Have you ever been in a situation where you were working with an artist on a project and it just wasn’t turning out the way you had hoped? Perhaps both parties are trying but just not talking the same language.

When a client says “I want simple and clean.”

An artist generally thinks “white space, simple fonts”.

The best way to be on the same page is to pick out similar designs that you like and explain what you like about them to the artist. Explain how you feel the colors, fonts, and layouts portray the clean look you are trying to achieve. This goes for every visual aspect of the design – whether it is fonts or colors you prefer, picture or type treatments, and even styles of copywriting. Be specific. Say what you mean. And show examples.

When a client says “Here is some copy for you to pull from.”

An artist generally thinks “Ok, let me see what works/fits.”

When an artist is asked to build a brochure from copy on a website or other literature we carefully analyze the content, try to look at what might be important from your customer’s point of view, and then we formulate the information into a format that fits within the space and with the design. If you already have in mind what you’d like to emphasize or specific copy that you’d like displayed as you have written, then speak up. You’ll save the artist time and yourself later disappointment!

When a client says “I want to be like Google/Nike/Coke/etc.”

An artist would like to tell you “Meet me halfway.”

Developing a brand as strong as Verizon, Amazon, or any of the biggies you can think of requires a meeting of the minds. It’s the company or marketing specialist’s responsibility to devise and implement a strong marketing initiative and to outline the general creed of the company. It’s the artist’s responsibility to design pieces that are on target with the marketing strategies, eye catching, and addressed to the right audience. If both of those forces come together accordingly, then all that is left to make you a mega brand is time and a few tweaks to the program along the way. No matter how great the marketing strategy or how talented the designer, it just can’t happen overnight.

Post written by KRSmith at www.khrysser.com.

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