Alice Pettey Newsletter Issue 2, August 2013

Issue #2 | August 2013

alicepettey S T R A T E G I C

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Issue #2

alicepettey S T R A T E G I C

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News and techniques for strategic design.

What is Design?

I’ve been a media and graphic designer for the past What does this mean? When you go to a designer thirteen years and during this time it has become you are in effect asking them to provide you with their evident that most people outside of the design field expertise in creating documents, visuals / graphics, have no idea what design is. Most people see design video / media, websites, interactive materials, and/or as a nebulous field that is campaigns that solve a specific Sound all about “making things problem. That problem may pretty” and, in fact that is be to take existing content Illustrations Photos probably the most common and present it in a manner Games © request that designers that makes it easy to read ethics Images ™ Media receive. This request shows and understand, or you may Paper Standards a misunderstanding about need a designer’s assistance Design what design actually is, and in explaining an intangible although it trivializes what feeling of emotion.

Types of Design designers do, most of us A good example of a designer Education just smile and say “I’ll take aiding with an intangible is Print care of it” knowing that in in developing a brand for reality we’re being asked to Measurements your organization. Here a improve the visual interface designer would research and and usability of whatever learn about your organization we’ve been given. and industry. They would take this information and NTSC

Flash

MOV

Optimization

After Effects

PAL

MP4

Encoding

Color Correction

Resolution

Scalable

Resize

Premier

Modification

Illustrator (.ai)

EPS

Retouching

Editing

Vector

Contracts

Photoshop

Web/Mobile

Industry

Bit

JP

m

G

ap

PN

G

Licensing

ys -ra

Flash

Blu

HTML / HTML5

Tabloid

Web

RGB

Grids

Web Fonts

User Experience

Usability

1

0

7

6

9

10

11

American ANSI

Letter

ISO

Research

Video

Creation

Fonts

Selection

Scripts

Industry Evaluation

Branding

software

InDesign

Letterhead

Logo

History

Envelopes

Theory

Prepress

Business Cards

Packaging

Bags

Plug-ins

Bridge

Stationary

Crops

Aprox.

8.7 x 11.3

Mailers

CMYK

Asthetics

Design

Color

Design is the intentional act of creation for a specific use. It is the merger of form and function, developing an end product that is intuitive in its use and/or interaction, or explained through a combination of text and graphics that make its use and/or interaction clear.

Industrial

Print

Illustrator

Animation

Interactive

Acrobat

Graphic

Photoshop

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Pica

Grid System

Pixels

“Make it Pretty”

Fashion

Digital

Strategy

Copy Writing

Golden Ratio

RGB

Bleeds

Packaging

Web

SWOT Analysis

CSS / CSS2

Pre-flight

8.5 x 11

A2

A4

User Interface

Java

3

2

5

4

8

12

Adaptive Design

Dreamweaver

Typography

Leading Text Text Kerning

Professional Organizations

Infringement

IF

Interactive

G

DVDs

Best Practices

Devaluation

Crowdsourcing

TI High FF Definition

Storyboards

Proposals

Contests

Spec Work

SVG

Points

Inches

Centimeters

translate it into a visual media, through the use of color, typography, images, sound, and possibly motion graphics, to elicit the emotional response in the viewer that reflects the organizations key tenets.

In this issue: What is Design?

1 Charity Spotlight 4 What is the Value of Design?

2 Good, Fast & Cheap?

4 Four Ways to Get Fired by About Alice Pettey 5 If you like to receive3this newsletter in your mailbox, Yourwould Designer

visit www.alicepettey.com or Click Here to sign-up !

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When a designer is handed a form or document to “make pretty” that is actually a request to use a variety of complex skills in typography in regards to font selections, leading & kerning, color theory, image or graphic selections, layout and grid theory to create

Issue #2 #1 | August Issue | May 2013 Page 2 an end product that conveys the information clearly, legibly, and guides the reader visually throughout the piece in the correct order. There is strategy applied to good design.

What is the Value of Design?

Creative services tend to be undervalued by the public because most people do not understand what design and creativity are, let alone what they are worth monetarily. I understand this confusion. Unlike purchasing a product or service where the prices are clearly marked and listed on a price sheet, creative services tend to have a bit more mystery involved in the pricing. This is not because designers, or creative, want to make life difficult, but because there are a lot of different components that need to be calculated in determining pricing of individual services. Pricing often varies for a multitude of reasons, ranging from client size to intricacies of the project, the number of comps provided, cost of services that may need to be outsourced such as photography (or stock images), copy writing, or collaboration with other designers or web developers. The experience and expertise of the designer are also taken into consideration during this process.

Now, when you look at the end product that is created, the question is what is this really worth. This is a difficult question to answer as design is subjective and its worth differs from person to person. Most designers attempt to price design services at a level that allows BlueHeronPressureWashing.com them to pay all of their overhead for the project and fairly compensate them for the time spent on the project. Let’s look at a logo. For a small start-up, they may feel the value of a logo is only worth a couple of hundred dollars, but that same business five years later, may feel that a quality design that accurately

represents them and that will stay viable for ten to twenty years would be worth a couple of thousand. If this organization has grown beyond their local area, a logo that is recognized across the state, or country is now valued in the $20,000 – $30,000 range. This may seem to be an unreasonable range of prices, but you need to understand that not all logos are created equal. First, low end logos generally are developed from a preconceived idea by the client that is given form, or from stock elements that are recycled for many other clients. As fees increase more research and evaluation come into play with the design creation as the designer studies the clients business and industry to understand the trends, competition, and differentiators of their client. The ultimate goal of logo design is to produce a unique mark that reflect the organizations intangible elements such as their goals and values that can be trademarked or copyrighted by the organization. In general design solves a problem.

The trick is to figure out exactly what problem It’s the time of year to look toward protecting needs to be solved. your investment with an annual power washing.

Many times a client will Avoid unsightly stains approach a designer to caused by mold, mildew, and algae. Or, the have something done, attempts of the local bug population to make the but not fully recognize exterior of your home, or the why behind it. business, their summer home.

Without this critical piece Call 804 405 0671 or of information it is difficult email blueheronwash@ yahoo.com to schedule for a designer to solve the your appointment with Blue Heron Pressure client’s business problem.

Washing today.

This is why experienced designers push their clients to explore the full purpose behind a creative job. A post card to bring in new clients’ needs to be measured against who is the target audience is, what response are they looking for, is the design conveying the right emotional message for the organization, does

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the copy tone match the visual? As you can see even the “simple” job is more complex than you may have realized when all aspects are taken into consideration.

This experience and expertise is what you pay for when hiring a designer.

Unfortunately, I am not able to give you a clear structure to the value of design, but I hope that I’ve given you a little more insight as to what design is worth and why pricing varies. Just remember this, the next time you’re tempted to ask a designer to work for you for free, or to pay only if you like the design…

You’d never expect your doctor to agree to getting

paid only if you like their treatment, or a restaurant to get paid only if your happy with dinner, so why would you expect a designer to get paid only if you like the work they did for you? Time, effort and energy have been put into creating your design with the expectation of fair compensation, if you’re not happy with your design, most designers takes pride in having a satisfied customer & will work with you to make it right. But, remember if you don’t communicate your true purpose for the design, your designer will be ineffective in putting their creative problem solving skills to work to create a solution that will meet your needs.

Four Ways to Get Fired by Your Designer 1.

Expect your designer to work for free.

You may think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect your designer to do 20 revisions without paying for the time that’s involved. Most designers will include a number of revisions in their price estimates, but once this has been exceeded it is only reasonable to expect for your designer to be paid for additional work. You wouldn’t want to spend hours working on a project that is constantly changing without getting paid, so why would you expect your designer to?

This also applies to expecting your designer to create designs & then, if you like it, pay. Designers have clients who are willing to pay for their services, why would you expect them to work for you for free?

2. Call your designer 10 times a day, just to see “how things are going” If your designer has to answer your calls or email’s ever few minutes, when do they have time to work on your design? Have no fear; you are on your designers mind.

Many times it’s in those “down times” that inspiration comes. Let your designer have a couple of days, and send a nice email: “Just checking in. Let me know when we can discuss the project status.” Don’t panic if you don’t get an immediate response. Typically, designers want to share their progress with you, but they may be at a critical point in the development that is not

quite ready to share, an extra day or two & you may be presented with fully developed concept or a new milestone met.

3. Don’t criticize our style or industry, you chose to work with us.

No one likes to be yelled at, or insulted. And although designers are professional, we do invest personally in our designs. There is no other way that creation works.

Don’t approach us with “this sucks” or “this is terrible”. A “I don’t like this one” or “I don’t feel this works” allows us to evaluate the design against the project goals and step away from our emotional reactions. Designers don’t generally send you all of their sketches, we only want to present the solutions that we truly feel are going to solve the problems that we have been presented. So, insulting our design insults our integrity and implies that we’re giving you second rung designs. If we’ve had clear communication, then what has been presented has been because it meets the goals and criteria that you’ve provided.

4.

Don’t pay in a timely manner.

When you are working with a designer, your timely payments keep your project on schedule. It is bad business for a designer to invest in photography,

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website design/development, and other expenses without the means to pay. This is why most projects, are billed in three installments. One-third to one-half down at the start of the project. This covers expenses that are related to your project, an addition 1/3 or 1/4 at the concept presentation, and the final remaining

at the project completion. Final transfer of rights and files will not occur until the final payment is received. If you refuse to pay or are habitually late in payment this causes your project to be delayed and potentially put on hold.

Charity Spotlight

Good, Fast & Cheap?

Alice Pettey is currently working with the PRISMS organization to promote Smith-Magenis Awareness.

Every client come to a designer with a passion for their project. They want their project placed on the top of the list. The only problem is when a client wants their project pushed to the top, and turned quickly, but think they shouldn’t have to pay for the special treatment.

Smith-Magenis Syndrome is a genetic conditions that results from the deletion of the RAI1 gene on one of the 17th Chromosomes. This condition is not consider to be hereditary as it occurs do to a misalignment of the 17th Chromosome during meiosis. Individuals with condition live with a variety of conditions such as delayed development, intellectual disabilities, aggression, self-injurious behaviors, and inverted sleep cycles.

To help clarify the situations, the illustration below will let you see how the desired features of “good”, “fast” and “cheap” interact when applied to design.

Check out www.prisms.org to find out more about the genetic condition SMS and see how you can help.

To find out more about SmithMagenis Syndrome and/or how you can help the special people who live with this condition, please visit www. prisms.org or contact PRISMS by phone at 972.231.0035

Smith-Magenis Syndrome

Parents and Researchers Interested in Smith-Magenis Syndrome

www.prisms.org

Smith-Magenis Syndrome, (SMS), is a chromosome microdeletion syndrome. It is caused by a missing piece, (deletion), or a mutation of part of the number 17 chromosome. It is characterized by a recognizable pattern of physical, behavioral, and developmental features. SMS is a rare syndrome and is under diagnosed, misdiagnosed and terribly misunderstood by the general population, including medical professionals. It is a complex disorder that has no cure, and is manifested in very challenging and difficult traits, including severe behaviors and significant sleep disturbance.

While persons with SMS must cope with these daily challenges, they also

flourish in an environment of care and compassion. They are dear individuals with engaging and expressive personalities, and also have a great sense of humor. They have excellent memories and are sensitive and affectionate.

If you have witnessed an “SMS meltdown,” and been given this card, we ask for your compassion and understanding. Their parents and caretakers need your kindness, not judgment. They are doing their best to keep the child/adult safe and calm, despite the trying circumstance. If you would like to learn more about SMS, please visit the PRISMS website, (Parents and Researchers Interested in Smith-Magenis Syndrome), www.prisms.org.

Thank you for your understanding.

If you want something “good” and “fast” expect to pay the premium of jumping the line and having a rush project. If you want something “good” and “cheap:”, you need to be willing to wait and have your project worked on during the designers slower periods. And for “fast” and “cheap” well, you will get what you pay for, and don’t be surprised the designer denies any association with the project, because it probably won’t be their best work.

As you can see. where the three meet is a Utopian Dream. In other words, don’t expect to ever see it happen.

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Sound

NTSC

Flash MOV

Optimization

After Effects

PAL MP4

Encoding

Color Correction

Resolution

Premier

TI High FF Definition

Storyboards

Bi

Web

Web Fonts

User Experience

Usability

0

8

10

9

11

4

7

6

8.5 x 11

A2 ISO

Video

Aprox.

8.7 x 11.3

Scripts

Education

Industry Evaluation

Branding

software

InDesign

Letterhead Logo

History

Envelopes

Business Cards

Packaging

Plug-ins

Bridge

Stationary

Theory

Prepress

Mailers CMYK

Asthetics

Design Color

Industrial

Print

Illustrator

Animation Interactive

Acrobat

Graphic Photoshop

Strategy Copy Writing

Golden Ratio

Fashion

Digital

Grid System

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Pica

Measurements

RGB

Bleeds

Packaging

Web

SWOT Analysis

Fonts

Bags

Letter

Research

Print

Crops

American ANSI

Types of Design

Creation

Pre-flight

™

Paper Standards

Design 5

CSS / CSS2

Selection

Professional Organizations

Licensing

12

Adaptive Design

Dreamweaver Java

Industry

A4

User Interface Typography

ethics

Best Practices

Tabloid

3

2

©

Images

u Bl

1

Contracts Devaluation

Infringement

IF G

G

ys -ra

RGB

Leading Text Text Kerning

ap

PN

Grids

SVG

Illustrations

tm

G

DVDs

HTML / HTML5

Vector

Proposals

Contests

Spec Work

Crowdsourcing

Photos

JP

Interactive

Media

Retouching

Photoshop

Web/Mobile

Flash

Illustrator (.ai)

EPS

Editing

Modification

Games

Scalable

Resize

Pixels “Make it Pretty”

Points

Inches Centimeters

Please Note – This is NOT a comprehensive flowchart.

About Alice Pettey If you would like to receive this newsletter in your mailbox, visit www.alicepettey.com or Click Here to sign-up !

Alice Pettey has over a decade of experience in graphic and media design. She has recently received her Master of Fine Arts in Media Design. Her services include the following: Branding and Identity, graphic design, support for intranet and e-mail campaigns, video editing, and websites creation.