14 Tips
To ensure that your material is all that it can be.

Of course you should use all the tips I give you in this course, and share them with your designer, but these 14 are specific to graphics and should be followed every time you start a new graphics job.

1) Be organized - Designers will tell you that the thing they hate the most is when clients bring in sloppy, messy hand written copy (text), that is scribbled all over post-it notes and napkins. The time that they have to take to decipher all the jumble is time that you are paying for or time that they could be spending doing something better.

2) Have copy written – Don’t ever sit down with your designer and say, “O.k., what do we want to say on this one?” Graphic designers like to design things, not write copy. Use the tips in this course to come up with great headlines, sub-heads, and body copy for your designer to have fun with. Don’t write too much either. You would rather have them designing instead of picking what text to use and what to delete because it won’t fit. You can’t write a novel on a business card – don’t expect your designer to do so.

3) Have your raw material ready to go – Have your neat, readable copy, photos, art, digital files, and logo ready to be used. The designer can scan, re-make, or touch up any bad images, so don’t worry about that. However, never expect the impossible. Certain images can only be blown up so large before the resolution looks fuzzy or pixilated (things you want to avoid).

4) Have lots of good photos – Nothing makes a designer smile more than a selection of great images. It is like filet mignon to a chef. Many people want fabulous marketing material but have nothing to make it with. No matter how good your designer is, he can’t make images out of nothing. Your final product will only be as good as the raw materials that you use to make it. Don’t take images off of the internet for printing – without explaining why, just trust me, they print poorly and look unprofessional. As a rule, before having your heart set on using some image for a job, check with your designer first to make sure it’s feasible.

5) Bring in work you like – this is one of the things designers love most. Now, don’t expect them to copy someone else’s work, because they won’t, but they do want to see what you like. You can tell them all day the way you want something to look, but if you can show them, they will know instantly. You may not know why you like a collection of designs, but the designer should be able to pick up the thing that they have in common that cause them to be appealing to you. Never bring in just one example. It is the variety that lets him understand your vision.

6) Know in your mind what is desired – Who will the target audience be for the piece? What do you want the piece to accomplish? What is the mood you want the piece to covey? (dramatic, serious, fun, comical, wacky, upbeat, etc.)

7) Understand the project is a collaboration – Be open-minded, flexible, and welcome to the suggestions of your designer. Check your ego at the door and work as a team. Give the designer lots of sincere compliments and positive feedback. This lets him know that he is on the right track and, hey, everyone likes to know when they are doing a good job.

8) Have all the specs available – Have the printing specifications ready for the designer. What will the size of the pieces be? Will it be full bleed? How much bleed does your printer like to have around the piece? Is it single sided or front and back? Is it one color, spot color, or full-color? How many are you printing?
NOTE: If you plan on printing less than a hundred for a job, don’t go to a professional printer – the cost is outrageous. A local Kinko’s or similar store can print full color, glossy prints for around a dollar a page. For short run jobs, it’s the best option for you and your designer to go with. There will be white borders, so for “full bleed” jobs (where the color goes all the way to the edge) you will have to pay a little more for cutting, or you can cut them one at a time for free in their lobby with a public paper cutter – it takes longer, but it will save you $5.00 to $20.00.

9) Trust your designer – They know what looks good so give them some artistic license to try things out before you immediately reject their ideas.

10) Save all finished products on CD – CD technology is getting better all the time. They are reliable, long-lasting, widely used, and cheaper every day. If you buy a stack of 100, in bulk, you can expect to pay about 20 cents apiece. Saving all versions of a file allows your designer to use parts of a design that you like on future jobs.

11) Proofread your copy – Typos are embarrassing and unprofessional. If you expect a client to appreciate what you have made for them, then you should care enough about it to free it of all errors. Let several people read it. Often, one or two people may miss the same typo, but a third person will catch it. If everyone misses it, then so will your client. A good rule of thumb: have at least four people proofread a document before it goes to press.

12) Get slightly different versions – It is never to hard with today’s software for your designer to alter the color scheme a couple of ways, or change the layout around. Have him do a couple a versions (nothing too time consuming) just before completion of the job to show to people for recommendations. After all, you are making this for the public to view; why not get their input before you pay to have it printed?

13) Have fun with the project – Creating a promotional piece from scratch can be a lot of fun, so enjoy the process, and learn something along the way.

14) Familiarize yourself with a few design principles – The more educated you are on the principles of design, the more help you’ll be to your designer. Get a book from the library and read about things like the hierarchy of space, balance, color, headline and sub-heads (for this, my course should help out a lot), rhythm, order, mood, etc.