Archive for the ‘Graphic Design’ Category

Why we never do spec work

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Firstly, I should say that these views are personal, and not a reflection of CIN’s views. Important to say that straight up top, as I am attempting to discuss a topic which is highly divisive in the creative sector.

On a number of occasions we have been asked to submit designs for projects before we’ve been commissioned to do the work. To add to this, we’re not the only company who has been asked. Speculative work (or Free Pitching) is a wide spread practice in the creative sector. A project for one of Derby’s largest institutions saw around 10 design agencies pitch for branding and web design work. For every winner there are nine losers. Whilst talking to one of our compatriots about our decision to decline the invitation to pitch, we were told that to compete with the big boys we needed to think like them.

Think like the big boys?

I recently asked Erik Spiekermann for his advice to any designers considering taking on speculative work. His response, simply; “Do not, ever.”

Speculative work is a stain on our sector. So why do we allow it to happen?

We allow it to happen because we can’t sell. Creative people don’t always make the best business people. We don’t think we’ve got what it takes to convince people on the merits of our record that we are worth hiring. So in a last vain attempt, we give away our most prized assets (our ideas) in the hope that someone might recognise their genius and agree to pay for them. The problem is, when we give our ideas away for free, we give away any ounce of credibility we ever had. I’ve had fellow designers tell me how they’ve been screwed by clients who’ve taken their concepts and given them to another company to reap the benefits. I experienced this myself when I worked for a previous employer; one of my rejected designs for a company later became the layout for their website, without permission or payment of any kind. They’re angry, I’m angry, but can we blame people for taking advantage of us when we ourselves don’t value our most prized assets?

What about charity?

If opinions are split already, I’m going to split them again. Some people think Spec work is bad, but not when it comes to charity. I’m going to disagree again. If a charity approaches you to do some free work, then fair enough, it’s your call. But if a charity approached us, as well as ten other agencies, or gave an open invite on the web, I’d respectfully decline. I think it’s wrong to waste so many companies valuable time and assets. I’d much rather they chose who they want to work with and stick with them, have faith in them, and allow them to see it through.

Pitching process

If we’re asked to pitch for business by presenting previous work, and by discussing our overall approach, that’s absolutely fine. We’re excited talk to people about why we do what we do, why we’re different from others, and how we can help them best achieve their goals. We want to work with good people, who have great ideas and great businesses. People who share our values, value our time, and recognise the power of good design. If they can’t hire us based on our credentials, and they want to see some sort of mock-up, they’ve shown they don’t value or understand our process, and they probably aren’t the clients we are looking to work with.

We recently interviewed a graduate for a position in the studio. When we mentioned that we do not take part in free pitching, the student looked shocked, “That’s a radical stance.” It’s sad that students are not being taught the value that design has and the power they possess as designers. When we participate in these design competitions/lotteries, we make things worse for ourselves and future generations.

Of course, this problem will not go away, it has infected our industry from top to bottom. Some companies have become very good at playing the game and have a vested interest in keeping the system as it is. I do not expect this article to change the status quo, I’m not that naive. I’ve sat with other designers for hours discussing and debating this issue, and whilst people may agree it’s not a great situation, they don’t want to be left out, and are happy to accept things the way they are. The only way the status quo will change is if everyone in our sector says “ENOUGH” and “NO MORE.” The problem is, there will always be someone who’s willing to work for free in an attempt to impress a potential new client. We’ve lost work where we were in a prime position to win because we refused to put forward some free ideas as a goodwill gesture, and someone else was. It costs something to stick by your principles. May the best designer win? Rubbish. The best ideas don’t always get chosen; clients can be subjective rather than objective, an existing relationship can help sway things, and sometimes it comes down to who’s cheapest.

I’m convinced more than ever that refusing to pitch is the right thing for our business. I would rather spend my time working with clients who value and respect our time enough to pay us, than play the design lottery. If a client doesn’t want to pay for your professional time, that client isn’t worth working for, I don’t care who they are!

Thanks for reading.

Andy Cogdon
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter
Twitter @cctcreative

P.S. Ok, so I know I’ve been reasonably provocative in the discussion. As I said, these are my views, not necessarily CIN’s. BUT… What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? Am I an idealist, or do I need to get with the real world? Please comment on this blog to engage with the discussions, or if Twitter is more your persuasion, #nospec will put you in the thick of it.

For further information, visit www.no-spec.com

A last resort

Friday, February 11th, 2011

drawing

Stock image libraries are strange places for graphic designers. The rise of cheap, affordable image libraries in recent years could be seen by some as a God send. However I don’t see it that way. I see them as a kind of Hell, Purgatory if you like. A place where a once creative individual can spend hours locked in a world of annoyingly over smiley, slim, attractive American models with perfect teeth. Not that I have anything against attractive American models with perfect teeth, it’s just they don’t always look like they belong. Like Lady GaGa at a W.I. meeting. I’ve lost many hours of my life trawling through these websites trying to find something usable. Hours that I can never get back, and it was killing my creativity.

Have you ever been given a design brief and found the first thing you did was type words into a stock site to see what came up? To my shame, I have. That’s what these sites do to you, they whisper in your ear and tell you there is a stock image for everything. You can have your cake and eat it, all for $5.

A while ago it hit me. I was fed up with being a graphic designer. I hated that my job had become so predictable as it was unpredictability that had attracted me to design in the first place. As a kid growing up I loved art, but when I was deciding what career path to follow I came to the conclusion that artists only became famous and made money after they’d died. I mean no disrespect to artists, but in the words of Brian Clough, “Don’t send me flowers when I’m dead. If you like me, send them while I’m alive.” So I chose the world of commercial graphic design.

It occurred to me that I’d been neglecting the very skills that had brought me to where I was. I can hold a pencil, I can draw, I can paint. I like to create something new, something unique, something artistic. Why was I wasting hours of my life sifting through endless pages of search results? I could be spending my time coming up with a truly creative solution. And with that thought, with the decision to pick up the arts that I loved, I rediscovered my passion for design and my inspiration to do something new.

If you browse our website, I’m sure you’ll be able to spot a few stock images in some of our work. Unfortunately in some cases, stock images are a necessary evil. I’d much rather come up with an illustration or commission a photographer, and where I can, I do. Sometimes though, it’s just not practical, it’s unavoidable. When a client asks me to “just find a stock image to go there,” I now tell them that every time I have to search for a stock image, a part of my soul dies! On a tangent, if there are any photographers out there reading this, my advice to you (free of charge)… Get together a large group of people made up of multiple ethnic groups, all ages and both sexes. That image will make you a small fortune! My advice to my fellow designers though, see royalty free stock image websites for what they truly are… a last resort.

Andy Cogdon
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

Is there any excuse for lazy copy?

Monday, April 5th, 2010

I’m a graphic designer which means I care more about how something looks than the words that accompany it. NO! If I ever say that, I’ll have to fire myself.

I firmly believe that it is the designer’s job to make sure both text and image work harmoniously. You can’t do that if you’re ignoring the text. Too often I see otherwise excellent design work spoiled by shoddy copy. I’m talking about spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, bad typography or just plain nonsense. Consider the following example (taken from a well known crisp packet) that was recently highlighted by Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert.

copy-crisps

Now I’m sure ‘Made with real ingredients’ probably came fully formed from the marketing department, keen to point out that no imaginary potatoes were used in the production process. But in the face of statements like this, I either get depressed or slightly militant. I prefer to speak up. If the client has supplied all the copy, read it and make sure it makes sense. That’s part of your job. The client is paying for a professional service so that’s what they deserve. If you point out something and they ignore it, at least you’ve tried. I know it’s not always easy, but don’t you just love a challenge?

Here’s another one…

copy-dvd

‘Full length DVD player’ – as opposed to what? Those kind that only play half a film? At least this model includes black colour. My last DVD player didn’t include black colour.

Pete Clark
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

Graphic Design on the Radio

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Anyone more interested in listening to Adrian Shaughnessy than Chris Moyles? I know I am!

I recently discovered this show, called simply ‘Graphic Design on the Radio’, and thought I’d share it with you all. Adrian Shaughnessy is probably best known for writing the essential ‘How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul’ as well as founding the design company Intro. Amongst the interviewees you’ll find Stefan Sagmeister, Rick Poyner and many other influential figures. There’s an archive of shows available to listen to online.

From the site:

Graphic Design on The Radio is a radio show about graphic design. It features interviews with leading designers who talk about their work and play music that has inspired and influenced them.

Listen now and rejoice in the lack of overplayed rubbish! http://www.graphicdesignontheradio.com/

Pete Clark
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

The little things…

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

One of the things I find most exciting about design is how seemingly inconsequential details can completely change a person’s perception of an object, website or place. I was sat at my desk the other day when Russ (who I work with) called me on his way out of the building. “Just to let you know, there’s an exciting parcel for you in reception.”
We get plenty of parcels in the mail, so I wondered what it was that made this one ‘exciting’. I went down to collect it and found that it had been sealed with bright green parcel tape, instead of the usual brown. I had no idea what was inside at that point, but the vibrant sticky tape suggested it was going to be something worth looking at. (The new Autechre album, in case you’re wondering.)

You could argue that there was no real point in using non-standard tape, after all I’d already made my decision to purchase. But this little touch gave the otherwise mundane act of opening a packet a little suspense. And that in turn reinforced my satisfaction at buying the CD – very important in the face of reduced sales figures.

As designers, we can use this kind of psychology to our advantage. We can add value in all sorts of situations just by making a few careful decisions about colour, typeface, paper etc.

close up of the green tape

Why not ask yourself if there are any details you can change on your next project to make it stand out a little. Has anyone got any further examples of little touches they’ve seen that have made designs stand out?

Pete Clark
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

Visibility on the web

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Came across this article by Michael Arrington. He’s painting a picture of an ever more complicated world of digital media built on tons and tons of crap. The challenge is to find visibility through that morass. Talent will always out but we really need new tools to sift out the dumbification of media. This thing ain’t getting any easier.

Clark’s graphic design nightmares

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Fish + Banana = Sadness

I lose track of the amount of times I’ve been in a meeting with a client I heard the words “We’d like you to show us four or five different options.” I usually start feeling mild dread around this point. Inevitably they continue with “If we have several quite different options we can take the bits we like from each.” My dread then turns to actual horror. Allow me to explain why I am affected so, with the use of delicious metaphor…

Let’s pretend for a minute that I’m a chef rather than a graphic designer. I’ve been hired to cater for Jim’s birthday party and it’s my task to cook him and his friends the best meal they’ve ever tasted. Jim explains that although he only wants me to cook a single dish, he’d like me to give him four or five options. So he can pick the bits he likes from each. (Can you see where I’m going with this?) I suggest that my time would be better spent coming up with one meal that he and his guests will enjoy. But Jim insists that it would be terrible if he didn’t like the meal, so I must provide options for him. I return to my kitchen, a bit depressed.

One week later…

I arrive for another meeting with Jim, I have samples of five dishes: Chocolate mousse; smoked salmon; banoffee pie; crispy chilli beef; aniseed balls. I really only had enough time to create two dishes, so I had to buy in the banoffee pie and crispy beef. The aniseed balls were given to me last Christmas – but I didn’t eat them because they are awful. Jim seems pleased with the choice. He spends five minutes deciding which bits he likes and asks me to combine them. I return to my kitchen, very depressed.

A week after that…

The night of the party comes and everyone is having a good time. There’s drinking, dancing and finally it’s time for the special birthday meal. Jim has an expectant look on his face as I walk in with a large tray. I present the food to the guests. “Ladies and gentlemen, for tonight’s meal I am serving Chocolate and fish mousse with banana chilli. Sprinkled with aniseed balls.” People are glancing nervously at each other, but no one approaches the food. Eventually Jim starts eating.
After ten minutes Jim is looking queasy and very upset. None of his guests liked his special birthday meal. He just can’t understand what went wrong, he hired a chef after all! Jim convinces himself that it was my fault and refuses to pay me.

Now, that all sounds a bit ridiculous doesn’t it? But it’s the exact same thing with graphic design. I really can understand a client wanting to retain creative control, but working like this ties the designer’s hands and stops you from getting what you are paying for. Focus on your goal – do you want to end up with a piece of design work that appeals to you or your customers?

Pete Clark
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

Client Vs Designer!

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Most of the conflict that arises between a graphic designer and their client comes from a situation where the client is thinking ‘I’m paying for this, so it’s going to be whatever colour I want!’ and the designer is thinking ‘I’m a professional graphic designer, and I know that will look horrible, so I ain’t doin’ it!’ So which one of them is right? Get ready for this… Neither.

What both parties tend to forget is that their own preferences don’t really matter. The work is intended to catch the attention of the client’s customer who will have their own likes and dislikes. And whilst the designer might think that small grey text on a white background is very chic, and his client may like the idea of a wild west font on a purple background, if the target audience is women in their 70s with sight problems then they’ve both missed the point.

Hopefully you can see what I’m getting at, clients need to convey a message to a specific group and it’s the designer’s job to help them do that. Personal preferences shouldn’t really come into it – decisions on style need to be based on an understanding of who is actually going to be looking at the poster / brochure / website etc. Making an appropriate decision on things like colour or typeface require careful consideration.

Clients need to think about who their target audience is and give the designer as much information about this group as possible. Designers need to ask the client for this information and then use it! Ultimately the goals of the client and the designer overlap, to produce a good looking piece of work that’s effective.

Pete Clark
Cogdon, Clark & Tranter

Getting a job in graphic design: 7 tips for contacting employers

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

I have recently been getting rather a lot of emails from newly graduated design hopefuls. People looking to take their first tentative steps on the road of creative fulfillment. I remember what it was like trying to find my first job; it can be a little daunting. So I’d like to offer some advice, if I may?

Many of the job-seeking emails I receive make some basic mistakes. If you’re reading this as a job seeker, that is a good thing as you have the opportunity to stand out from the crowd. It’s just going to take a few minutes of planning, that’s all. I have prepared 7 simple tips to help you when contacting a prospective employer. Using these suggestions could seriously boost your chances of getting to interview, and reduce the risk of your email being deleted. Neat eh?

Tip 1: Find out the name of the person you are contacting.
If I get an email without my name at the top, I feel like it isn’t really to me. This means I don’t feel bad about not replying. If you can’t find a contact name on the company’s website, phone them. ‘Phone’ is a bonus feature that comes built in to most texting machines these days.

Tip 2: Send work examples.
Be careful here; it’s important not to clog up the inbox of your prospective employer with a 12mb PDF, but a couple of well chosen images can generate interest. You might also include a link to your website, incase the reader wants to see more. When you attach work examples, send a single file (PDF is best) and give it a name like ‘peteclark-work.pdf’. Avoid sending Word documents – this may sound like design snobbery, but Word is not the right tool to showcase your design skills. Nor is Publisher. Ever.

Tip 3: Spell check and READ your email before you send it.
I’m aware that many graphic designers aren’t too hot on spelling and grammar. But, and I cannot stress this enough, sending an email that is riddled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and bizarre changes in tense will make you look amateur. If you struggle in this area, get some help. At the very least, don’t make claims that could undermine you. I recently got an email from someone with a “Keen eye for detail” who managed to spell our company name wrong.

Tip 4: Don’t send an email at all.
People are going to think I’m nuts for suggesting this, but you could always post a letter. Yes, a paper letter! These days almost everything is emailed – however, important documents still tend to be sent through the post. A well typeset, letter and printed work examples (on good paper) will command a certain respect that an email never could. You know how many job seekers have posted me a letter? None. So anyone who did that would stand out.

Tip 5: State why you want the job.
If I’m going to give someone a job, they need to prove that they really want it. I want to hear from people who can’t go more than a couple of days without creating something. I would sooner hire someone who is “a little obsessed with typography” than someone who “really enjoyed being at uni”.

Tip 6: Explain why you are a good choice.
I care about your ideas, enthusiasm, desire to learn, commitment, ethics and software skills. In that order. Don’t list all the software you can use without saying why that matters. Graphic design is about ideas, not software skills. Imagine a doctor who is an expert with a stethoscope but has no interest in curing people. That doctor, would be a BAD doctor.

Tip 7: Put some effort in.
I once received the following email:

Hello
I wanted to ask if there is any Graphic Designer Vacancy Available?
Thank you
Ralph

I actually did reply to this one, because it made me laugh. I sent back the following:

Hi
No there isn’t I’m Afraid
Cheers
Pete

So there you have it, my top tips for getting noticed. Obviously this is really just a starting point, but these are things that you can start doing right now, without much effort. And remember: The best jobs go to the best people. So start doing everything you can to be one of the best people. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has tips of their own to add to the ones above. Good luck!

Pete Clark
Director of CCT Creative
pete@cctcreative.co.uk

The first post

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Hi there! I’m a bit stuck… You see, thinking of a subject worthy of my first blog post as a board member is a little tricky. There are many things that I could talk about, but I don’t know what people are interested in reading yet. I could write about my experience of dealing with tricky client situations; my top ten tips for overcoming creative block; something I’ve noticed that’s amused me. What’s the answer? (Actually, I did just notice that M&S has a special 3 for 2 offer on Wedding cakes. Who is that promotion aimed at!?)

I think I’m going to give it some more thought. In the meantime, if anyone has any ideas of what they’d like to read about, drop me a line.

Pete Clark
Director of CCT Creative
pete@cctcreative.co.uk