How do you approach a design studio to get something designed? What do we require? What do you need to supply to get the ball rolling?
Let’s see if we can explain what we need…First up we require a design brief. The clearer and more detailed this is, the better. We need to know what it is you want. For example, if you’re after a brochure we’ll want to know what size you’re wanting. How many pages you have in mind? Can you provide examples of other brochures?
When first contacting us we will send you our design brief form to fill out. Although it looks quite intensive, the form will actually help you to put across your requirements for the project and so help us better gauge the work required.
This then brings us to that all-important subject: Budget. How much have you set aside to pay for the project?
The minimum cost of a design project is generally a couple of hundred pounds, with brochures hitting the four-figure mark. The cost of design is intrinsically tied-in with the design brief and the extent of what you need, or simply the number of pages/design work required; The clearer that is, the quicker we can turn around a project, the cheaper it can be for you!
Once we’ve received your brief and have an idea of your budget, we can then send you a design proposal. This will detail the proposed work and what we’ll charge.
Ok, so you’re happy with the proposal – let’s get cracking! What we’ll now need is copy and images (assuming we’re not sourcing these for you).
The copy is any text required in your document. You can supply this as a Word document. It’s generally a good idea to have headers and subheadings all formatted similarly to help our designers see what’s what.Images should be of print-quality (if the final project is for print), logos should ideally be vector EPS or SVG files.
If we’re creating a multi-page document like a brochure or catalogue, a pagination guide can also be handy if you know how you’d like the document laid out.
With the copy and images in hand we’ll now design the first draft of your document. On some projects we’ll set up a few options to choose from before then getting on with the main project. We’ll send you a PDF proof of the ‘finished’ project for you to appraise. If there are any queries or issues our designers have they’ll mark this up in the proof.
Amends! It’s very normal to receive the first draft and spot a few bits that need amending. Whether it’s an error on our part, a misspelling in the supplied copy or a change in supplied imagery, we can now begin refining the artwork.
Like the design brief, it’s important to present any amendment instructions to us in a clear fashion. Again, the quicker we can get the amends done, the less the (potentially) extra cost. Time is money.
We prefer to receive the proof PDF back with amends flagged up with comments. Alternatively an email with the amends and their location (page number, paragraph number, line number) is also acceptable.
- And finally… once we’ve tweaked the artwork, cleared up any final amends, we’ll now have a final finished file ready for you. We’ll either email it or send it over via WeTransfer for you to use as you wish, although please do remember that our parent companies Action Press and Action Promote can handle all of your print and promotional merchandise needs!
