DesignSpeak

Who is design for?

This is a matter of opinion, and this is ours: Design is there to serve the end user, not the designer and not (with respect to the purse-holder) the client. There may be one client and one designer, but there can be thousands or even millions of end users, this should be their focus.

Some design studios have a ‘house style’ and every project that they work on will have a similar look and feel regardless of the end user, some clients will have strong ideas of what they like and don’t like, ultimately, none of this matters, what matters is that the thing that is being created attends to the need(s) of the user.

The egos of designer and client must be left at the door. An experienced design studio and an enlightened client will make any potential conflict manageable, difficulty can arise where one party is insistent on a way forward based on something other than user-need; this is where a more experienced studio will be able to really help.

What’s the difference between a rough, a visual and a proof?

A rough is a sketch, with pencil on paper or a computer printout, that is usually of a low specification, used to indicate layout, design, or concept.

A visual is a more refined document, with a higher quality, intended to display the final look of a project. All details should be accurate, with the possible exception of colour, and this document will act as the approval stage for a job before it goes to production.

A proof is a very high quality document, produced in such a way as to emulate the print process as accurately as possible. Sometimes known as a ‘contract proof’ (often branded as Cromalin™ or Matchprint™) it is likely that you will be asked to sign directly onto the proof to indicate your approval of everything, including colour. The printer (the person actually operating the press) will use this document as a guide to gauge the accuracy of the printed material as it comes off the press, so it is extremely important that it is checked thoroughly; the person who signs takes responsibility for the job.

Who owns my company’s logo?

This is not as silly a question as you may first think. The short answer is: not necessarily you. If you created it yourself, then yes indeed you own the copyright to it (unless your design infringes the copyright of someone else). If, however, someone else created it for you, you only own it if the designer has specifically transferred the copyright to you. If no such transfer has been made then the designer still owns it, regardless of how much you paid. In this situation it is possible for a ruthless ‘designer’ to prevent you from using your ‘own’ company logo.

The solution is to make sure that ‘transfer of license’, or a similar offer is made on the quote that you get from the studio before you commission any work.

Sometimes, usually for larger organisations, final artwork will be licensed to the client for a period of time, but this is not normally the case for small or medium sized organisations. If you are in doubt just ask the studio for clarification, it should be an easy question for them to answer.

I have some design software, can I do it myself?

Here are two things to consider: level of skill and time value.

Firstly, you may have the technical skill with software to make the items, but do you have the required ability to be able to objectively create material to represent your organization? This is more than just knowing what you want, but being able to create something that does it effectively and accurately with creative flair.

Secondly, how long would it take you? How much is your time worth? If you could do it, but it would take you two days, would you not be better off employing a designer for a few hours, allowing you to spend your time more productively on your business?

If you have unlimited time, are technically able, and have a creative streak, then you probably could do it yourself. However most people are in business to make money, not to design stuff for themselves.

What are CMYK, Pantone and RGB?

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black: the four ‘process’ colours that commercial printers use to reproduce the illusion of continuous-tone full colour. Using these four coloured inks it is possible to create a wide variety (or ‘gamut’) of colours on paper – known as ‘subtractive’ colour.

However this is a limited process and sometimes it will be unable to accurately reproduce some images. On occasion the work can be be supplemented by two more colours – a green and an orange – to create a six colour proprietary system from Pantone known as Hexachrome™. Green and orange are added as these are difficult colours to reproduce accurately using just the four process colours.

Note: K for black? Why is it not CMYB?
The K in CMYK stands for key, which is derived from the printing term ‘key line’, widely used prior to digital age, when key lines were drawn onto artwork by hand and printers then ordered to fill these spaces with colour or image.

If specific colours are needed in a printed work, it may be appropriate to use ‘spot’ colour rather than the CMYK of ‘process’ colour. The most commonly used spot colour matching system is called Pantone. The Pantone company has established a standard for spot colours and produce a range of swatch materials. The important distinction between CMYK and spot colour is that whereas with CMYK a particular colour is reproduced as near as possible by mixing together dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, a spot colour is a solid colour, no dots, no mixing, no illusion – as someone once said: it does exactly what it says on the tin! This means that there is a much wider range of colour available to the designer, and that the printer and designer can work from the same reference material, ensuring consistency between artwork and printed job.

RGB stands for red, green and blue, a system of ‘additive’ colour used in TV screens and computer monitors. As with CMYK, the RGB system relies on mixing coloured dots to give the impression of something being full colour. The big difference is that CMYK does it with ink and RGB does it with light. It’s not possible to print with light, so it is not possible for commercial printers to accept artwork with any elements using the RGB colour system.

When on screen, even artwork being made using CMYK is represented using RGB (it’s the way that all monitors work). This means that reds, greens and blues can appear stronger than they will appear in print.

Is my company’s logo important?

Yes your logo is important, but, equally important is how it is used.

A well considered (designed) logo will not only be eye-catching, but useful too. An organisation’s logo is often the first impression that a customer/user gets. It acts as a filter, allowing people to make quick judgements as to whether they have found what they are looking for, whether they trust the organization, whether the organization is big or small, established or start-up, professional or amateur, and more.

Even if you have a great logo, well designed, that gives a little information about what you do, printing it badly, distorting it or otherwise misusing it will give a bad impression of your business. If you can’t keep your own house in order, will your customers expect you to deal with them well?

The greatest mistake in creating a logo is to try and show everything about your organisation. It’s not necessary to write an essay with your logo, just give a little information that will lead people in and allow you to tell or show them about what you do.

What is corporate identity?

A corporate identity is simply the image that an organisation expresses. It may be made up of visual material (logo, company colours, type of photography used etc.), along with less obvious things, such as the way your phone is answered and the way that your staff dress and speak.

The most common mistake is to regard a logo as a corporate identity. In the same way that you wouldn’t expect someone to really know you as a person by looking at the colour of your shoes, a logo is only going to go so far in expressing the values and attitude of your organization.

Corporate identity schemes often have a comprehensive set of guidelines designed along with them. These manuals act as a guide to the people within the organization (and external design suppliers) as to how the things that are important to your image should be done to maintain consistency.

How do I choose a design studio?

I have some website software, can I do it myself?

Each month, one or other of the web design magazines inlcudes a software CD-ROM that contains free or trial software that will give you the tools to design and develop your own website or logo.

The way we see it, this is like buying a chisel and a workbench and trying to make a cabinet: just because we have the tools, it doesn’t make us carpenters.

That’s not to say it is rocket science, and that you can’t learn how to put a basic website together, or design a logo from scratch, but there is a lot more to design that simply being able to use the tools.

Most designers worth their salt have a number of years’ experience in the field, and before that, most likely either a keen interest in design, or a design-led degree course, or both. So although you may be able to use the tools proficiently, there is a thought-process and an approach behind every design job, that we don’t think can just be simply taught or learnt - it is also something you feel.

The time taken to become proficient at desiging websites, performing a branding exercise or designing a logo is not something that the average business person will have to devote - their time is better spent running their business, and focussing on what they already know how to do.

How do I encrypt my customer data?

If you are storing your customer’s details, be it information about things they have bought, payment information, or just notes contained in your customer call database, it is important that you protect it.

Given the availability and low-cost of encryption software, it is pretty amazing that the news is filled with stories of government departments losin portable drives containing data about all of us, and it being accessible to anyone who finds it.

The Data Protection Act requires that you take all reasonable steps to secure your customers’ information, and most encryption software more than meets these requirements. Most also offer a facility of safe deletion, whereby when you delete a file, it is deleted permanently through a series of passes: you may be surprised to know that when you normally hit delete, the file is still on your computer, it’s just that your computer has made that space available for use by other files - it can be easily read by someone with the right software. 

What software is available?

Depending on your requirements and the number of computers you use, you may be able to use a free facility such as TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/), which allows you to encrypt your whole computer hard disk, so that if it should be stolen, it will be useless to anyone without your password.

You can also use it to encrypt individual files, so that even if the disk can be read, then when these files are opened they will be illegible to anyone without first entering the password. This is especially useful for text files and databases that contain sensitive data.

The next level up from a free service is PGP (http://www.pgp.com), which can be used to secure individual computers, or an entire network. This is more suited to companies with more than one employee.

Whichever piece of software you use, they all run in the background, seamlessly encrypting and decyrpting your data “on the fly”, so that you don’t notice it. Once you shut down your computer, anyone trying to access it must first enter your password or phrase - this gives you peace of mind should your computer be lost or stolen, as none of your data can be read without it.