Is it always better to work with a specialist?
A funny thing happened to me last week.
I had a call from a potential client who was enquiring about having a folded leaflet designed and printed.
He mentioned that he had used an online company and wasn’t happy with the result. That got me thinking “Is it better to work with a specialist?”
In my opinion the problem with these online ‘design and print your own’ services is that you literally get out exactly what you put in and if you’re not familiar with what you are doing the end result won’t be what you are expecting, leaving you feeling disappointed.
So what was it that I did differently?
Firstly, I had a face-to-face meeting, something that you can’t have with an online service. We sat down and I listened to exactly what it was that my new client wanted to achieve. After listening to him, it soon became apparent that in trying to save some money my client just wasn’t happy with the finished leaflets and didn’t feel confident in using them to promote his new venture.
Secondly, I offered suggestions regarding the use of white space, breaking up the text with images, using solid blocks of colour and adding a ‘call to action’.
Thirdly, I submitted a quote for the work which allowed my client to make changes to the layout at no extra cost – guaranteeing he would be happy with the final result.
Needless to say the quote was accepted and I began to put a layout together based on the suggestions that I had made earlier and a hard copy proof was sent for comments. My client made a few minor changes to the text and one of the images and then it was straight to print. The difference here was that he could see what he would be getting before it was too late.
How do you like your graphic design?
You can have it fast, cheap, free or great. Or can you?
So is it better to work with a specialist?
I certainly think so and would always advise using a specialist because they know what they are doing, after all they do it every day. You the client get exactly what you want and are free to spend your time getting on with what you do best.
Can you do it cheaper?
Yes, of course, you won’t even notice the difference.
“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”
Have you ever had a badly designed job? Send me a message.
