Print Buying

Are print services expected from a graphic designer or are design services expected from a printer. I have been approached by a printing company inviting me to join with them in partnership to promote their services and vise versa. I do provide print services to clients at the moment and I have the freedom to shop around and make sure they are getting the best deal. I have built good relationships with my printers and think this is important when providing a service.

Are people put off of using designers when the costs are all bundled in together. I make sure that there is a clear division between the two on quotations which gives my clients the choice of using my printers or finding their own. Transparent pricing allows clients to see exactly what time is spent on and enables them to judge what they need better. For example if a customer has a website and they know that text changes or updates take a lot less time than image changes it is worth saving up these amendments and getting them done at the same time. This is better both for the client cost and for the designer rather than keep going back to the same website multiple times.

Brand Consistency

Having been discussing today the need for brand consistency across all materials that a business would release into the public domain, I felt it a good time to investigate how importantly it is considered. Power point presentations can be the best example of how brand consistency can be forgotten. It is not that often that I am approached to design a template for power point presentations and yet it is one of the most frequently used visual aids when communicating with our customers or clients.

In fact it was only recently that one of my own clients asked me to 'design' a power point presentation template for the company so that it would be consistent with their brand. As it happens, my client contact does appreciate how damaging badly designed presentations can be. It is a shame though that only a very few people share this understanding.

Do people really understand the purpose of the 'power point slide presentation'? I think it is very much abused and relied on to do the communicating instead of the presenter.