If you don't plan to allow enough time for your project to
be designed, printed and delivered, then you may still be
able to have your project completed in time, but the design
will have to be rushed.
This means that your designer will put aside other client's
work and work late nights, even weekends, to get your
project out - but at a price. And the price takes several
forms other than just financial.
The cost of rushing your project includes:
- Skipping important parts of the design process: With less
time there's often not enough time allowed for a designer
to spend much time at all on a creative approach or concept
for your project. There also may not be enough time for
your designer to present a lot of concepts to you or to go
through a lot of revisions. You'll also be rushed through
the approval cycle - which means it's more likely that you
might miss your deadline.
- Quality may suffer: With less time and more stress the
finished product often won't be of as high a quality as it
could be. In design this could mean poorly prepared files,
the details of the design aren't always attended to, or
that a website is coded poorly. None of this will greatly
harm the effectiveness of a finished piece, but it's always
nicer to have a beautiful, perfect finished piece than have
one that's almost all the way there.
- Financial costs: Just like any other profession a
designer will charge extra for the late nights and other
sacrifices that a rush project requires. It's an industry
standard to charge one and a half times the normal cost of
a project to rush it.
- Not being able to ask your audience: I highly recommend
that you run your desgns-in-progress past your best clients
and your target audience. Doing this sort of mini
focus-group will enable your clients to give you invaluable
feedback on your designs, your text, and their impact on
your potential clients. If your project is rushed, then
there's often no time to run the design options by your
clients to get their input - and you'll lose out on a
valuable resource.
Lack of planning can cost you a lot extra. So I suggest
allowing plenty of time to design well thought-out
materials, at a leisurely pace. This will cost you less and
will often produce a more effective design.
----------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design
strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses.
Through her customized marketing and brand identity
packages, Erin helps her clients discover their brand
differentiators, then designs logos, business cards, and
other marketing materials and websites to reflect that
differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and
memorability.
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