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COMMISSIONING
DESIGN
We are finding an increasing number of client contacts who do not
come from a traditional design or marketing background. Often due
to company restructuring, an executive might suddenly find themselves
responsible for corporate identity issues or marketing material.
This responsibility may even be delegated to a person lower down
the command chain with little or no previous knowledge of the creative
business.
Nigel
Abbey Design work with a variety of businesses from large 'blue
chip' companies to smaller firms and organisations. We can help
you steer your project around the usual pitfalls - giving you peace
of mind and making your job easier. Project management is an integral
part of our service.
Along
with many design consultancies we prefer to be involved with formulating
a design brief - but we are equally happy to come in at a later
stage and if necessary evaluate the brief and make suggestions of
how the budget could be spent most effectively.
Like
most trades and professions we are steeped in jargon - but don't
be intimidated! Make sure you get what you want and don't be blinded
by science. Nigel Abbey Design offers a plain language, common sense
approach.
The
following checklist may help you plan a successful design project:
Find
a good design consultant! You need to shop around for a suitable
design company to work with. This will depend on your budget and
the type of account you are managing, eg. consumer or business-
to- business (or a combination of both). Are you specifically looking
for a specialist consultant who works extensively in your industry
- or is it time for a different view? Most professional designers
welcome a new and challenging brief and can often bring a fresh
approach.
Making
the right selection. Ultimately this is who you feel most comfortable
working with. You may prefer to work with a large design group with
impressive premises and dozens of account executives or you may
prefer to work with a small team of highly professional independent
consultants who can give you a very flexible hands-on approach with
the benefit of many years of experience (Nigel Abbey Design falls
into latter category!)
Don't
take our word for it. See
what our clients say or why not go to the Directory of Design
Consultants website http://www.designdirectory.co.uk.
This is a very useful site where you can select designers by product
or discipline.
Get
the brief right. Surprisingly many people overlook this! Don't
get too many people involved - committee designs tend to be the
weakest - but do get all the key personnel in your organisation
in agreement. Try to concentrate on what message you are trying
to convey and who is your target audience - keep an open mind and
don't try to design it yourself!
Decide
on a timetable. Don't try to change the world overnight. It
is best to plan a phasing in of a new design and marketing campaign.
Often a design is needed for a launch of a new product, service
or announcement - try to think about the design requirements early
on in this cycle.
Set
a realistic Budget. Difficult at the outset - but you can set
aside a first stage budget to cover creative costs and then ask
the design consultant to provide you with a Stage 2 estimate including
printed if required. If you are used to just dealing with a small
freelance artist of local printer, you need to be careful about
setting your budget - good design consultants don't come cheap!
(but they will be cost effective in helping to achieve your long
term marketing plan). Nigel Abbey Design is happy to provide you
with an estimate based on your outline brief - with no obligation.
Research
the competition. It's a good idea to see what the competition
is up to! This will help you to get an idea what you like and what
you don't like in your industry.
A
typical design and production cycle with approx. timings includes:
Example:
an A4 12pp corporate brochure design and production
PRE
- STAGE ONE
- Formulation of the design brief (client and/or designer)
- Designer submits a written fee proposal plus estimates for Stage
2
STAGE
ONE (2-3 weeks)
- Client instructs the design consultants to proceed with Stage
1
- Designer carries out basic research, eg. looks at competition
- Designer looks at various options and submits a design proposal
- A supporting report written by design consultant submitted
- Designer submits accurate quotes for Stage 2
- Client considers design and gives designer go ahead for Stage
2
STAGE
TWO (2-3 weeks)
- Designer confirms costs for Stage 2
- Designer submits copywriting (client can provide 'platform copy')
- Photography commissioned (or existing pictures/library stock shots)
- Artwork production including typesetting (from hard copy or disk)
- Client/Designer production meetings or telephone/email advice
- Submit final artwork to client eg. colour copies, b&w lasers
or pdfs
- Draw up print specification and provide competitive print quotes
STAGE
THREE (2 weeks)
- Designer liaises with printer, provides artwork on disk
- Checking colours proofs for accuracy - designer
- Checking colour proofs for accuracy of content - client
- Give go-ahead to printer, confirm paper stock etc
- Delivery of print to client
Costings?:
see 'Setting the budget' above
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