Keep Your Project On-time and In Budget

By Emily Adams, RCM Contributor:

A designer shares the things she wished clients knew:

Content! Content! Content!

The single most important thing you need to know about graphic design is that it can't save bad content! Content that is ready for design is fine-tuned for MESSAGE and free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. If it takes you two months of back and forth with your internal team, it's time well spent. You should avoid using the layout process as "inspiration" as multiple text edits will drive up your costs significantly. If you get a completely new idea when you see your first designed draft, put layout on hold and go back to the content development phase.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth $$$

Another effective way for you to help is to thoroughly prep all of the materials you provide to the designer. If graphs/charts are included, the data should be configured as you would like it presented in the piece. The designer will most likely need to redo the materials in a design-specific program, but a nice, neat Excel file will make this process much faster and thus, less expensive. Any images you provide should be high-res and fairly good quality, meaning close to how you want them to look in the finished piece.

The Designer is a Magician, Not a Mind Reader

Make sure you are very explicit about things that may seem very obvious to you. For example, stock imagery can cost anywhere from $10 to hundreds of dollars. If your budget is an issue, make sure the designer is aware and instruct them to source appropriate images that are also cost effective as you define it. Make sure you and the designer agree that no images will be purchased without your approval.

If you have corporate graphic standards that need to be followed make sure the designer is provided with these or make a detailed list of key rules to follow when formatting text or using elements. Never assume the designer knows anything about your graphics standards. Review the first draft thoroughly to make sure that the designer is understanding and implementing the guidelines correctly.

Agree to Disagree: The Internal Approval Process

You can greatly reduce costs and keep deadlines intact by streamlining the approval process. Make sure that you know who will be in charge of approving design work and that everyone can agree to let that team or person's judgment stand. If you have thoroughly vetted your content, then you'll be way ahead of the game.

Integration is Key

All I hear lately in the media is about social media, and it gives businesses the wrong perception: that we need to shift marketing dollars from "traditional" marketing to online advertising and social media. In my opinion, this is not a wise decision for the long-term, and it's not as effective as integrating all forms of advertising.

Why did I choose to call my company a media company? Because advertising IS public relations, because online advertising IS social networking. Integration is key to a long term marketing strategy.

Studies have shown that consumers don't differentiate between sources of brand messages. They form their brand image from all media outlets to which they have been exposed. This is why consistency is key. No matter what media outlet you use, when you use the integration strategy I believe in, the last thing you want is to create brand confusion. Google "The Shack" and see why Radio Shack's latest strategy did not work. It confused people.

PR is going to become more important now and in the future, as clients start using integrated models. The days of social marketing OR print ads, visual storytelling OR banner ads is over. Think AND, not OR. It's up to media companies to make it happen, and our clients will benefit from this shift in thinking.