Setting Realistic Project Deadlines

People walking on a schedule

Have you recently engaged a designer, only to find yourself scratching your head, figuring out the best way to draw out a timeline for the project? Contrary to popular belief, creativity does take time to work out. Sure, we may be able to churn out a project within a day for you, but chances are the quality of that piece won’t be very good. On the other hand, design usually isn’t some major undertaking, so don’t get cheated by designers asking for an entire year to do your annual report. Finding a middleground is key. Here are some tips to help you set realistic project deadlines with your designer or agency.

Consider the Complexity of the Project

Art pieces chilling in a room

Even though most people are not designers, we’re still able to get a feel for how long a project would take a designer to finish. You shouldn’t expect an agency to finish your 20-page newsletter in two days. On the flipside, don’t allow an agency to ask for a whole month just to do up some name cards for you. A couple of days for every A4 page of design work is a good rule of thumb to follow.

Break it up into Stages

Multi-tiered building

While it’s great to know that your annual report’s due in September, it’s even more important to know all the dates of the photography sessions, first draft of section one, write-ups being due etc. etc. By breaking up a project into little tangible chunks, it helps both parties manage expectations and pace themselves. My advice would be to stick to these mini-deadlines religiously – Missing one can often snowball the entire project into unrecoverable lateness.

Take Bureaucracy into Account

Empty meeting room in an office

Something that people often fail to consider when setting the deadline of a project is the approval process. Oftentimes, a deadline gets pushed back or designers are forced to scramble at the last minute because management took way too long to approve a design. Different bosses have different speeds of approval and feedback, so you should definitely account for your management’s pace when it comes to drawing up a project timeline. You can never blame your bosses when things go wrong, but you can always work around their habits!

Account for Unexpected Downtime

Used tissue paper and coffee

Your boss goes on vacation, your cat died, the design agency is hit by a flu virus etc. – These are all very real situations that can crop up and push a project’s deadline back. If possible, always factor in some grace periods to account for unexpected downtime into your project timeline. And if things go without a hitch, you’ll be able to present to upper management a project that finished way before it is due. Who doesn’t love that?

How To Communicate With Your Designer

Designer and client discussing plans

Working with a designer can be painful. It sometimes seem like we speak a different language from you, leading to hours of frustration. Here at Isshoku, we understand your plight. Therefore, we’ve written a helpful little guide for you to communicate with your designer better and ensure a smooth project.

Make Your Business Philosophy Clear

People in an office

One key factor that determines whether a designer is able to deliver something great for you is how well we understand your business. Share your company culture and brand identity, and let your designer know what your business mission and values are.

Some helpful things that you can share with us to help us understand your business are:

  • A set of brand guideliness (if you have one).
  • Your company’s website and social media.
  • Informative brochures, posters etc.
  • Past design works for your company that you and/or management liked.
  • Design work done for other companies in the same industry that you like.

Clear Direction vs. Creative Freedom

Man walking in a maze on the beach

This is an important question you’ll have to ask yourself when you start working with a designer – Do you already have a clear idea of what you want the end product to look like, or no idea at all?

If you have an idea already, communicate it to your designer: Send a detailed brief, oversee each step of the work-in-progress, direct the designer towards your vision. Don’t worry – many designers are happy to just be a means towards your objective. We’re here to provide a service to you.

On the other hand, many clients don’t know what they want, and that’s ok too. If that’s the case, give the designer a very brief idea of what you are working towards, and – this is very important – let us have creative freedom to deliver a final product for you. Sure, it’s good to step in and amend things that do not align your brand’s identity, but for the most part you can trust your designer to deliver something impressive.

There’s no middle ground here. Either you know what you want, or you don’t. There’s nothing more annoying to designers than the client who doesn’t know what he wants yet wants to have lots of control over the creative process. Don’t be that client!

Be Transparent

Window glass

Finally, open communication is very important. Here are some pointers and guidelines.

  • Draw a project timeline together.
  • Make your requirements and vision (or lack thereof) for the project very clear.
  • When we show you the draft, tell us with great specificity what you don’t like about it and help us make it better.
  • If you feel that the working relationship is not working out, tell us too. Sometimes, the best way forward is for a company and an agency to part ways.

What Should Go Into Your Brand Guidelines?

Stationery on desk

We all know that logos can define a company’s image. When I mention “McDonald’s”, most people get the image of the golden arches in their head. However, just having a logo isn’t enough to establish an identity for your brand. When you think about well-established brand names, it’s quite apparent that they have elements that are consistent across their collaterals, outlets, and media. If you’re starting your own company or looking to do a rebranding exercise, you’ll need a set of brand guidelines to achieve this consistency, giving your brand a “voice” if you may.

Here are the absolute essentials that you should have in your brand guidelines.

Logo and Usage Guidelines

Nike logo

First and foremost, people will associate your brand with your logo. Therefore, the first section of any brand guidelines should talk about your logo and how to use it. A good set of brand guidelines should have the following guides for using your logo:

  • Color Variations: Just because your logo looks cool on a white background doesn’t mean it works when placed against something dark. At the very least, there should be a colored version, a black version, and a white version of your logo.
  • Logo Clearspace: Your logo will lose its identity if it’s crowded out by other design elements. Your designer should be able to tell you how much space to leave around your logo at all times.
  • Do’s and Don’ts: Your designer should show you examples how not to use your logo e.g. upside down, warped, wrong color etc.

Corporate Colors

Woman with lots of colors

This is a big one, because it will influence how your collaterals will look years and years down the road. Ideally, your corporate colors should come from your logo, as well as having one or two complementary colors to go with them. Think about the tone you want your company wants to have, and make sure that the designer picked the right colors to portray that tone. For example, pink doesn’t really work for a tech company, and dark blue probably doesn’t work for a cotton candy chain. Here are some loose guidelines as to what each color stands for and the feelings they evoke:

  • Red: Energy, Strength, Power, Desire.
  • Orange: Joy, Enthusiasm, Sunshine, Determination.
  • Yellow: Warmth, Intellect, Energy, Happiness.
  • Green: Nature, Growth, Freshness, Safety.
  • Blue: Depth, Stability, Intelligence, Masculinity.
  • Purple: Royalty, Luxury, Children, Femininity.

Corporate Fonts

Letters on a page

Like colors, the Fonts you choose to use most frequently lends a distinct voice to your brand. At the most basic level, you should have two corporate fonts: One for title text and one for body text. You can always google font pairings to see what works well together and fits your brand. There are no hard and fast rules regarding the choice of fonts – Just pick something legible and you feel will resonate with your audience. Or, you know, you can always just trust your designer’s choices.

Brand Voice and Tone

Boy screaming into mic

Frequently, when you engage a designer to do your brand guidelines, the focus will tend to be on visuals. I would put forward a strong argument that it is just as important to get a copywriter to establish the tone of writing that your brand messages will carry in the future. Are you going to be a friendly company that welcomes your customers with open arms? Or one that takes the high ground, knowing that people come to you because you’re the best in the field? Having a well-established tone of voice for your company in your brand guidelines go a long way. Here are some sample tones that you can employ for your brand:

  • Friendly
  • Intelligent
  • Energetic
  • Passionate
  • Romantic
  • Knowledgeable
  • Technical
  • Childish

Collaterals

Corporate collaterals and stationery

Finally, it would be good to see all of the above come together in some sample collaterals. It can be something as simple as a namecard and a letterhead. The most important thing here is to visually assure yourself that the logo, corporate colors, font, and voice all come together to form an appealing and cohesive entity. Another tip would be to make sure that your brand identity works well with stock photos as well, unless you’re very sure that all your future collaterals will not bear photography of any kind.