly, page or per-project rates. A logo will take me 13

on average X hours, so I will quote Y money. Ive heard of hourly rates of between 15 (are you mad?) and 100 (just wow) but I believe that for freelancers, 40-50 is about average; more for agencies with their higher overheads. Designers present their prices in different ways (sorry) so youll need to do all you can to make sure youre comparing like with like. For example, I quote a fixed price (usually by project or by page) for all work, and that price includes all reasonable amendments. Another designer might charge a different fixed price, but charge you by the hour for every amendment you make. Check this, as it can really make a difference to your budget Bear in mind that unlike, say, plumbers (I imagine), not all of the time a designer will charge for is when they actually appear to be doing stuff on their mac for you. A good proportion will be thinking time. Its a rare thing to bash out the perfect logo in an hour. Break your project down into constituent parts. If youre after a brochure, for example, think about design costs expenses incurred by the designer (couriers, travel?) copywriting photography and/or illustration proofreading printing, including proofing and amendments distribution Get prices for all parts like a building project, get three quotes for everything and then go with the people you like the best. You may want to write and proof-read the copy yourself, however if youre unsure of the difference between lose and loose, or when to use an apostrophe, for the love of God get your copy read by a grammar nazi such as myself. (Youll all be checking this guide for typos now, right?) Be as specific as possible when asking for quotes. A printer will need to know dimensions, number of pages (a page, to printers and designers, is one side of one leaf of paper, so a four page A4 document will consist of one sheet of A3 printed both sides and folded in half to A4), type of binding, type of stock (paper), how it will be printed (digital or lithographic), how many inks, where it will be delivered and by what date. There are so many variables its hard to give an exhaustive list. If youre feeling out of your depth try asking a designer or an independent print consultant for advice I recommend David Richards www.davidrichardsukltd. com as he is brilliant. Brief your designer about who will be responsible for sourcing photography and illustrations if you need stock photography bought or original photos commissioned let them know. Dont assume its included in the price. A designer will add a handling charge to purchasing stock photography to cover their time searching for it. 14

If you need a specific typeface to be used, mention it the designer may need to buy it and add this to the cost. q u ot e s There are different ways of quoting for a project, so request the way that suits you best. HouRLy pros you dont pay any more than exactly the time the designer took cons you have no idea what the final bill will be. You could set a threshold (eg. I dont want to pay more than 700) and ask the designer to let you know when youre reaching your limit. DAILy pros and cons the same as above. Used for larger projects.

For both of these, dont be afraid to ask for timesheets to be completed from the outset

peR pAge I charge per page for magazine and most brochure work often the pagination changes between commission and printing, so this way I get paid for every page I design and the client pages only for what they get. The obvious exception to this is if I design a page which the editor later drops of course I charge for work done. This rate is very fair everyone knows where they stand. All pros here, no cons. NB therell always be some concept design money added to the per-page rate (where the designer has spent time coming up with the style of the document prior to laying out the pages to fit that style), so a four-page document will have a higher per-page rate than an equivalent sixty-page one. If you want to really get down to brass tacks, ask the designer to quote for a concept design fee which is separate from the page rate. That way if your four page doc becomes a forty page one you wont be stuck with an expensive rate. peR pRoJeCT pros As long as the client makes no amends to the quoted spec, they know exactly what the design will cost them. Plus theres no temptation for the designer to dawdle and drag the project out to get more money, as there might be when working by the hour or the day. cons if the project takes less or more time than anticipated, the client or the 15

As mentioned before, check whether amendments and corrections are included in your fixed fee

designer loses out. My experience is that when working with clients over time these things even out. And Ive been doing this long enough to be able to judge pretty well how long most jobs take. r u s h wo r k Need something in a hurry? Want your designer to drop everything and work from dusk until dawn on your project? Budget for an extra 50 to 125%.

t e r m s o f pay m e n t Get all detailed quotes in writing, and know when youll be expected to pay, and how much. For example, for all new clients I usually ask for 50% up front (depending on the project) and then 50% on supply of artwork. Existing clients get invoiced upon supply of artwork and get 30 days credit. e X t r a t i p f o r t h e b r av e If you have a fixed amount of money, you could pass this info on to the designer and ask their advice. For example, a client told me recently that she had 1000 to spend to improve the look and feel of her brand. I was able to give her several different bundles of options, all of which were discounted as compared with what I would have quoted for each service individually. Obviously this method requires a bit of trust, but your designer may well come up with excellent options which you hadnt thought of.

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In which I pass on my best advice for business newbies on getting the most bangper-buck for your brand, while hopefully not doing myself out of a job. Youll do well to consider your brand in its entirety right from the start, to ensure a professional and trusted image. You can pay thousands for a comprehensive branding ID, and of course, getting a designer to do the lot will lead to guaranteed awesomeness. But not everyone has that much cash to start off with. Get some quotes, and if you find them scary, heed these hints and tips for cutting corners. t h i n g s yo u LOGO WEBSITE n e e d

t h i n g s yo u m ay n e e d BUSINESS CARDS STATIONERY (letterheads & compliment slips) VAN/SIGN GRAPHICS TWITTER BACKGROUND BROCHURE/FLYER First things first, work out what you can afford. Then get a logo. I recommend getting this done professionally, because it is your business described visually and is vital to get right. You may have a strong idea of how you want it to look. Discuss this with your designer if s/he thinks it will work, s/he may well discount the logo price because therell be less conceptual work involved. Do take advice on this and get second opinions if needed. The last thing our beleaguered planet needs is more ugly design. When you agree a price for your logo, make sure the graphic designer will do the following to save you time and money later on: 1) provide the logo in a vector format with fonts converted to outlines, so that it can be blown up to whatever size you need and the text always looks the same. Also you wont run into any problems with font licences etc. Also ask for a JPEG to be used in Word documents and on the web. 2) provide the logo in a) monochrome and b) reverse-out options (so that your logo will work in a) black and white and b) can be used white on a black or coloured background. 3) provide you with one or two brand colours (usually colours from the logo) 17

in both RGB (web) and CMYK (print) colourspaces to ensure consistency 4) suggest a couple of suitable commonly-available typefaces to use a header one and a body one, eg. Helvetica black for the header and Garamond Book for body text, again for consistency. What youll then have is a definitive set of logos, colours and typefaces. Use only these and use them consistently for a clean, professional look. This little guide uses two typefaces (bar the hideous anomaly a few lines down) Century Schoolbook (roman, bold and oblique) for the body text, and ITC Avant garde for headers. It uses two colours black and red. Texture and interest is added using the cardboard and scribbly tips and underlining of chapter heads. Simple, see? i n g e n e r a l c o lo u r s a n d t y p e fac e s , e tc DO NOT use Comic Sans. If I find that any one of you has used Comic Sans I will hunt you down and set my cat on you (be afraid she has many hidden sharp points). Visit this website www.comicsanscriminal.com if you need to know why this must be so. In short, unless you are a childrens clown, the typeface is unprofessional and ugly, and if you are a childrens clown, there are much better friendly typefaces to use. Use only the colours and typefaces recommended by your designer. You can pass them on to sign makers, advertisers etc in order to maintain brand coherence. Overall, if you have to do anything yourself, make sure you keep it clean and simple. Pay attention to the quality of paper you print on this can affect a lot of the perceived value. Ensure that everything you produce has the same look and feel uniform colours, typefaces and logo positions. If in doubt, ask your designer. w e b s i t e First, go to www.freeparking.co.uk and buy your domain name (your domain name is the address you want your website to be mine is carolineduffy.co.uk) before anyone else does. No technical knowledge is needed for this, and itll probably cost you around 10 for two years ownership. You dont have to do anything with it just buy it so its yours. Then go to www.wordpress.com and have an explore. Here you can set up your own website and/or blog, using one of thousands of different professionally-designed themes. You need no coding or design experience to do this, and its FREE. Ive designed illustrative headers for clients so that their Wordpress website looks a bit more unique, without them paying for a full site design. Your domain name will be 18

yourdomain.wordpress.com. Choose a theme based on the layout and colours that suit your brand best. If youre that way inclined and want to learn a little bit of CSS coding (I recommend CSS: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland) you can alter colours and typefaces easily and change headers, logos etc. Then, when your business has skyrocketed and youre sitting on a pile of cash, you can get a designer to create you something from scratch, using the domain name you bought right at the start. b u s i n e s s ca r d s It used to be a rule of thumb that the fewer colours (inks) you used on your cards & stationery, the cheaper the printing would be. With the rise of low-volume digital printing, this rule has become obsolete, so you can make your cards as colourful as you like (but remember the general less-is-more rule, right?) There are many online printing sites that will print cards for next to nothing. Use them, but if you can afford to, get the designer who created your logo to design these, too. The pre-designed templates a lot of these online places provide often look a bit generic, and by using your own design youre strengthening your brands consistency from the start. And when you can afford to gold foil-block business cards out of 450gsm ivory Conqueror, the change wont be too shocking. If you have more than one person in your business who needs business cards, make sure you get everyones done at the same time. This will save a lot of money. Generally, the more you print of anything, the cheaper the unit cost. The set-up costs can be the largest proportion of the print quote, and Ive seen print quotes where a quantity of 1,000 is only 5 more than one of 500. So print as many as you think you could ever possibly need.

s tat i o n e ry As per business cards, if youre going to get them printed, you can get this done cheaply online; also, print everything at the same time on the same paper.

Ive designed templates in Word for clients so that they can print professionally-designed stationery on their office printer, as and when they need it. This could save you hundreds of pounds.

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va n / s i g n g r a p h i c s Just a little reminder to tell your designer to create a vector file of your logo. Raster files (like photos) are made of pixels and will blur and distort when blown up to a massive size. Vector files are actually made of mathematical equations and retain their handsome looks even when applied to the side of a lorry. Typical vector file extensions are (most commonly) EPS (encapsulated post script), but also AI (Adobe Illustrator) and PDF (portable document format). If you only have a JPG (a kind of raster file) of your logo youre going to have to pay for it to be re-drawn, which is a massive waste of money. Ive heard of designers who will only supply logo designs as JPGs check this from the start and avoid these cowboys like the plague. Im tempted to stamp my foot and insist that you get van and sign graphics done professionally, as its so important they look right. Get a quote from your usual designer, but also get one from the people wholl create the sign or van decal for you, who may be able to create something simple for not much money. t w i t t e r .c o m ...is a free and brilliant way to promote your business get on it! You might think it is a waste of time, but I and some of my clients have won hundreds of pounds worth of work by getting involved, so its worth trying it out. Follow people in your line of work to find out how they use Twitter; look at those who have a lot of followers and try to work I and some of out what theyre doing that attracts people. I tweet my clients have in both a personal and professional capacity as @ won hundreds of duffyc (I tend to find professional-only tweeters a bit pounds worth of cold) as a big part of what I offer is who I am and the work by getting way I work. Im still feeling my way around, but my main tips would be keep it positive, NEVER moan involved ESPECIALLY about clients (whinging is a real turnin Twitter off full-stop; whinging about people who pay you is beyond idiotic, but I have seen it happen). I unfollow whingers immediately (in real life, too!). Use Twitter to drive traffic to your site I post almost every job I do onto my blog and then post my blog onto Twitter, so curious followers can click through and see the kind of stuff I do, and from there get to my website. Customers tweet about me and recommend me to other people. Tis bloody brilliant. Consider a good quality photo of you as your avatar. Logos are boring and inhuman in this context Twitter is a SOCIAL medium. I want to know what you look like!

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As regards your customisable Twitter background, the simplest way to promote your brand is to have your logo non-tiling in the top left-hand corner (the tiling option means your logo will be repeated across the screen and top-to-bottom, like bathroom tiles, yes?), and make sure that the colour you choose Twitter to use as your background colour exactly matches that of your logos background. You can tile an image (I often choose a favourite recent illustration of mine) or tile a series of images by using photo-editing software to create a square full of smaller squares of different images. See @beamazingtodays twitter page for an example of this that I created. b r o c h u r e s / f ly e r s / cata lo g u e s ALWAYS get these professionally designed and printed. For one, its unlikely youll have the software to produce print-ready files, and on the off-chance you do find a printer who will accept PDFs made from Word, its likely theyll charge you extra for having to faff around with them. If youve had a good price from your printer to design your brochure, check their previous work to make sure it isnt ghastly. And, be aware, photo-copies are for school ftes and jumble sales. They arent professional, and if you want customers to trust and buy from you, this is one area on which you really mustnt scrimp.

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In which I list things you might want to check out before you agree to proceed with a designer: q u ot e how long is it valid for? how many initial concepts are to be created? are amends are included; if so what kind and to what extent? is the designer VAT registered? What the kill fees* are? Who will own the copyright for the final design? What kind of expenses might be incurred by the designer (travel, couriers, typeface purchase, etc)? Who is responsible for purchasing photography/illustration? What the payment terms are? sa m p l e s Know that, according to the rules of yore, your designer is entitled to five printed samples of anything they design. In practice Ive not always insisted on this but do check. p r o o f & p r e s s a p p r ova l It is ALWAYS the clients responsibility to give press approval. If you provide amendments to the designer, it is your responsibility to check they have been made correctly. If you sign off final files to go to print, you are deemed to have carefully proof-read and approved them and are 100% happy with the job. *kill fees are fees charged by the designer should the client decide to cancel the project before completion.

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And finally, a few paragraphs on how to say if you dont like something: We creative types have a reputation for being temperamental. I dont know whether thats true, but I know that, as a professional, I want nothing more than to leave my clients happy and fulfilled (and then for them to pay my invoices on time). There is no point in me producing work that I like: if the client hates it, Ive failed. Simple as that. What can get a bit frustrating, though, is when the client is uncommunicative. Sometimes getting useful feedback on your work is a bit like squeezing blood from a stone. With this in mind, Ill say that there is a right way and a wrong way to tell a designer youre unhappy with what theyve done for you: WRONG: I dont like it. Can you do it again? RIGHT: I dont like it. Its a little too feminine Im really not a fan of pink. I wonder if Comic Sans is actually the most appropriate typeface for an accounting firm? Wed like our brand to have the same feel as, say, Mercedes Benz. Can you do it again? Also, if there are bits you do like, let the designer know about them, and why you like them. It really helps us get into your lovely clienty heads. BE SPECIFIC. IT DOESNT HURT (really).

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