When companies approach design and marketing projects, no matter how definitive the brief is and no matter how reassuring the words of the supplier are, there is always the potential for the creative output to miss the mark.
The reasons for this are many-fold, and can include:
- Designers often come to a project with a pre-conceived solution in mind, before they have really begun to understand the needs of the client.
- Clients often come to a project with a pre-conceived idea of what the creative should look like, before they’ve had the opportunity to discuss the possibilities with the designer.
- In larger creative agencies, smaller clients can get overlooked in preference to larger ones, and projects can be given far too little development time in the studio schedule.
- The person responsible can get caught up in trying to visually direct their designer, rather than letting them come up with the best solution possible.
Preventing the potential for this kind of disconnect starts with the process of choosing your supplier in the first place. As the procurer of design services, there are a few things you need to find out before choosing a supplier and do once the project has started, that will help you make the right decision.
Overall experience
The best way to avoid ending up with a designer that can only offer you one solution for your project is to go for a company that can demonstrate past experience of a broad range of different projects for clients in different industries. Don’t just try to find a designer that has worked in your particular industry before, as they will already have ideas based based on what they produced on the last project that was similar to yours. Different approaches and solutions come from designers that have a broad understanding of different businesses and industries, and the ability to apply that knowledge to new situations.
Choose the solution, not the personality
If you have asked to see previous examples of work, also ask to see initial ideas based on a small amount of information. While designers hate having to sketch things out before being given the full brief, their response will give you information about their approach to the project. The designers that have done the best research into your products, services and competitors will come to the fore, even if all you have to work on is a few sketches, a few notes or just a conversation. Don’t just choose the supplier that has told you what you want to hear, because although you may end up with exactly what you had envisaged, it might not be the solution that best uses the designer’s experience and knowledge.
Choose the best match for your company in a commercial sense
From my experience in the corporate design world, some of the most interesting projects were often pushed to the back of the queue for design studio resources because they were for companies whose budgets could not match those of the telecoms giant or the mining conglomerate that were my other clients. By choosing a design agency where you can be sure that you won’t be back of the queue, you’ll get the service and resources your project deserves. If possible choose a design agency that is smaller than your company (assuming they have met all your other criteria). That will ensure you remain front of the queue, or near it.
Don’t become a Creative Director
Once the project is underway, give the designer all the information you can. Give them as clear an idea as you can of what you want to achieve, how much you can spend and the kind of thoughts you have been having about it. Then leave them to it. I can’t stress this enough. Keep in front of mind that there is a very good reason that you’re not a designer. There’s a very good reason why you have approached a third party to undertake this specialist work for you. There’s a very good reason why designers spend years, not only at art college but also in commercial employment to gain the experience needed to undertake your project. If they are wide of the mark (and despite everyone’s best efforts to avoid it, sometimes it happens), don’t start designing it yourself, because if your core skills were in Graphic Design, you wouldn’t be doing the job you do now – you’d be a designer yourself. Whilst you may have good ideas, you will be better off explaining them to your creative team and letting them run with the concept. You never know, it might spur them to even greater heights.
Of course there is another reason why you should never try to become Creative Director to your designer. Undertaking that role will take your time away from doing what you are best at – your job.
A good designer can create communications that are engaging, beautiful, intricate or workmanlike, but an exceptional designer will do these things whilst keeping one eye on the commercial aspect of the project, making sure that in every way possible the end result meets the business-driven goals of their client. In order for them to do that, there is inevitably an amount of effort required by the client to make sure that the project fulfills its potential. If everyone does their part properly, everyone wins in a commercial sense, and that, after all, is what we’re all trying to achieve.
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