What could your clients do to make your job easier?
KrunkPony (136 points) | Wed, 2008-05-21 14:12I work freelance and usually charge an hourly rate. Sometimes I find the client not using me to my full potential and therefore racking up extra hours towards the finish of the project.
I started a list of things that would help a client utilize me most efficiently. Does the community have anything to add?
• Analyze print outs of designs as opposed to on-screen. Your eyes are more sensitive that way. And it allows you to make notes easily.
• Fully analyze each round of designs so you can catch as many errors in as few rounds as possible.
• Return changes and corrections in clear concise emails as bulleted lists.
• Edit copy before giving it to the designer to make it as clear an concise as possible.
• It is better to err on the side of too little copy on a page instead of too much. Extra space makes for a more graceful design.
• When supplying photos/artwork, try to have them all ready at the same time and give me only what I need, not your entire library.
• A vector version of your logo is important to have for future designs. Make sure any designer you work with gives it to you and you keep it somewhere accessible.
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
The future is now.
Big Pony Blog
Design Portfolio
I big time disagree with your first one. Printed out proofs are my biggest pet peeve. First, it wastes paper (granted, you may want the FIRST proof you send to them to be "for color"-- but after that, go digital). Second, when they are changing a crap load of text, I have to reset it not to mention try to read their horrible handwriting. No thanks. If they type it in an email, I can copy and paste.
I think the "too little/too much copy" is a moot-point.
. . . once they figure out how to change and comment on text in a PDF. Its a BREEZE!
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
A few to add:
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech
Agree with Pokie about the handwritten/paper proofs. Sometimes, they're a real nightmare to decipher. I find Acrobat's edit tools work great, plus saves on the typing.
Also agree with Nato about the workback schedule. We may not always adhere to it, but it at least provides a reference point to return to.
Another one to offer up could be knowing the client's visual likes and dislikes prior to beginning the project. I work with one person who simply abhors the colour orange, another who likes lots of white space, and yet another who likes big, blowsy loud graphics. If you haven't already, I would draft up a creative brief worksheet that both you and the client could go through together. I find this saves a lot of time in the long run knowing their preferences and who their target audience is. A great online start for this is:
http://www.creativepublic.com/our_products.php
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
Paddle faster, I hear banjos.
Wow. I always found that going over printouts with clients to work for me. It helped us look at everything at once, and allowed for a more sensitive look at things.
However I can agree with both of your guys negative situations that can arise from prints as well. Maybe its only good sometimes...
And creating a form looks like the next thing on my 'To-Do List'.
-Tiffany
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
The future is now.
Big Pony Blog
Design Portfolio
can be used as a paper trail. Especially for a sign off.
"Hey there's an error here."
"Hmmm is it a spelling error"
"No its a wrong price."
"Hmmm ok according to the history of changes you made that was not a change requested before you signed off on it."
"What!? But its the wrong price! You have to pay for this job."
"Uhh no. . . dude you signed off the final proof. . . and here it is!"
and so on. . .
I have kept sign offs from AE's and clients for three years. Because you NEVER know! :)
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
Your contract should also state that once a job is approved the designer is released from any blame for errors (indemnification clause).
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech
What happens in the event that they approve a brochure size (sign off on a printer's estimate) and then turn around after its printed to say that its the wrong size. Would a mock up be necessary in this case?
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
the physical dimensions should be in the write up they approve. and i generally work with full-sized proofs for anything that's not oversize (i.e., poster size or larger). if i can mock it up full size, i do.
The client cannot claim ignorance if all information is given to them beforehand in the contract.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech
In this case the size changed a few times, so it wasn't EXACTLY in the contract. It was in the PRINTER'S quote that they approved. I instructed them that the mock up they were receiving was going to be a lot larger in reality. I guess they don't read and understand.
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
Maybe next time suggest a full size mock up? Though it will cost them.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech
If the client wants to see how the piece will look incolor, a proof isn't really going to give them that much precision, unless they pop for an Iris or other high-level proof. A lot of print shops don't even provide these anymore. "Soft proofs" are they way to go. That means PDFs that the client can either print out at their end for ease of reference when e-mailing changes to you, or they can use Adobe Acrobat's editing features. You need to know up front if they have that capability. If they do, take full advantage if it.
Another thing I find about the kinds of paper color proofs most of us can afford to hand out is the client will get confused about the color. If they hate it, and you'll have to explain that it's not accurate, which could make the client think you're too low-end. If they love it, they may expect the finished printed piece to look just like that and will be unhappy when you deliver the job. It's no win.
When the client asks me what a specific color will look like when printed, as one of mine did just this morning, I whip out the Pantone Process Coated SWOP book and show them the exact build I used. (And BTW, that's a good reason not to deviate too much from the book's breakdowns on highly visible builds such as backgrounds, type colors, etc.
Mara
Maybe this is obvious, but as a digital designer, I get clients printing out 72 dpi webpages and thinking it's the real deal.
"Why's this ismage so blurry?"
Anyway...
I think the intention of such a list a noble, but in my experience clients want to do things their way and my suggestions sometimes land like mere opinions (you know what they say, how opinions are like a**holes... everyone has one).
It good to make sure you're covered though, so in that respect this is good. But clients will do things inefficiently, and we can try and show 'em the light, but sometimes we have to accept that it's simply dark in their world.
:)
Even if a client refuses to listen to me, I make sure they understand the consequences.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech
There are three main points that we always make sure to ask our advertisers when we're asked to design their ads for them:
1. Who's their target audience?
2. What's their unique selling benefit (or USB)? (ie: what makes them stand out from their competition)
3. What's going to be the "stop sign" of their ad? Meaning when someone's eyeballs are skimming the multitude of ads in the paper, what's going to get their eyes to stop and look at their particular ad?
...And don't forget 4. Call to action. An ad is meaningless unless it causes action.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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The Salon Design Tech