Is there a brochure of basic graphics guidelines for non-designers?

I've become pretty good at getting what I need to get the job done such as logos in the right format, etc, and I think a guide like you're describing would be great as sort of a general guideline, but it could be bad too.

I've created pieces in the past to guide the client such as "So, you need a web site..." and so on, but the clients generally don't read them, so I stopped sending them out. Instead, I take care of all the preliminary info at the consultation which makes the client more at-ease and demonstrates that I have a working knowledge of what's involved. I love it when they say "Hmmm.... I never would have thought of that." :)

Now days, I just keep a personal library of good articles and I share those consistently.

Great example with the Coke/Pepsi thing.

Since I am working on a magaizine and not working with a company on their website, I don't usually have that kind of time to track down the right files. Usually, I just get the snapshot of the president with a fake plant sticking out of his head or a microphone in his nose.

I think most companies neglect the promotional side that the advertising dept does NOT control or necessarily want anything to do with.

I can see that magazine issues are slightly off topic for the general conversation here, but media relations are important for everyone.

If you are an up and coming designer, do you have YOUR headshot? May I request of all you Design Firm Artists to make an accessible media packet for all of your clients at the end of your consultation. And maybe some guidlines on how to distibute the correct files.

Currently, someone is scanning a paper printout of a Mongolian yurt with a windmill for an article I must produce in 2 days. The first scan was pixellated and 11-inches wide so I've asked her to try to scan again and MAIL me the hardcopy FedEx. On one hand, she has no idea how to use the scanner properly and on the other - she has the ONLY copy of this image of her company's windmill in use that is accessible. I could try to track down the original photographer, but, like I said, I only have 2 days. This problem would have been avoided had she just had a media relations packet avavilable.

crap!

We have about a 10 page or more pamphlet of print precautions for where I work. Not that it matters... they still never send their fonts and send stuff completely wrong. OY.

Since every service agency will have their own requirements, you might want to build your own list of standards and send it out to every client you have. That way, if they don't send you what you need, it's their fault if their content looks like crap. ;)

There's really no magic bullet out there for you, I'm afraid, besides direct communication with your clients.

AIGA has some good resources to help you here.

I did find a company that had a fairly complete submission guidelines page here.

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natobasso

I appreciate the attempt to understand, but it's apparent I am an anomoly here as a magazine designer.

i don't have clients. i work on a magazine. i do not do ads. i do editorial. so these people I am talking about have been let down already by their PR dept. or hired design firm.

I am guessing the answer to my question is a resounding 'NO' and i should be working on a list of things every company should get from their designers for their public relations needs.

Tanks.

Use the last link I provided you. It's pretty thorough.

Go here for logos for larger companies like Coke and Pepsi:
Brands of the World.

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natobasso

I know the logo site. i think i got the link from here. But you can't run a mag with just logos - BO-RING!

And the 'clients guide to design' is not what i'm looking for. It's a bit wordy and goes off-topic.
For example, "Why provide a design brief" is about the design process.

What i need is "What company-related materials you should have on hand to give to the press"

Thanks tho'
I appreciate the response.

Both are effective tools.

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natobasso

u.yeah, thanks again.

I feel your pain! Although I have a design company and that's the source of my bread and cheese right now, I've also worked in television news, for periodicals of all sorts, and I create what I like to call "fake newspapers" for one of my clients. I'm intimately familiar with the problem that brought you here. (And I wish you'd stay. You sound cool.)

What's the rôle of your own graphics people, if you have some? Isn't this something they should be working on? If not, most magazines at least have some sort of morgue to which you can repair for just the right images. If you don't have this at your disposal -- and I'm guessing you don't, or you wouldn't have raised the question here -- you'll need to build it. (Your publisher might even contract with you to build this resource on your off hours for a fee, since it will streamline your production and result in a better-looking product.)

Stock up on images you'll need for the kinds of stories and newsmakers you anticipate your magazine covering in the foreseeable future. I wouldn't wait until you're on deadline! Go to potential newsmakers for good head shots et al. now. But therein lies a dicey issue. What if your request suggests to these potential newsmakers that you're about to do an exposé on them or something and they balk? GAAHH!

So this leads back to your original question. The best thing to do is, yes, send out some guidelines. Do it yourself; you know best about your specs. But get your publisher's permission to make follow-up phone calls. This is VITAL.

When you call, draw the potential newsmaker's attention to the mailer; e-mail them a PDF of it if they've "lost" it. This will be reassuring to them -- you're hitting up ALL potential news subjects -- you might even list everyone on the guidelines to whom you're sending it, just to allay the exposé fear). Ask them to send you what they have on file. If it's fuzzy JPEGs, they might have a vector original, or at least a high-rez TIFF, whose creator they could steer you to if they don't have it themselves. If it's 8x 10 glossies, make them send them to you so you can scan them properly, and send them back within 24 hours via fastest (and safest) way with a nice handwritten note.

If what they have is horrid, ask your publisher to send a photographer over to get something decent. This should be a routine task for him or her anyway, when not being sent out to shoot something on deadline.

As to other kinds of graphics you might need, you might want to scavenge Getty Images and other online stock photo & graphics outfits for royalty-free things you can use. If you see something requiring a fee for use, and you know it's going to be perfect for an article you're fairly sure you'll be doing, ask your publisher to pop for it.

Think ahead: going to need yurt-type graphics one of these days? Go to the library some day (on company time) and get books on the subject that contain very high-rez reproductions of line drawings that you can scan. And so on and so on. Thinking ahead is the game. It will keep you from having to settle for crap because you don't have time to come up with anything better.

And of course, there's always doing your own line art, in your copious free time, or locating an artist you can hit up as needed, in exchange for a nice credit and ten copies of the mag to send to relatives who said majoring in art was a waste of time.

Good luck!

Mar

We rebuild logos etc for a screenprinter and an engraver, and know what it's like to get a logo on a business card (best case)or something that is photocopied out of the newspaper, and have to rebuild it to make a quality screenprinting or engraving.

We have found, theres no way to get what we need from the client, they just don't get it.

Food for thought, about maybe offering that service thou.

Lynny

I always explain this conversion process and also charge for it. I give the client the option to do the prep work themselves and they almost always just let me do it. That is the reason why we designers are here, isn't it? ;)
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natobasso