While the advice I’m about to list is technically true when it comes to going into any major marketing project, I think this often applies more for graphic designers than anything else. The reason is because I believe more companies hire outside graphic designers to design for brochure printing and promotional posters that should still have a good amount of company identity embedded in it, and few other jobs require something from outside the company.


This naturally leads to a greater risk of breakdown in conversations and communication between the two sides, and can lead to several other issues if the right information isn’t put on the table right from the beginning. Here are some of the things to consider, and be certain that both sides are aware of right away.


The first is the length of the project. Usually projections or other guesses are made early on by both sides on when things are going to get done, and when both sides want things to get done, but don’t let that fool you into thinking the need for continued communication is over. You should be doing two things at the beginning: first deciding how long both sides believe it will take, and second set up a system for continued communication so that there is no risk of one side being delayed and the other not knowing about it.


Next set up exactly what you’re looking for. I’ve seen situations before where the company wanted the designer to create some brochure templates for them to use with multiple different ad projects. The designer thought they were only supposed to design a brochure for a single marketing push. Because of this the template they made wasn’t meant to be used multiple times, and was too unique to be effective as normal long term brochure templates typically are.


All they would’ve had to do to avoid this is to be open about it from the beginning and make sure that their expectations were completely clear.


Pay is another thing that comes up far too often, and there is unfortunately a breakdown in communications over this. What often happens is that a base amount of money is listed as the pay, but then things get delayed and the project takes longer. The pay goes up from the designer because of this, but the company is unaware of the details, or never discussed the possibility of paying more if things take longer.


Be sure you understand right away exactly how much the pay will be and how the pay will be affected if any problems occur, or if things go on for longer than either side first thought.


The main thing to consider is that you need to be sure that everyone understands exactly what the other one wants, and the best way to achieve it. If you can keep your sides synced up and keep communication open, you shouldn’t have any trouble.

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