“I don’t know the first thing about professional design!”

You say your MBA program didn’t include training to work with creative professionals? Perhaps your degree is from the Seat-of-the-Pants School, and didn’t include experience in outsourcing creative work. Don’t know what a designer actually does? Don’t even know where to find one?

Relax. You’re not alone. Few executives are trained to make these kinds of decisions or to work effectively with creative professionals. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage when hiring creative consultants.

We’ve run into this situation with many of our clients. That’s why we’re offering this white paper to fill in this critical information gap. What you learn from this paper will give you the power to approach marketing projects with confidence. It will help you understand:

• The benefits of hiring a professional designer

• Where to look for the pro you need

• How to choose the right one for each particular project

• How to work effectively by taking a sensible approach to project management:

— Establishing clear project parameters and expectations

— Maximizing the talents of your chosen designer

— Setting an optimal amount of your own involvement in the project

— Designating appropriate liaisons to your designer and other creative talent

When do I need a designer?

Unfortunately, many business owners know little to nothing about what a designer actually does. This results in them making the mistake of not knowing when they need one. Design professionals are still sometimes referred to as “graphic designers,” based on the old definition of their duty: to attract attention to the message. However, with the advent of digital technology, they have become so much more than creators of a pretty layout.

Today’s successful graphic designers are actually information managers, using visual techniques to corral similar ideas together, then lead the reader’s eye through the material in the most efficient and effective way. After all, they not only need to make sometimes dry information interesting enough to read, but also fight the time deficit that every busy, modern person deals with. If your designer doesn’t know how to hold the interest of the reader and move the eye along at a reasonable pace, the reader may just give up and your entire investment becomes just another expense…and a wasted one, at that.

Those professionals able to not just attract a reader’s eye, but also to hold it until the end of the message, are true communications designers. Their skills make sure the communication — that elusive connection between words and visuals and the reader’s mind — actually happens.

So, the answer is: You need to hire a professional communications designer when you want to produce some kind of material, whether traditional print or new media, that must communicate to today’s preoccupied, harried audiences.

What should I look for?

Communications designers bring all the talents, knowledge and understanding of the graphic designer to the table:

• effective information layout

• readability through sound typography

• color theory and psychology

• effective use of illustration and photography

But then they add the expertise of someone who understands the purpose, potential and the limitations of digital media:

• the Internet, intranets and extranets

• email

• CD-ROMs & DVDs

• Touchscreen technology & kiosk displays

Communications designers are familiar with the many different programming languages and “applets” that allow such media to work. You may be familiar with some of their names:

• Java

• CGI/Perl

• Shockwave

• Flash

• Cold Fusion

This knowledge doesn’t necessarily equate to the ability to perform such coding themselves, but some really advanced communications designers are also proficient programmers in these languages. When you hire these well-rounded individuals, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

But do I really NEED to hire a professional?

Some business owners and managers, even when they need top-flight communications materials, opt not to hire a professional designer. They mistakenly believe they are “saving money” by using a staffer who may have some creative ability, or by trying to do the work themselves. Usually, the results make them regret such a decision.

The fact is, really good communications design is an alchemy of art, science, training, experience and creativity. Simply having access to the tools of the designer’s trade—a computer and some page layout software—doesn’t make someone a designer, any more than owning a toolbox makes one a mechanic, or having a piano makes one the next Beethoven. We’ve all seen the sorry results of “garage design,” and the proliferation of low-end desktop publishing software has only exacerbated the problem.

The argument that professionals cost too much money is one that doesn’t hold much water. The fact is, you get what you pay for. So if you’re tempted to go “on the cheap,” ask yourself if it’s worth saving a few bucks to negate the impact of the rest of the budget. Remember: No matter how much time, effort and money is spent crafting the message, if no one reads it everything is wasted.

When a real designer is brought in at this point, much time has frequently been lost, tempers are frayed, and everyone is beginning to feel under the gun. Now-looming deadlines frequently require lots of budget-busting overtime on everyone’s part. The designer must be brought up to speed, and then come up with the creative concepts that should have happened at the beginning. And face it: no one produces their best work under unrealistic pressure.

Okay, we want a pro. But how do we find one?

There are many places you could start your search. There are trade associations whose members include professional designers, and membership in such organizations usually signals a certain seriousness about the members’ careers. Many of these associations have websites, several of which even feature search criteria for member specializations.

One such organization is the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). You’ll find an interesting treatise on information design, and other useful topics on their Clients page at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?alias=clientsview.

Other organizations that will help you locate professional designers include:

• International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) at www.iabc.com

• Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) at www.gag.org

• Creative Business at www.creativebusiness.com.

There are many websites that help you locate freelance designers that allow you to key in your project specifications and let the designers contact you. Two of the most reputable of these are

• VendorSeek at www.vendorseek.com

• Elance at www.elance.com

The very best way to find professional design talent, however, is the same way you find other critical service providers: leverage your professional network. In other words, ask your colleagues whom they recommend.

But you mentioned all the different things designers might know. How do we find the RIGHT one for our project?

Hiring the designer that fits any given project is equally as important as making sure the candidates are professionals. Just as there are different kinds of designers for certain kinds of clothing (fashion designers), automobiles and other products (industrial designers), and buildings (architects), there are different types of designers for certain kinds of communications materials.

Step #1: Project Parameters

Project Planning & Management Structure

The first step in hiring the right designer is to determine your project’s parameters. Once you decide on the end result you want, it’s fairly easy to use logical processes of elimination to decide who is most likely to help you reach it. The most logical way to establish parameters is by using the “five W’s” system: Who, What, Why, Where, When (and How).

Who

• Ask who comprises your target audience. Establish a primary and secondary focus; all other audiences are extraneous to this project. The rule for your most effective piece is “one piece, one audience,” whether you’re talking about a brochure, an ad, or a website.

• Ask who in your organization will be responsible for gathering all the data, information and images that will be used in the piece. This is your content point person, and is critical to getting things moving.

• Determine who in your organization will be responsible for final approval of the piece. Try to assign this responsibility to no more than three people: “Design by committee” is the kiss of death to fresh, creative ideas.

• Who in your organization will be responsible for acting as liaison between the person providing data, the designer, and the approval panel? This project manager or coordinator should be highly organized, a good listener, personable, and capable of impartiality.

What

• Decide what is the most important overall message your piece must communicate. All other messages should be subordinate to this message, and should be few, if any.

• What is the end result you hope to achieve with the production and distribution of this piece? State your goal in a measurable way, so you’ll be clear about whether or not the piece was successful.

• What is your budget and timeline for producing the piece? Include everything from preparatory staff meetings through delivery of the finished piece to the end user.

• What is the critical buying path (CBP) of your primary target audience? Knowing where to find your targets when they are in an information-gathering (shopping) or decision-making (buying) frame of mind, and intercepting them with your piece at those points, will give your campaign a much greater chance of success.

• What is the format for this piece? Print advertising, direct mail, brochure, catalog, website, opt-in email blast, CD-ROM, stationary on-site kiosk? This determines much of the form the content will take.

Why

• Why have you chosen the proposed format for the piece? Does it really make sense, or would it perhaps be more effective in another form? Weigh all characteristics against the result you are trying to achieve.

• Ask yourself why you have chosen the people designated for the approval board and liaison positions. Make sure it’s because their skill sets and availability match the needs of the project, and not just because someone’s ego needs servicing.

Where

• Where will the different facets of the project’s development take place? Consider where you’ll hold meetings for in-house project prep, designer interviews, concept brainstorming, incremental project review, and final approvals. Logistics are important to efficient administration of a project, especially one that may run over an extended period of time.

• Where will you want the actual creative work to take place? If you feel you need a great deal of control and so require on-site work, be aware that you are setting up a work-for-hire situation according to federal government definitions. This will likely limit the range of professionals who will be willing to work with you.

• Where will your piece be distributed? This, along with target audience and format, determines much of the form the content will take. For instance, catalogs that mail to a list of upscale office buyers will be designed very differently than those mailed to a list of hair salon managers.

When

• Determine when your project will need to start and end. Establishing and adhering to a schedule will make everyone’s job easier along the way, by establishing measurable production performance expectations.

• When will you need to meet with the designer to interview and issue a work order, then for status reviews as the project progresses? Use common sense to establish these benchmarks: Make initial meetings coincide with in-house prep meetings, and progressives coincide with such things as receiving final copy from your copywriter; delivery of first, second and possibly third-round proofs; and perhaps a press check, if your designer is to be involved in that phase.

• When will the finished product be needed at its final destination? This date will most likely act as the control for the final project schedule, as you back all other activities off from it.

How

• How will your project team, including your designer and any other creative professionals you hire, work together? Avoid having meetings be the only time your project team communicates. Such a scenario will rapidly deteriorate into one of missed deadlines and finger-pointing. Keep the lines of communication open and active by encouraging regular updates via phone, fax or email.

• How will you decide whether unscheduled extra meetings are necessary in the process? Most obviously, the liaison or project manager should be empowered to make this call, but you may find that other project team members also need this ability.