Kyle Mueller is the principal and creative director at MUELLER design in Oakland California. With over 12 years of experience working with clients and hiring designers he has cultivated brand vitality for clients such as Wind River, McKesson, Heller Ehrman Attorneys, Nintendo and Boeing.
How to Hire and Work with a Graphic Designer (Part 2)
by Kyle Mueller
Part 1 of this article discussed what graphic designers do, and how to qualify yourself and the right designer for the job. It also touched how to start budgeting for design work and where you might look to find a designer.
The Contract
A contract should be a detailed document outlining what will be provided by you, the client (copy, photographs) what the designer will ultimately produce for you (logo, print materials, web site) and who is responsible for what. A proposal is usually developed by the designer and submitted to the client following some initial conversations or a RFP. Here is a brief list of items that should be addressed in a proposal/contract:
• A brief description of the project: What are the goals and expectations?
• A clear description of deliverables: Including details about sizes, color, quantities and other known characteristics of deliverables.
• Fees and expenses: Some expenses may not be known, but if your project includes print materials, look for printer related estimates in your proposal.
• Process outline: This should cover deadlines for content delivery, concept presentation, final product delivery as well as how many rounds of client edits are included in the estimated fees.
• Terms: Look for details on project cancellation, rights transfer and what happens when a project grows outside of its original scope.
For large long-term projects, designers may break the proposal down into phases based on delivery deadlines. However, be aware that there is a necessary order to developing a series of items. Don't ask a designer to update your logo system AFTER they create that brochure you need for a trade show next week. Be patient and let the horse pull the cart.
Also, be prepared to pay for some of the project up front. Designers should not be expected to float expenses like printing or paying subcontractors prior to receiving payment from their clients.
Working with a designer: A brief look at the process that will get you from start to finish.
A professional designer will already have a process developed for working with clients. Use the information in this section to help you understand the general steps for getting from a signed contract to delivered materials.
One commonly overlooked stage of a process by inexperienced designers is also the most crucial. The "research and planning" stage sets the scene for all the work to come, and if it is ignored, you may end up with something that doesn't meet your company's needs. Like with a garden, If you don’t prepare your soil correctly, all the work you put into seeding, watering and weeding could still result in a poor harvest. So here is an overview of the 3 general steps you should expect to follow when working with a designer:
1. Research and Planning: Work the Soil
The contract has been signed and you are anxious to get started, to catch a first glimpse of your new brand! This stage is crucial to solidifying your expectations and laying the ground-work for the entire project. If you don't give your designer clear written objectives and goals for your brand update, don't be surprised when their "shot in the dark" misses the mark. A professional designer/firm will send you a "client survey" or conduct interviews with you and other key decision makers in your company. They will ask probing questions like "what is the primary message you wish to convey?", "who is your target audience?", and "how does your company differentiate itself from competitors?".
Both the designer and you need to know answers to questions like these before any creative can begin. And be prepared to put some time into defining these key directives. Companies often spend a lot of time answering these questions when they find that different people in their organization are coming up with completely different answers. Coming to conclusions that everyone can agree on may be difficult, but doing so is paramount to the success of your design campaign, and your company.
At the research and planning stage, it is also important to layout deadlines for the project (if you have not done so in the proposal). The designer should also spend some time getting to know your company, your competitors, and your industry.
2. Creative: Plant the Seeds
OK, now the fun begins. The research and planning stage gave your designer some clear directive for his creative work.
Brainstorming/Concepting: Now your designer will be off somewhere sketching, clipping images, fanning through pantone color books, and applying concepts to computer models. This is the most visceral stage of the creative process. Most clients are not directly involved in this stage. The possibilities all need to be wide open during this process, there should be no road-blocks or discretion over ideas - this only limits the possibilities for final outcome. If you have ideas you want the designer to explore, be sure to present them prior to this stage of the process.
Refinement: The designer will eventually start to see best solutions and further refine them to meet client objectives.
Presentation: OK, NOW you get to glimpse the future and start to shape it. Designers have different ways of doing this. If you are a very conceptual person, they may present you with a variety of pencil sketches and other unfinished models. Others may present a few of their best computerized concepts, showing color and imagery and typography. In the case of a logo, a designer may wish to work in black and white only until you decide on the form, then move on to adding color. Your logo must communicate in black and white. For a web site, it may also be important to show how interactivity will work (such as what happens when a user rolls the mouse over a button etc).
Edits/Reviews: Your proposal should detail how many edits and review cycles there will be. Three rounds of edits is usually enough to finalize a concept. Any more than this, and it is a sign that either something was not decided at the right time, or there is a breakdown in communication. Also remember you have to let go at some point. After multiple rounds of major edits to an original concept, I have witnessed befuddled clients ask "what happened to this project, it was looking so great and now, it's a mess". This is a textbook example of too much meddling by the client.
Another thing to remember during this step, if you are responsible for providing content, make sure it is edited and finalized before you give it to your designer. Rounds of edits can be wasted editing text, and it's no fun finding a grammatical error when a job is on the printing press. Also be sure to compile all necessary feedback into one document. Getting multiple edits from different sources within your organization will result in confusion for the designer and ultimately add time to the editing process.
3. Production: Cultivate
So now you have "signed-off" the final version. All final proofreading is complete, folding dummies and paper stocks are secured. Most designers will and should manage the printing process and/or development process of a web site. Designers are detail oriented and they see things at press checks and during web template testing that you may not. Still, you should be involved. Just be sure you know that changing your mind during this stage of the process means a lot of backtracking and additional costs.
Print Production: Preparing files for printing is a chapter of its own, but suffice to say, a seasoned designer will know exactly what to do and be able to avoid problems once files are transferred to a printer or other vendor. If you have procured the printer, be sure to get your designer in touch with them well before the file transfer date to discuss details about file preparation. You might also request to be involved in reviewing printer proofs for color accuracy, imposition and final content. This is your last chance to review your project before it gets burned to plates and goes on press.
Press checks almost always illuminate something that needs to be addressed. Pressmen can adjust color slightly and eliminate "hickeys" from plates and blankets. Your designer should know what to look for at a press check, so it is not necessary for you to be involved at this stage.
Web Production: Seeing your web site come to life is exciting, this is where you see your brand really working for you. The key during this process is making sure it works for everyone else too. Know your audience and how they are likely to access your site. If they are not technologically savvy or they have slow dial up connections, then your site will need to be tested in a similar environment. Additionally, different browsers and platforms display web pages differently. Be sure your designer tests and makes corrections accordingly so that everyone sees your web site in all its glory. Web surfers are very fickle, you have seconds, literally, to make your point, and if your site doesn't display correctly or your navigation only works on Internet Explorer for PC, you've just lost a market segment.
Again, if you are responsible for content, make certain it is final before you deliver it to your designer to flow into their web templates. This will save you hours of future revisions.
To the uninitiated, all of this can seem overwhelming. The bad news is, this isn't the half of it, this is only a very brief overview of what you will need to know when choosing and working with a designer. The good news is a good designer will help guide you through this process and make it all fun and rewarding as well. And most importantly, a designer can help your company grow and prosper by providing you with materials to make your marketing efforts more fruitful. If I could leave you with a key message, it would be this: Spend the money and time it takes to build your brand right, you will only be hurting yourself by cutting corners. When you hire a professional designer, be clear in your directives and expectations, and remember that you hired them for their insight into communicating your brand message.
About the Author
Kyle Mueller is the principal and creative director at MUELLER design in Oakland California. With over 12 years of experience working with clients and hiring designers he has cultivated brand vitality for clients such as Wind River, McKesson, Heller Ehrman Attorneys, Nintendo and Boeing. View his web site at www.muellerdesign.com or contact him via email.
