Questions to Ask Your Client

What kind of job is it?

Help your client decide what their needs are.
What are their objectives for this particular printed piece?

Deadline: when must it reach the customer?

The deadline needs to be determined at the start and then a schedule needs to be set working from that point.

Always begin your time table by working from the clients deadline.
1.You must consider the turn around time for the mailing house to address the pieces and sort them from your data base and get them to the post office.
2. Are they being mailed bulk rate or first class rate? Bulk will take much longer for the pieces to be delivered.
3. What is the turn around time for the printer?
4. Does the printer need to order paper?
5. Do photos need to be taken or stock photos purchased?
6. Do illustrations need to be purchased or logos need to be designed?
7. Does your client have all the content prepared and ready for you?
Be sure the content is typed and saved without formatting as a text file.
8. What is your schedule? Can you begin this job immediately?

Who's printing it?

Again, this is determined at the initial meeting and may depend on budget, time considerations.
- office printer
- in-house print shop
- commercial printer

Budget

ALWAYS ask about the budget when first meeting with your client.
This will help determine the number of colors to be used, if you will need to purchase stock photos or clip art, the kind of paper, the kind of binding to be used and how many pieces can be printed.
- Number of pieces to be printed
- Color- 1, 2, 4
- Binding - saddle stitch, spiral etc.
- Is the printed piece a standard size? Always check with the US Postal service to be sure you are within the correct height, width and weight restrictions.

Things to consider when setting up a budget:
- designing/layout time (always takes longer than you think)
- printer's turn around time(how long will it take to get printed?)
- mailing house turn around time(mailing list, address labels)
- post office (will they be mailed bulk, first class?)

What Are You Going to Design?

The first step in creating any type of document for publishing is determining what format it will take.

Will it be a brochure, a newsletter, a small space ad, a business card, a greeting card, or something else? Wil the content and photos best fit in a horizontal or vertical format?

Thumbnails

Remember to ALWAYS do thumbnails (small idea drawings) in the correct proportional format...meaning... if you are designing a vertical poster do your first idea drawings in that vertical format....can't fit a round peg into a square hole!

Palm Avenue Associates Identity Package Designed by Victoria Torf ©2004

Design Formats

Advertising - Ads come in all shapes and sizes but the first step in creating the design is knowing the specific size required for a yellow pages display ad, a small space ad in a daily newspaper, an upscale magazine insert, or an online graphic ad.

Direct Mail - Business mailings can take many forms from postcards to letters to brochures to multi-document packages.

Identity Package - Although logo, business card and letterhead with envelopes are standard elements of an identity package, not everyone will need them all and other related pieces may be required such as note cards, notepads, rolodex cards, labels, fax forms, and custom invoices.

You (and the client) have to decide which format is best based on the amount of information to convey, the purpose of the mailing (name/brand recognition, develop mailing list, make a sale, etc.).

This is just a sampling of some of the typical document formats created by graphic designers.

Ad

Logo Design

Direct Mail and Packaging