The Art of Print offers you the TIPS and TRAPS to better control a project. Following them will help bring a project to its successful conclusion.
| TIPS for better control | TRAPS to Avoid |
- Ask if you don't understand - better to be self-conscious and right rather than "knowledgeable" and wrong.
| - NEVER ASSUME - always confirm.
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- Indicate on the design brief who the decision maker is.
| - Never assume you are the final decision maker - there is usually somebody else who also has to approve what you are doing.
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- Projects without the 5 W's won't necessarily fail- BUT, you are really taking a chance.
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- Supply copy before asking for design.
| - Every project can fit a budget - but can the objective be achieved.
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- There is no "bad" design - The designer just hasn't satisfied your requirements.
| - French copy is always 2/3 longer than English.
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- Be prepared to defend your choice of design and copy - the proper one is defensible.
| - If you have to pay overtime - pay the writer and the designer - not the film house or the printer.
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- Check for unprinted areas on the form - use them for notepads, flyers, etc.
| - There are always alternatives - the question is "Which one".
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- Good design can always be explained by the creative person.
| - Never sketch a design - provide a critique instead.
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- Good design sells - it doesn't cost
| - Film errors cannot be corrected on press.
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- The colour you want is not always what you get from proofs.
| - Every printer can do your job - but only a few have the equipment best suited to produce it at the lowest cost and best quality.
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- Ask for the cost of extra thousands when requesting printing quotes.
| - Equipment is not exact - ALWAYS allow for tolerances.
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- Choose paper by type, then weight, then grade - then let the printer suggest a stock
| - Never approve a proof "with changes". Always ask for another proof.
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- The cost of a project does not come from suppliers - it comes from what you specify.
| - Press Oks are always at inconvenient times.
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- Specify percent under or over.
| - Suppliers have many other clients - never assume you have priority.
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| - Verbal instructions without written confirmation, are usually not instructions.
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- Specify PMS coated or non-coated.
| - Written instructions without verbal confirmation, are often misunderstood.
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- Write specifications in as much detail as possible.
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- If the only thing you master is "proofs" you have control of 90% of what can go wrong.
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- Proofs are required whenever the material goes into a different form or stage.
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- The more processes, the more spoilage.
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