working with a designer for the first time

When need a new look for your business, what's the first step? For businesses who have never worked with a designer before, the process can be intimidating. With most purchases, you can see what you’re buying ahead of time, but this is not the case with anything custom made. Where is the mind meld when you need it most? At the first meeting with the designer, direction can be narrowed down, minimizing time spent and missteps, so it’s important to convey your likes AND dislikes to them. Often, you don’t know what you want, but you know what you don’t want, and this information can be just as valuable.

Where do we start?

I start with corporate ID- your logo or type treatment. Once this look is chosen, it will be applied to stationery, business cards and anything else your business needs. When designing corporate ID, I work with the client to develop a theme; it could be a color, a typeface, an icon— whatever brands your company and reflects your corporate mission. What style is best- abstract, representational, emotional, reserved, personal or corporate? Is this a retail or a service business? I interview clients to get an idea of what will work for them, because whether I agree or not, the client has to love the look because they will be living with it for a long time. I will always advise clients if I think they are going in the wrong direction, but the clients always have the final say.

Design is an evolutionary process; the first step used to be sketches, but now it is computer comps. (The problem with computer comps is that they don’t leave much room for interpretation or imagination— it's hard to get an idea out of your head once it's in there!) I discuss ideas with the client and then present comps- from three to five- and say, “tell me what you like and what you don’t like.” From their feedback, I refine one or two again and the process goes from there until we hit upon a finished product. The same process takes place as we work together to decide the best way to incorporate this new logo into stationery and business cards.

How much will it cost?

Most buyers prefer a project price to an hourly rate, so they know what they are spending upfront. But by asking for a project price, you lock yourself into the upper range of cost, because the designer needs to cover themselves for the worst case scenario. Coming up with a logo can take anywhere from a day to several weeks, depending on the client. I like to give a price range; it will be at least this but won’t go over this without prior approval. That way I can charge the client for actual time spent without making them feel as if they are being asked to sign a blank check.

What if I don’t like it?

Then we start over and work until you do!

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today!
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