Why Trust Your Graphic Designer?
If you’ve hired a professional graphic designer to make over your company image, it’s important that you listen to what he or she has to say about your image and your promotional literature.
If the designer you have hired is competent (and their online portfolio of work will tell you this), then they will bring their professional training and years of experience to the task. It’s important to listen to what they have to say. Surprisingly, some clients have set ideas about their image, their logo, or their slogan, and unwittingly restrict the designer from bringing their full expertise to bear.
I recall a funny story my father told me. He ran a boutique agency in Los Angeles, and one of their clients was Bubble Up, a lemon-lime carbonated soft drink. The client came to them with a brilliant new slogan idea. This was when Coke was running their “Things Go Better With Coke” campaign. Bubble Up wanted to do something similar. Bubble Up and hamburgers. Bubble Up and hot dogs. So they came up with the slogan “Double Up With Bubble Up.” My dad’s agency tried to dissuade them, but they wouldn’t budge. “Do up some comps (comprehensive layouts).” they requested. “Let’s see what it looks like in print.”
Well, they handed the project off to the cartoonist, and he did an ad showing a little green faced man, doubled over in pain and clutching his stomach, with the slogan “Double Up With Bubble Up.” They presented that ad to the client – and never heard about that slogan again.
True story. But the point is, when you hire a professional designer or copywriter, try not to come in with too many fixed ideas or limitations. Brief the professional on your company, your mission statement, your product or service lineup, your goals, your customers. Then see what solutions the professional comes up with. They bring to the table a fresh outside viewpoint and many professional skills. They may see possibilities that you haven’t.
You might have some great ideas for your logo. Sure, give those ideas to the designer. But give him or her the latitude to work out something totally different, something you maybe haven’t thought of.
After all, you are really buying their professional expertise. So let them use it.
-Jefferson
