Naively, I took everyone at their word. The nature of my own well-meaning and fairness-oriented personality made dealing in the often cut-throat world of business somewhat challenging.

Unfortunately, I found myself working all the time (averaging 18 hour work days along with regular all-nighters) and yet somehow I was still struggling just to pay the rent. I was winning awards and getting new contracts every week, then borrowing money from family to buy groceries. People loved me and they loved my work, but Ontario Hydro doesn’t accept second-hand love in exchange for heat.

Over the years I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way, including contract and deposit policies to (at least partially) protect me from con-artists and deadbeats. That said, one of the most important skills I’ve had to develop has been the proper and ample usage of the word “no”.

Don’t get me wrong, I do hate having to say it. And it’s not easy. But it’s as vital to your professional success and personal well-being as the air we breathe.

Here are a few questions I almost always say ‘no’ to:

1. Can you show me a mock-up to help us choose a designer?
Spec work. I used to fall for this one all the time. I even used to participate in design “competitions”, which in essence require a large number of designers to invest work hours into a project, for which only one will actually get paid. A lazy customer wants an off-the-shelf design that they don’t have to invest much time or effort into, so they get a diverse group of naive designers to work for free with the intention of only paying one for their time. I would often “win” these competitions, but it always left a foul taste in my mouth. Time, talent and ideas are our product – we don’t give them away for nothing. It’s NOT like “test driving different cars before choosing one”… it’s more like asking the salesperson to GIVE you a fleet of cars, and then only paying for the one you like best. Even if you never use the other cars, the salesperson doesn’t get them back.

2. I saw someone online selling logos for $99 – can you match that?
Yeah, and you can buy designer handbags in China for a buck. I do unfortunately get this question once in a while, and the response is always “no”, without exception. You can find stock and cheap design easily enough. The tradeoff is… wait for it… it’s crap. And if it’s not crap, it’s royalty free, which means you can’t trademark it, and anybody else with $99 can use the same design for their brand. You would think that more people would realize that you get what you pay for.

3. Can you give me a deep discount?
This is similar to number 2, but in this case it may be a long-standing client asking the question, or just someone who loves your work but can’t quite afford it. I get this question all the time. People are always out to save a buck, and while I’ll quite often apply a loyalty discount or an agency rate if you’re giving us regular work, it’s never more than X percent of our standard rate. I almost never agree to flat rate projects – they will suck you dry unless you’re VERY specific about the inclusions. Remember, this is your livelihood. It’s your mortgage, your grocery bill, your family’s expenses, AND your company’s integrity.

4. I really like X by Y company – can you copy it for me?
This comes up more than you’d think. A client sees something they like, and they want it for themselves. It’s only natural, but a line has to be drawn. You can use existing sources for inspiration, guidance, general style and the like, but a carbon-copy is immoral, unusable, illegal, and relegates the designer to more of a drone than anything else. Nothing good will come of it.

5. Can I have your home number?
I’ve given this out to precious few clients. It’s hard enough to keep that fragile line of sand that separates work from home from blowing away in the wind of my hectic schedule. While I work very long hours, and I always have work “with” me in some form or another, I do make serious efforts to be as fully present as possible, in whichever context I find myself. If I’m at work, I’m at work and I am immersed in it. If I’m stealing a few precious moments to have dinner with my husband, we both deserve to have that time to ourselves. If you don’t maintain some sort of balance, you’ll be looking at an early grave – or a mental hospital.

6. Can you design X for free in exchange for advertising or stock?
Um, no. I’ve reached the point where my company gets all the advertising it needs through word-of-mouth. Everything I do that’s not covered by an NDA (and that I actually like) goes into my portfolio or my Flickr profile, and websites I’ve developed link back to my website from the design credit area. This is my career – I’m not your neighbour’s kid with a stolen copy of photoshop. And while I do appreciate the offer of stock, and I wish my clients the best, it’s rarely a wise investment on my part.

7. Can you do this by tomorrow?
I always have at least a dozen or so contracts on the go at once, with each one often having a multitude of different tasks to complete. All tasks go into a queue, with a constantly changing order based on an algorithm involving time, priority, skill, effort, urgency, overall project scale and client seniority. Note that urgency is only one part of the equation. If I can do it, I will, but please don’t ask me to stay up all night to get it done. I’ll often do that on my own, but the generosity can end rather abruptly when you start to make assumptions. Remember, the more you bend over for a client, the more they’ll expect you to bend in the future. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do good clients a favour now and then (you should), but be mindful of the slippery slope.

8. Can I just pay the whole amount when I’m done?
I’ve been burned by far too many deadbeat and dishonest clients to fall for this one. All new contracts require a 50% deposit before any design work begins – and it doesn’t matter how big or small the contract is. At the end of the project, finals are only delivered AFTER final payment has arrived. The majority of your clients will be honest, and the majority will pay in full provided you’re good at what you do. But you always have to account for the jerk factor. These people don’t care about the time and effort you poured into the project. They don’t care if you can’t afford to eat because you devoted a month to a project that would never be paid for. Don’t fall prey to it. I do have long-standing clients on monthly billing schedules, but only agree to do this once you’ve developed a trusting relationship with the client.

So there they are, but remember, there are no absolutes. Depending on the situation, you may have different answers (and I may too), but the take-home message here is that you need to develop the ability to say no to your clients. The customer is not always right, and when they are wrong, your personal and professional success will depend on your ability and willingness to tactfully tell them so.

We designed their old site some years ago, and changing with the times, they graciously decided to come back to us for an overhaul.

Their old site worked, but originally it didn’t have much to offer apart from the standard “this is who we are”, “this is what we do”, and of course an online shopping platform. And it didn’t expand well… being a forward-thinking company they had added a few features on their own over the years (like the useful but not-so-pretty translation options at the bottom), which just didn’t work visually.

The New Site

In addition to a complete visual overhaul, we’ve also worked in a few treats like a video blog with discussion and high quality full screen capabilities, an easily updatable news section that feeds the latest straight to the homepage, an expansive knowledgebase design, live chat skins, and a media vault for things like customer downloads, press kits, and whatever else they decide they want to offer down the line.

Plus, it’s gorgeous. If I don’t say so myself.

The only thing we didn’t turn on it’s head is their old online shop platform, which they’re keeping as-is for now. Watch that space…

A lot of the work I do is button-down corporate, which I love, but it can’t help but get a bit bland at times. It’s projects like this one that renew my love of design, and clients like Steve who allow me to push the envelope a bit to get the best possible result. There are a few things about this site that are a bit edgy, and certainly not standard, and I’m thrilled that ER is the sort of client to let me run with it.

I love my work.

See the live site at http://intotherainforest.com

Sage Media is an international corporate design firm based in Ottawa, Ontario.

A successful catalog must be impeccably well-designed, and most importantly, needs to be tailored to convey your company’s image in a way that is relevant to your audience. For example, a catalog intended to sell modern gadgets and electronics should present an appearance and image vastly different to one intended to sell baking supplies.

The Front Cover
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The front cover is your first impression, and as in so many other facets in life, first impressions are primarily visual. So, immediately, your front cover must be aesthetically appealing. Depending on your product and market, you may want to present a specific feeling… of refreshment, comfort, or excitement for example. Front cover design follows many of the same premises as ad design… keep the text content to a bare minimum (often just the company name, slogan, and perhaps a catch phrase), use a clean and uncluttered approach, and be sure the cover clearly features your company name.

Try to select an image that is relevant to your audience, and that will make them want to use your products. For instance, if you sell sports equipment, you might want to feature a dynamic image of a cyclist, pushing hard to the finish line or busting a difficult trick, wearing a jersey with your logo, and using equipment offered in your catalog. This type of imagery speaks directly to your audience, and uses a setting they understand and enjoy, allowing them to place themselves into that image (and by association into your products).

Back Cover
The back cover is often neglected space in catalogs and magazines, often reduced to ad space for other companies, or boring blank space with a barcode and address. A surprisingly high percentage of people actually read through catalogs backwards, starting at the last page and flipping to the front. I’m not sure why, but I often find myself doing it too. If you’re publishing a magazine, you would generally use this space for a second lead. Similarly, a catalog’s back cover can be used to feature new products or showcase an overview of major current products (with references to page numbers in the catalog itself).

And like the front cover, the back cover should be easy on the eyes with a simple message… attractive, clean, focused and uncluttered.

If you have other plans for the back cover, you could also position your second lead on the last inner page face within the catalog, since the reader’s eye lands there first when the catalog is opened from the back.

Inner Pages
Primary Focus
In laying out the catalog’s internal pages, as with any print materials, the primary focus zone is the upper right corner of each two-page spread. The reader’s attention will be directed there first as pages are turned forward. Similarly, the upper left corner of each two page spread is the sweet spot for backward flippers. Use these areas for products in your inventory that are the most visually compelling or interesting. Your best selling products can appear elsewhere on the page, unless you’re really trying to further push those products in excess of their current success. Diversify – your best sellers can become boring, in that featuring a product people are already familiar with doesn’t really garner any new interest.

Fonts
Use and treatment of type in any kind of publication is much more important than you may think. If you use a font that is too casual, or clutter your catalog with a dozen different fonts, you risk looking like an amateur outfit, which will sacrifice credibility, which will lower sales. And if your catalog isn’t easily and immediately legible, people won’t bother reading it, no matter how carefully your product images are laid out. Remember, most people tend to flip through catalogs rather than sitting down to read them like a novel… your message needs to be clear, concise and compelling. A few simple rules of thumb will ensure your catalog reads as good as it looks:
• If you want to use different fonts, use no more than 3: say one for section titles, one for product titles, and one for descriptions/prices.
• Vary type usage with bold weight, italics, different sizes and colours, but be sure to keep treatments consistent throughout the catalog.
• Font size should be no smaller than 8pt
• Using all capital letters should be kept to a minimum, and do not underline – use bold or italics for emphasis instead

Remember, consistency and clarity are key. You want the reader’s attention on the product, not a cacophony of conflicting typefaces and font treatments.

Brand Your Catalog
When your catalog arrives in the mail, your customer should immediately recognize it as belonging to your company. Customer loyalty depends on a certain level of predictability, which breeds familiarity and comfort. They know what to expect from your catalog, and they know how to find what they’re looking for within it. For example, everybody knows how to navigate the Sears Wish Book at Christmas time – and you know exactly what it is, even from a distance. It’s familiar, it’s easy to use, and people love it.

For your catalog, you will want to consider finding some kind of hook to differentiate your company from the competition. For example, Ikea catalogs often feature room packages, which show a full professionally designed room layout, with a total price for everything featured in that room, and a breakdown of products needed to achieve that look. It’s very effective for people who need a bit of design help or students on a budget, and is quite good at convincing people to buy add-on items from the same retailer in order to achieve a look they like.

All of your catalogs should follow a consistent navigational and design theme, so your customers will come to be familiar and comfortable with your catalogs. And by creating a “look” for your catalog that is comfortable and familiar for your readers, you will be able to keep their attention even when the products are switched over for new offerings.

Product Shots
Group photos are nice, but featuring individual items in a clean, polished way will sell better. Group shots do have their place, provided you use small groups of closely related products rather than a large pile of random “stuff” that can become confusing for your audience. And if you do use group shots, be sure that products within the shot are carefully and clearly keyed to the individual product descriptions (i.e., a small but clear “A” on the photo should correspond to the product description marked “A”).

When possible, isolate product shots on a stark and seamless white background, highlighting crisp detail and forcing focus on the product itself. If you’re selling jewellery, use professional photomanipulation to maximize the shine, gleam and sparkle in your products. Use subtle effects such as a barely visible drop shadow, or wet surface reflection, as appropriate for the specific product line. Again, if you use a certain effect, keep it consistent throughout the catalog.

Ordering
So you’ve sold them on a product, and now they want to buy it… but how? Be sure to make the order process exceedingly easy. So easy they could (almost) manage an order blindfolded. And though most people will process an order online or by phone, many people still prefer the old fashioned paper and pen order form – do not exclude these people, as they may prove some of your most loyal customers. Even people who order by phone or online may use the order form to work out the details of their order before making the call/visit. It’s also the perfect place to list terms of sale, return policies, and other relevant corporate information.

On your website, prominently list a phone number, email and order area/shopping cart. If you have an online store in addition to your catalog, create a custom order area where people can enter catalog product numbers directly so they do not need to go through the process of finding all their products over again on your site. If you have an order number, be sure it’s manned by a real, living breathing person – nothing turns customers off more than automated phone systems.

The Printed Product
You’ve invested a lot of time, consideration and planning into the effective design and layout of your catalog. Please, PLEASE do not just go with the cheapest print company you can find. You’ll regret it. Trust me.

Be sure to choose paper stocks that are suitably thick, and that feel nice against your skin. A thin, harsh uncoated stock looks cheap, feels rough, dulls colour, bleeds ink onto your hands and generally will not represent your company or products well. Use a proper cover gloss stock for your cover, and a nice gloss stock for the inner pages. 100pt is ideal, but 80pt is also acceptable given the paper feels and prints nicely.

And remember, your catalog is going to be delivered through the mail. Unless you’re packaging the catalog in a sealed plastic coating, it is going to be subject to some potentially harsh weather conditions. Keep this in mind when choosing your paper options.

Catalogs come in all shapes and sizes. The standard sizes are cheaper to print, and for most applications are perfectly suitable:
• Standard full-size (8 3/8″ x 10 7/8″)
• Slim (6 1/8″ x 11 1/2″)
• Digest-size (5 3/8″ x 8 3/8″)

Unique sizes will attract attention, and can be highly effective in building a unique brand image and moving product. However, moving away from the “standard” sizes will add as much as 25 percent to the cost of production. So you would need to evaluate whether the extra investment is worth it for your particular company.

Printing in increments of 16 pages will be the least expensive option, as heat-set web presses print in 16 page signatures. This means that your catalog would be 16, 32, 48, 64 pages long, and so on. The next best option is to design in page increments of eight.

Colour Sells
If you can afford to print your catalog in color, it will invariably make a better impression, and will generate at least 25% more sales than a black and white catalog right off the bat. Colour sells – no question. That said, as with all other elements in your catalog, colour schemes not related to your actual products should remain consistent throughout. You can also use different colours to represent different sections in the catalog.

Bring it all Together
Successful collateral design uses a lot of consumer psychology in addition to professional design theories, and catalogs are no exception. Take advantage of what professionals have learned about how consumers think, react and attach to concepts and visual elements. Consider how the reader’s eye crosses the page, capitalize on primary focus zones, and present your products in the best way you possibly can through use of layout, colour, type, and texture.

When a catalog takes on a personality of its own and becomes something the customer enjoys, then it has achieved a positive brand image. No other kind of marketing collateral targets a niche audience quite as well as a thoughtfully designed and produced catalog, which can either serve as your primary sales vehicle, or as an excellent companion to an online or physical brick-and-mortar shop.

As a design company director, I see this tendency way too often and frankly, I have a hard time understanding how entrepreneurs can so easily discount the importance of how their product LOOKS on the shelves, when they’ve put so much of themselves into building their company, and their product. They have a hard time paying a few thousand to develop their packaging design, when the numbers at stake can reach millions (or even billions if your company is all that). Every businessperson wants their product to succeed, but they don’t seem to understand that consumers are extremely scritinizing and visually oriented creatures. Your bagels could be the best thing since, well, sliced bread… but if the packaging looks like crap then nobody’s going to buy them.

Your packaging (whether you’re selling bagels, books, goggles or windex) speaks directly to the customer when you can’t – right at the point of sale. Thus, your packaging design should be a carefully tailored conversation, not an afterthought.

SO, here are a few tips to consider when developing your packaging (and obviously I would recommend hiring a design firm to facilitate the process)…

• Use the same development criteria for both the product and the packaging. This not only helps the package to work harmoniously with the product, but provides the connection between your product and your consumer.
• Your target audience should be a key element in formulating the design. Develop the package as if it were the product itself.
• The packaging should be an honest reflection of the enclosed product. If the packaging is too cheap or extravagant to support the products positioning, the consumer may be skeptical of the products quality or price.
• Depending on the product, the use of elements that allow the buyer to see the actual product can instill a level of trust. Being able to see the product’s color and construction is reassuring and will often sway the purchasing decision in your favor.
• Consider your colour palette carefully. Although bright saturated colors can be eye catching, making your packaging too colorful can confuse your message (and the result can often be like a bee sting to the eyes). By using color with purpose, your package design becomes thematic, making for a stronger message.
• Don’t cheap out. Your customers will know when you’ve cut corners, and that message will trickle down to direct judgment and assumptions about your company and your product.

Remember, package design is a critically important aspect of sales (and ultimately company) success. Treat the process with respect, and your product’s success will show the benefit.

Sage Media is an international corporate design firm based in Ottawa, Ontario.

As a consumer, how do you protect yourself and your company? The answer is more simple than you may think – all you have to do is a bit of homework.

1. Self Analysis : Your Creative Brief

A proper commercial design firm will work with you in defining your organization’s requirements, but you should still have a basic idea of what you need, and what role the items will fill within your organization. In order to find a design firm best suited for your project, your organization should be aware of the following:

• Your intended audience
• The intended scope and goal of the project
• Your anticipated budget (be fair and realistic here – remember, you get what you pay for)
• How the project will fit into a larger marketing/corporate scheme
• The individuals/departments within your organization responsible for the project
• The specifics of each of the items you want designed

Once you have determined these initial requirements, document them and use them as a basis for evaluating each design firm. This document gives you a common yardstick to measure each design firm you will be contacting. Similarly, a professional design firm will respect the fact that you are taking your project seriously, and would ask you all of these questions (and more) anyway.

2. Generate a list

There are a number of ways to search for a design firm. Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses, so a combination of the different approaches will be your best bet for finding a design firm to match your needs.

OTHER COMPANIES: Find at least five good examples of other companies whose image materials you admire or would like to emulate. What do you like about each one? What do you not like? How do you see elements of each of these as relevant to your brand? These organizations may be your competitors, or in related or unrelated industries. Again, this is something that a good design firm will help you with or at least ask you about. In order to create a quality, relevant design for your company, they will need to know what you like, what you dislike, and who your most successful competitors are. A good design firm will include research into the development phase of your project.

REFERRALS: Ask business acquaintances, friends, and family which design firm designed the materials for their respective organizations – but only IF you feel their materials are exemplary. Be inquisitive. Find out what the individuals responsible liked or disliked about working with the various design firms. Some firms are better suited for taking a project from start to finish. Others are more inclined to work from an existing concept.

Once you have gathered a list of potential design firms you are ready to pare them down to a shortlist.

3. Create a shortlist

From the list of potential design firms, your organization’s goal should now be to create a shortlist of 3-5 firms that are best suited for your project. In order to determine which design firms are most appropriate for your project, do the following:

EXAMINE THE PORTFOLIO

This is the absolute Number ONE item. A good design firm should have an extensive portfolio available online for you to view, with a wide variety of design concepts and applications. The work displayed in the portfolio should be excellent, and should display a consistency of quality.

You will also want to look at the design firm’s breadth of experience – they may be able to address your immediate needs, but will they be able to provide solutions 6 months down the road, or 1 year later, or 5 years later?

Thanks to the distributed nature of the Internet, some of the best design firms have implemented systems that allow them to work with organizations across the globe as easily as organizations across the street. When reviewing the Web site of a design firm, note the geographical locations of their clients. A design firm that has worked with clients in many geographical locations will have a more global approach to your designs.

ANALYZE THE PROCESS

Does the design firm have a clearly stated design process? Do they spend enough time understanding your goals and planning how those will be achieved? Avoid selecting an individual designer, on a freelance basis, to design and develop your organization’s materials. It is rare to find a single person capable of handling the combined visual and technical elements that make an effective brand image. Additionally, by depending on an individual, your organization is at risk of losing its investment should anything occur to that one individual.

DETERMINE WHAT OTHER SERVICES THE FIRM CAN OFFER

What kind of value-added products or services can the design firm offer? Internet marketing and promotion? Newsletter or email campaigns? Professional printing discounts or fulfillment services? If your organization is not currently dealing with a print design agency, for example, this might be a factor for dealing with one group over another.

SPEAK WITH A REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH FIRM

During this stage, your organization should make contact with the potential design firms that are on your shortlist. Does the representative conduct themselves knowledgeably and professionally? Are they quick to respond to your emails? Do they know what they are talking about? Don’t be afraid to ask questions… who will be managing your project? Since this is the person you would be working with, then this is the person you should be speaking with now. How long have they been working in the design field? Which of the items in the online portfolio was done by them or their current team? Can they provide references?

While a lot of consumers may prefer speaking on the phone, it is a better idea to communicate with your design firm by email. This way, both you and your firm have a written record of all questions, answers and instructions should any conflict arise in the future.

4. Get proposals

Once you have selected your top Web design firms, send them your creative brief (the document you created in step 1) and request that they send you a proposal. Ask that each design firm include a description of their development process and a price breakdown for the various aspects of the project.

5. Evaluate the proposals

Start off by examining each proposal individually. Before dealing with the content, evaluate the format and presentation of the proposal. The winning design firm will be creating your organization’s image materials, viewable to hundreds, thousands or even millions of current and potential customers. How do they present themselves? Do they communicate with you using their Web site and digital documents?

Maintain a list for each proposal, consisting of its strengths and weaknesses, and the strengths and weaknesses of the respective design firm based on its other materials (web site, portfolio, brochure, case studies, etc.).

After your organization has reviewed all proposals, compare them with each other. How do they fare in terms of presentation? Do they present upgrade paths for your project, going beyond the needs of the immediate goals outlined?

6. Pick a Winner

Once you have made a decision, contact the winning design firm and let them know the good news!

Sage Media is an international corporate design firm based in Ottawa, Ontario.

Commercial failures illustrating the consequences of implementing “new” and “different” without insight abound, and you have to wonder, what were they thinking?

Heinz: an ambitious but short-lived go of colouring its ketchup green, purple and blue in their EZ Squirt line.
General Mills Fingos: jumbo pieces of cereal whose boxes depicted a large tongue, introduced and pulled in 1993.
Orbitz: that nasty looking fruit-flavored beverage with little edible balls suspended within.
New Coke: do I really need to elaborate?

Creativity run amok in a vacuum is obviously not going to help your business. But by the same token, processes, systems and business sense in the absence of insightful creativity are simply monotony personified. So when looking for marketing consultants or designers for your business, it is important to find insightful, creative people who ALSO have a solid understanding of real-world applications.

Sage Media is an international corporate design firm based in Ottawa, Ontario.

There are many things you need to consider before engaging a design firm, but we’re going to start with three:
1. The Goals
2. The Players
3. The Partnership

Design firms are businesses like any other, but are very unique in their perspectives and work processes. Understanding a bit of the design culture will go a long way in helping you to establish a successful relationship.

THE GOALS

This first step should not come as a surprise to anyone in business. Any successful new initiative begins with a thorough needs analysis and defining goals for the initiative. Having your needs and goals well defined and documented on paper is a crucial starting point. You may find that your own reasons for wanting to bring in a design firm are different from your colleagues or bosses, so it is imperative that you have your ducks in a row before you start talking to creatives. The document may change along the course of the project, but you need a line at which to start.

Professional design is a service, not entirely unlike your corporate attorney or growth consultants, but it is also important to remember that it is a creative service. Designers are very talented and intelligent people who typically not only think “outside of the box”, but live on the other side of the street from it. Always in view of course, but far enough away as to get a full view of it from all sides and beyond. So, although your predefined goals may be very specific, the designer’s process to delivering your outcome will inevitably involve challenging it as well.

To illustrate, you may ask your designer to “create a new vase”, while from a designer’s perspective, the better task would be to conceptualize a new way to display flowers in the home. The initial question already limits the solution, while the second leaves the doors wide open to new opportunities, new markets, and new revenue streams. So, although you will want to define your problem as clearly as possible to begin with, you should also be willing to consider suggestions from your designer that may result in more innovative and actionable solutions.

Designers think in patterns unlike any other business consultant, and being prepared for this frame shift can be challenging to say the least. A design firm can open your eyes to things that you didn’t want to know or are not prepared to accept, and even some things that challenge your closely-held beliefs. At the same time though, experienced design firms recognize this problem and are notoriously skeptical about just how much “paradigm-smashing innovation” a company is willing to make. They will play it safe, and will only take you up to the edge of your comfort level (if even that far) depending on the cues you put out. 90% of companies who hire design firms put across the message that they want something “completely innovative”, but at the same time they are not willing to change the way their company does things. So they end up with a mild, safe, attractive solution that improves their image and market position by a conservative amount, but by shying away from the bigger risks, they also shy away from explosive returns.

Innovation is a commodity that is particularly difficult to sell. Companies have a vested interest in the image they have built for themselves, so naturally they can be resistant to change. When you think about it, the very reason you are hiring a design firm is because you can’t think like a designer – if you could, you wouldn’t have the need to bring in a firm in the first place. By the same token, it is easy to see designers as a threat. It is their job to challenge your preconceptions, and to take your company’s image (perhaps something you yourself developed in the company’s early days), and change it and reshape it. In the end, you’re hiring someone to tell you something you don’t know; to provide you with something that you don’t have. But will you be ready to take their advice?

THE PLAYERS

There are literally hundreds of different types of design consultants a company can bring in everything from the boss’ nephew, to the print shop down the street, to the New York boutique design firm. For the purposes of this article, we’ll leave out the boss’ nephew… sure he’s got a computer and some photoshop skills, but let’s face it, he’s not the guy who is going to bring your company to the next level in your marketplace.

Type 1: DesignMart

These are the massive, big-box style design firms with at least 50+ people in house, well-staffed in a broad range of services. They’ve got people who design, people who make models, production people, fulfillment people, in house specialists and support staff like cognitive psychologists and marketing professionals. They attract strong talent, and often have detailed, rigorous work processes (having that many creatives under one roof can be a challenge for any management team). Being a big business themselves, they may also share knowledge of bigger business operating practices, and can potentially have a better ability to manage the sometimes bureaucratic and rigid requirements of corporate behemoths.

Just like the big-box stores, while these businesses can offer a very broad range of services, you need to be aware of what else you’re buying. While it is an advantage to hire a single firm for all of your needs, the benefits seldom go much further when dealing with a behemoth design firm.

Who is actually designing your creative? Do you get to consult with the people actually doing the work? With fast turnover in these massive firms, what happens five years down the line when you want to work with them again? Do you really want a factory, assembly-line manufactured product? Don’t assume that the people who are pitching you are the ones who will be working on your project… the dreaded “A-team/B-team” scenario. Ask to see the individual portfolios of the design team assigned to your project, as the portfolio you may be shown could be of past work by other teams, or of the firm as a whole not the specific designer or team on your project.

Type 2: The Boutique

Enter the smaller, more nimble Boutique design firm. These are firms that consist of a highly select team of 5-10 people who are accustomed to demanding, leading-edge creative assignments, and who thrive in a compact organizational structure. Many of the designers at these firms are attracted there in the first place because they know they will not simply be placed in an assembly line, doing the same thing day after day. These are the firms that attract leading-edge creative talent.

Smaller design firms tend to focus more on expertise rather than simple process, ways of thinking rather than preset methodologies. By the same token, because they are not stifled by a massive bureaucracy and tens-deep lines of command and procedural rigidity, smaller firms are often more willing to push the creative envelope.

There may be other advantages to working with a smaller firm: A more intimate connection with the designer, less insulation by account managers from the “talent”, a personal connection and consistent hand-holding, designers who pick up their own phone. These are the kinds of things that can make working with a small design firm more personal and satisfying. Boutique firms can be faster with change orders, and turn on a dime (though they may not want to); redirecting a DesignMart may require communicating your wishes (through an account manager) to many layers of participants.

Type 3: The Draft Team

The Draft Team pulls in some of the best of both worlds, and if your company can afford it, this is often the best solution. The Draft involves carefully screening, selecting and temporarily hiring a team of specialists to take on a specific project.

Collectively, if done correctly, the draft team has an expertise set that is matched to the design challenge. The team is hand-selected in a very calculated way, assembling the best on a project-specific basis, to be terminated when the project is complete. This approach (not for beginners!) is very targeted, and recognizes that as design moves up the value chain and integrates more and more with corporate strategy at the core level, that it is a specialty, not a commodity. And as product and service offerings become more complex, you may find that the best route to innovation is a customized route.

On the other hand, you may be working with a Draft Team without even knowing it. Boutique design firms by their nature are very small, and therefore are extremely selective in procuring and retaining their talent – the only difference is that creative and design experts were the ones to assemble the team, rather than your company. Many design firms will also have freelancers or outside expert consultants on staff, attending pitch meetings and concept presentations as if they were full-time staff. This isn’t necessarily disingenuous, and may benefit you and your project substantially since these ringers are there for a reason: they’re good.

THE PARTNERSHIP

The first critical question to ask yourself is whether your company is looking for a partner, or a vendor.

A partner is a firm to collaborate on jointly developing new design materials. It’s a relationship that places as much focus on the means as the ends; on the process as the product. The ultimate deliverables may be fuzzier in this kind of relationship, but through a rigorous review process, both parties work toward agreed-upon goals.

A vendor, on the other hand, can be thought of as a firm you hire when you have a specific product to be designed with predefined criteria. You’ve done your homework; you understand your market. You need good thinking, but you also need a pair of hands to actualize your wishes. Vendors don’t challenge your business proposition; they fulfill it.

We come back to the initial question of what you are intending to accomplish with your design firm. In the end, finding and cultivating a successful working relationship with a design firm is an emotional process, and when you get right down to it, you need to have a certain chemistry with your design firm. Their portfolio needs to inspire you, and their process and business model need to mesh with the way you want to work.

Design is an extremely competitive field, filled with many highly competent, qualified companies. The best thing to do is to go out and meet all kinds of shapes and sizes; only then will you have a better idea of how you feel around these people and their organizations, and what kind of designers you’d like to work with.

Sage Media is an international boutique design firm based in Ottawa, Ontario.