danielopezamora {blog}

This handy essay is oriented to help editors, work-mates, marketing people, project coordinators, and friends to cheer up your mate that does design.
(this text haven’t been proofr eaded)

7 ways to lead your graphic designer to the border of madness
For: High Quality Print, ie. books, magazines, posters.

1.- When sending and gathering artwork
Put the pictures inside a powerpoint file, word is also valid, extra points for exotic applications like excel, remember to sent logos as documents headlines. JPG @ 72 dpi, 75% smaller than the output required is a most. But weird formats like gif, bmp, pix, is expected. When looking for pictures also ask for some random files in quark 4.0 done 13 years ago by some random designer in a zip drive unlabeled.
Quote in first e-mail in the morning: “I sent you the word file for our A1 poster, the picture is pixelated but photoshop it”
2.- When setting up deadlines
A deadline is always set in stone, ALWAYS, keep repeating that all the time, in fact the custom signature of your e-mail should be a deadline. In case that you are a busy guy, the editors, web developers and designers work for you, hence they are a lazy kind-of-unemployed people, that like apple products and surf the web.
Take advantage of your position, and set up the deadline as the lapse of your next appointment to the hairdresser, expected 2 weeks. Set up a last meeting to set the deadline. Then the day before the meeting change the date for the next monday.
You always need at least 2 meetings for rescheduling deadlines.
Quote for rescheduling: “Hey guys, I got this situation, I’m in Ibiza, can we change it for monday.”
3.- In the process of designing
Ask every 15 minutes what’s the status of the project. Remember in the intervals is always good to remark that the text is not final neither proofr eaded, in fact is not even sure if that content will be approved for publication.
Even if your designer remark that is only a draft, you should look at it as the final design. Then ask again for the status of the project.
Quote before coffee break: “So, what we are looking at, humm, long way from lunch man, shall we talk about the white backgrounds…?”
4.- When approving drafts
Delay the meetings to get close to the deadline. Always remark that is looking like the last draft.
Remember to talk like if it’s the color proofs from the printer and there’s no way back. Keep your mind focussed in thinking: I’m paying for this?. All changes you are asking for make notice that was well written in your multitask/agenda+scrapbook, attach stupid drawings on it.
Quote before saying bye: “Looking good then, I expect the changes for our next meeting, rather hard work isn’t “

4.- When proof reading
Yellow sticky notes over the mockup is the only device allowed. For total mess delight especially in the pre press time, just let the editor or project coordinator input the changes directly into Quark or Indesign.
Quote to allow that happen: “You can take some rest, you look tired, let me input the changes, how different from Word can be?”
5.- When sending to the printer
Change the printer the day before the deadline, get sure they have different settings that the actual ones your designer have been using for the whole project, usually ask for bleeds. Extra points for changing the paper size.
Triple insane bonus when changing: bleeds, paper size, paper weight, inks and software i.e. from Quark to Illustrator.

Quote to go to print into Happy Ducky Duck printer: “We need to put numbers in order, this is a better deal and is way faster!!!”
6.- When doing last changes the night before sending to the printer
Sent an urgent email to adjust the size and position of the logos, and add some extra important 10 sponsors, don’t forget to show up with the logo of the project founder that has to be in the cover. Remember to add the new 7 spreads of advertisement of the new sponsors. Resize the headlines, they are too large. And give a little comment about some spreads looking whiteish.
Ask for your yellow notes, and put randomly some more.
Quote from the team: “Food is ready, but is not so elaborated though, in fact is lunch, see, we got this party, seya on monday”
7.- When evaluating the final product
Set up the meeting at some productive hour like 7:30 am, no tea… offer coffee.
Make sure the designer doesn’t have a copy of the book in the meeting.
The meeting has to have an agenda, divided in three parts:

Part One
The designer always have to respond to:
Why the pictures are pixelated in MS Word look fine?.
Some colors are not accurate, even if looks like my signed color proofs there’s something funny about it.
Did you check the typos.
Did you check the grid in this one.
What’s he’s doing there.
How this headline change position.
Why my name is there.
Does Happy Ducky Duck press have quality (isn’t it).
Part Two
Start talking about the next project, and remark that we have to improve the week points of our process, in order to improve quality, achievements of deadlines, expand the products and most of all because the next project is 10 times bigger.
Part Three
Set up a deadline meeting
Quote for the closing words in the meeting: “So now we can take a look at the fliers!!!”