Six Steps to Better Managing a Design Project (1992)

Have you ever received an invoice from a design firm at the end of a project and staggered from the cost overruns? After reviewing the invoice, you realize the costs are all legitimate (you did, after all, ask for nine sets of author's typesetting alterations), but somehow you lost track of how they were adding up. Or maybe you've had a capability brochure delivered that just didn't meet your expectations. The elegant, uncoated paper seemed to soak up the type's vibrancy. These scenarios are common but can be avoided easily. Corporate public relations professionals are often on the front line of a company's communications program, responsible for recognizing needs, initiating and executing brochures, annual reports and corporate identities. They also serve as liaisons between the designers they hire and their own senior management. In preparing a seminar on How to Effectively Manage Annual Reports, Brochures and Corporate Identity, I realized that many of my clients -- corporate public relations professionals -- have only learned to work with designers on the fly. Too many times when a client lacks savvy, the project runs the risk of falling apart or budgets soar. Public relations professionals increasingly find themselves in sophisticated alliances with designers. The relationship between the communications professional and the designer is, at its most successful, a dynamic and cooperative one. To effectively contribute to that collaborative effort, you need to understand some basic but often overlooked steps to help smooth the process. There's a creative pay-off, too. By better managing design projects, you free up energy for creativity -- both your own and the designer's. 1. Define the project's parameters with senior management. To accurately enlighten the designer, you must first reach agreement with your people on the project's audience and objectives. It's vital to interview key senior management. Without agreement at this level, the project starts off on shaky ground and can quickly lead to wasted time and money. For example, Helio Fred Garcia, APR, of Clark & Weinstock, New York City, asked us to design a capability brochure for M.J. Meehan & Co. The 70-year-old stock specialist firm had never marketed its services through publications before. Terry Meehan, the managing partner, recognized that stock specialists were under increasing attack from computerized competitors such as NASDAQ, and while specialists were critical to the industry, the service itself was thoroughly misunderstood, said Garcia. Terry and his management, along with the designers, were able to shape a message that didn't just differentiate Meehan from other specialists, but, in fact, sold the system as a whole, with of course, Meehan as the standard-bearer. Meehan's total involvement at every stage of the project guaranteed the success of this brochure. 2. Work with the designer on strategy. Unfortunately, public relations clients often view a project as having finite limits, not infinite possibilities. Many times a project is described in terms of, We need a brochure that is all type and runs eight pages. It would be refreshing -- and much more helpful -- to hear, We need a brochure which conveys our strategy for growth and our new market position. That's not to say you shouldn't come to a designer with some parameters. You must provide background information, both written and verbal, and make sure everyone's brushed up on how your company's competition is presenting itself visually. But let the designer do what they're hired to do: create. Ask the designer to give you at least two initial design directions, one that fits your expectations and one that pushes the boundaries. For instance, U.S. Trust had an idea that their Corporate Trust capability brochure should be purely typographic. We believed our existing copy was the strength of the project and didn't envision any photographs or graphics, said Amy Rossman, assistant vice president of marketing. …