Design on the mind

The short answer to this question is NO, they certainly shouldn’t! For a web or graphic designer there are always going to be deadlines. They are a part of any brief; a client always has a timescale in mind. The question is whether the client’s idea of a realistic timescale matches the designers and their workload. No good designer will take on a job where the quality of the design would be compromised just to meet an unrealistic deadline. It is just not worth his/her reputation.

Project Management

A good designer will, however, be able to meet a tight deadline with effective management of the project.  To manage a design project a designer needs to be aware of the following:

1. How long it will take to do each particular part of the design and how that will fit in with the internal scheduling of all the design projects that are current.

2. How long will any outsourced parts of the design take? For example a print job will be heavily reliant on the printer’s schedule so this will need to be checked and factored in.

3. How much of the project will rely on the client? – for example if the client is required to supply copy for the website design, they will need to be made aware of when it is needed and the consequence of that deadline being missed.

4. If the design project is for a larger company that will require multiple sign offs for approval it is probably worth allowing a little more time for this in the schedule.

5. For very large projects where there are many parts or stages to the design it is always worth allowing extra time for the inevitable changes or additions. These will often happen as the project moves forward however meticulously it has been planned out.

Timeline

A very effective way to ensure that the project is managed properly is for the designer to agree a timeline with the client before work begins; this can be done as part of the contract. The timeline should include:

1. Production deadlines

2. Approval deadlines

3. Deadlines for the supply of content including copy and images from the client.

4. Testing deadlines

5. Launch/delivery dates.

Be sure that the client is aware of the importance of the timeline and how each milestone deadline that is not met will affect the overall project.

Communication

If the project management and the timeline are executed properly there will be little reason for a project to run over time. It is very important, however, that the communication between the designer and the client is good. It means that any hiccups or delays can be resolved straight away; everyone is in the loop.

Respect the deadline

If the timescale is very tight and the designer has any doubts that the deadline would not be met then he should not attempt to take the job on. Sometimes in this situation the client has an unrealistic idea of how long a project will take and if they have not left themselves enough time to complete it then the designer would be wise to steer well clear and keep his reputation intact.

It is always possible to ask if a deadline can be moved before a project starts. But the designer will loose the respect of the client if he suddenly asks for an extension halfway through the project. Deadlines must be respected at all costs and should never jeopardise the quality of the design work or the reputation of the client.

Toni

Related articles:

Are we there yet? Meet your design deadline

The Tao of deadlines

Deadlines kill inspiration

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Hi Folks, Any of you feeling disappointed with your broadband download speeds? Did the lovely salesman tell you on the phone you would be getting 8mb of band width? Well, what they mean is…”up to 8mb”. All the major broadband providers will give you a contention ratio of 1:50 which means that you are sharing your 8MB with 50 other users. Probably explains why your connection speed is rubbish at peak times.

Anyway, the Gadget Show have started a campaign to make these companies be a bit more truthful about the service that they are providing. They have set up a device on their website that will measure your broadband performance and log the results for you.

Do your broadband test here

Here is what ours looked like…….

Fantastic, isn’t it? We are a web design company for goodness sake!!

Anyway we are in the process of changing our service provider to a company who have promised a much better contention ratio of 1:2.5. So I will let you all know how it goes. In the mean time join the campaign if you aren’t happy with your broadband service.

Any thoughts anyone?

Toni 

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Yesterday, I had an experience that I thought I would share with you all. Our colour copier in the office had ground to a halt. I urgently needed some A4 proofs printed, so I dashed round the corner to a print shop close by.

I explained my predicament and that I was from Deckchair round the corner. The solemn faced man gave me the price for the job and said that he could have them done by the end of the day. He was a bit on the pricey side but I was pushed for time and was assured of a quality job.

I returned to his shop later on and was handed my pile of proofs. My jaw dropped, they were AWFUL; covered in white lines and scratches and completely unusable.

“What are all these white lines?” I ask

“Oh” he said, obviously hoping that I wouldn’t notice them, “It’s the imaging drum; we are waiting for a new one, I can redo them for you in a few days”. He hadn’t listened to me when I said the job was URGENT!

“So, you knew it was faulty when I came in earlier?” I asked Incredulously

He shrugged in an annoying noncommittal way.

“Well”, I said “I can’t possibly pay for these, they are unusable”.

Looking annoyed he grabbed the pile of prints and tore them up, then tossed them into the bin behind him.
I was quite speechless (rare for me I know). Without any sort of apology or explanation he returned to his rancid little back office. I left.

Thinking about this afterwards I wondered how long he would be able to stay in business, he had made every mistake in the book:

• He took the print job on knowing the quality would be poor, which is outrageous.
• He insulted me by trying to sell me the substandard work; hoping I wouldn’t notice.
• Then by not apologizing for the error or accepting any responsibility for it, he made himself even more unlikable.
• He offered a solution that was no good to me.
• He missed a business relationship opportunity with a graphic design company a few hundred yards away.

Who in their right mind would return to his shop?

Thanks folks I feel much better having shared that with you.
Got any print horror stories that you would like to share?
Want to have a rant about a rubbish customer service experience?

Toni

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