Whoa, where have I been?
Jennifer | 11:24 am | October 6, 2008 | Uncategorized
Well, working a lot, then there was that roadtrip that took me to North Dakota. No, I’m not kidding. I was also in Mexico, but somehow that seems less interesting than North Dakota as a vacation choice, no?
There is stuff coming, I swear it.
Digital Asset Management
Jennifer | 3:38 pm | January 21, 2008 | budgets, ads, prepress, process, workflow, planning, plan, General
All of your electronic artwork - support files, final ads, standards manuals, etc…. Are digital assets. It can be difficult to keep your files organised and even more difficult to ensure your suppliers and clients have access to them. There are online sites that make this simpler.
If you need to have offsite backup (that is, you need your files to survive your office burning down) you can use simple storage facilities such as X-drive. If you want a more robust solution that allow not just file management, but full search facilities and the ability to have clients work off your files, there are wide-ranging sites such as Corbis’ Media Management service, which supplies the option of fully automatic file storage, archiving and retrieval.
Guess which service is more expensive.
There are a number of solutions available to you. As always, they’re only worth as much as you’re willing to work with them. It’s still up to you to ensure everything is kept up to date and proper search terms (if applicable) are generated for each shot. If your supplier is going to allow clients to customize art based on templates you’ve uploaded, test those applications over and over. Find the least tech-savvy person you know and have them go through the steps. You need to be sure it’ll work for everyone. Otherwise it’ll end up being an exercise in frustration for you and your clients.
More vocabulary
Jennifer | 10:19 am | January 11, 2008 | prepress, terminology, printing, process, workflow, General
Production works in acronyms, here are some you might come across:
- FSI - Free Standing Insert.
Those annoying flyers you get with your paper are referred to as FSIs. - GSM - Graphic Standards Manual.
This is the visual bible for your brand. Logo and tagline usage guidelines. - PMS - Pantone Matching System.
Pantone colours are specific ink mixes that create a colour standard. - CMYK - Process colour. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
This is the most common colour printing. These 4 colours are combined to create all the colours you see in printed pieces. - RGB - Digital colour. Your monitor uses it - Red, Green, Blue.
This colour profile is often used for digital and new media work. - PSD - Photoshop file.
PSD files are photographic files created by photoshop. They are commonly used in press-ready file creation. - EPS - Encapsulated postscript, used for images.
EPS files can be vector art or photographic images, they are another common format found in press-ready files.
Other terms and phrases you might hear thrown around include…
Working files. When someone requests working files, they are asking for the files used to generate the graphics. This means fonts, images as separate files that are linked to the page layout file. Working files are necessary if adjustments might need to be made. For example, you would send your printer working files if there was concern that some photos might need to have adjustments made.
PDF/X1-a. PDF files can take many forms, they can be small files meant only to be used on screen, or highly specific files made to run on presses. The PDF-X series are common formats used in printing, and PDF/X1-a is usually the file type requested by most magazines.
I’ll keep posting more as I think of them. After awhile all these terms become a part of everyday language, it gets difficult to remember what isn’t common knowledge!
Outsourcing Ad Production
Jennifer | 10:00 am | January 7, 2008 | suppliers, budgets, workflow
Over the past year, several newspapers have sent their page layout, copyediting, ad production and in a few cases reporting, to Indian outsourcing companies.
It will be interesting to see how having people who live in a different culture handle the design and production of print media considered a crucial voice in a local market. Will they use starbursts? How will they feel about adding snipes? These Indian workers will be fluent in English, but the question remains of their skills with typography in Western lettering.
The question of whether or not design firms and ad agencies could follow in the newspapers lead is there. Certainly creating a brochure can be more complex, but not necessarily. Many Designers could build tight comps and ship those to India to have Production Artists there create press-ready files to match.
Of course, what gets missed in this is the ability for the Designer and Production Artist to work together to solve problems. Typically the Production department inside creative industries has been one of bridging ideas and realistic expectations. Outsourcing could mean that the generic 4c work goes overseas, leaving more complex pieces for Production staffers here to do.
I don’t think this system will be the death of many jobs. Already we’re seeing fewer applicants for Production artist positions as most head over to the area on New Media. It’ll be interesing to see what happens over the next few years - if this works, or if some work comes back to western copy rooms.
Merry Christmas! Or Festivus! Or Samhain! Whatever.
Jennifer | 9:15 pm | December 25, 2007 | Uncategorized
Hi everyone,
I’m taking some time to enjoy the holidays, even though Santa didn’t bring me Graphics Master, but things will return to their semi-regularly updated posting in January. I hope everyone gets to enjoy whatever time off they manage to get!
Spec’ing the project
Jennifer | 10:07 am | December 18, 2007 | budgets, terminology, process, workflow, plan, planning
When beginning a job, the best defence against cost overruns is to properly spec the job. To create specifications is to define the limits of what you’ll do for the price you charge. All too often I see vague specifications lead to misunderstandings between creative and client. Properly detailing the job will help prevent this.
Specifications on a job should note the following:
- What pieces you’ll do
- What the client will supply
- What rights the client is purchasing
- How large each piece will be (number of pages, size)
- How many versions there will be of each piece (i.e. names on business cards)
- What type of final art will be supplied
- Who is responsible for purchasing fonts, illustrations and photos used in the pieces
- Delivery dates
- Budgets
Keeping to the specification is important when developing a job, especially with a new client. Go with the motto that no detail is too small and this should protect you from a client demanding more than what you expected.
Help from Stora Enso’s “Ed” Series
Jennifer | 11:20 am | December 14, 2007 | paper, suppliers, prepress, printing, planning, General
Several paper companies offer promotional materials to qualified designers to help sway your choices in paper stocks. One great series that I’d recommend you look at is the Ed series from Stora Enso. It’s printed to promote Productolith, an FSC certified coated sheet. I use Productolith quite frequently; I like it.The series is up to issue #11 and covers everything from metallic inks to Prepress to finishing options. Very good for both process and project information, as well as inspiration to designers when choosing projects.
You can order the series at the Stora Enso site, or check with your local paper merchant to see if you can get copies delivered. I think it’s well worth it.
Learning to say “No.”….or at least, “I don’t know.”
Jennifer | 9:46 am | December 13, 2007 | process, suppliers, workflow, plan, planning, General
One of the hardest parts of managing any ad campaign is managing expectations. Unrealistic ideas of how long a job takes are a common reason for jobs going wrong. It is really important to have a realistic view of the length of time needed for a job.
The best defense against broken promises is to not make any before checking in with your team. Don’t make promises on behalf of suppliers or other departments; you don’t know their workload or capabilities. This goes double if you don’t have the technical background needed to truly understand the job.
A good example is in photo retouching. Many assume that this is a quick and simple process, when it’s one of the most time-consuming parts of a job. If you’re working with a large file (ie, outdoor signage) the size of the file ensures that even the simplest changes will take a long time. Complex changes, such as retouching portraits, will take a very long time to ensure that they’re realistic.
Another big area of confusing is finishing. Once a job is printing there can be special folds, die-cuts, foil stamping, etc…. This might be done by a machine or it could be an assembly line, but until you get your timing from your supplier do not assume it’ll be a quick turnaround.
Don’t promise your client a delivery date before you check your timing. Clients would much rather you get back to them with a well thought out plan, rather than quickly agree to their delivery date, only to have to change it on them later. The former gives the impression that you’re putting in thought and effort, the latter looks amateurish and disorganised.
Protect yourself and your client; put in the time to generate a proper, realistic plan.
Usage & Copyright. A quick primer.
Jennifer | 9:37 am | December 10, 2007 | copyright, suppliers, process, General
With the advent of royalty-free photo sites everywhere, it’s tempting to think that purchasing a photo or illustration is like buying a piece of equipment. It isn’t. When you purchase photos, illustrations or fonts, you’re actually buying the right to use them in your work.
Many illustrators and photographers refuse to hand over copyright and that’s ok, you don’t need it. What you want to buy is an exclusive, unlimited usage license. The reason for the distinction is that if you own the copyright then the photographer or illustrator is legally unable to create copies of the work for use in their own portfolios or on their own websites. Paying for a “full buyout” or the exclusive, unlimited use means that no other company can use the image, and your company can use the image anywhere, anytime, in perpetuity.
If you don’t have the money or need for the full buyout, you can purchase a smaller license. You can buy usage for one year, or a small geographic area. Generally, if it’s a photoshoot you’ve arranged, there’s no point in the reduced license as the cost of the shoot will include the full buyout license for a nominal fee. However, if you’ve found the image on a website and want it for your work, take a look at how you wish to use it and negotiate with the photographer based on that usage.
Once you have the high res illustration or image, make sure you track usage! If you have not purchased a full buyout and your rights are limited you need to be sure that you don’t illegally reproduce the image. If that happens, contact the photographer or illustrator right away, and they’ll negotiate a reasonable re-use fee (normally a 50% discount is applied for all uses after the first) with you.
If you use images without a license, you’re opening your company up to fines that could be well in excess of what you might have paid through a license. The internet has allowed photographers, designers and illustrators to police their work, so don’t try to save money by using images without compensation.
I should bring up a special note with regards to fonts. Like images, you buy usage rights, not the font outright. There are many free font sites out there, make sure you look at the fontographer’s notes. Many fontographers do not grant free use for commercial interests. If you’re using it in your advertising, you’ll need to get the ok from the originator of the font.
How to specify paper.
Jennifer | 2:56 pm | December 6, 2007 | paper, suppliers, terminology, printing, budgets, planning
Paper comes in a myriad of colours and weights, so it’s important to know the differences when you’re running your job. This will give you a brief primer on selecting your paper stock.
Paper comes in coated and uncoated versions. Coated papers have a slicker feel and can be matte, dull or glossy. These are typically used for collateral pieces such as brochures and rack cards. Photographic images usually print more clearly on a coated sheet, because the coating stops ink from soaking into the sheet. Uncoated papers are used for stationery and fine collateral pieces. If the design is done with an uncoated sheet in mind, you can get a very elegant look at a low price.
Papers come in various weights. The tricky part is that the weight is determined by putting 500 sheets on a scale, but those sheets might be different sizes. As a result an 80lb sheet in one grade won’t be the same thickness as an 80lb sheet in a different grade, but they’ll likely be close. Most paper stocks come in text weight and cover weight. The cover weights are for use as covers, folders and anything requiring a stiffness to the sheet. The text weights are for lighter brochures and inside pages.
If you’re going to do a stationery package, make sure the stock you pick has envelopes available. To create an envelope is a very expensive process, so it’s best to use a sheet where #9 and other common business sizes are available.
There’s a lot more to know about paper. This site will also help you with your choices.