Business

It’s no secret that we have entered the age of design, perhaps a little later than most of our neighbors. No one can deny, however, that design is a powerful force that manifests itself through branding, websites, exhibitions, and advertisements. This “design-force” is undoubtedly what is distinguishing one product from another. And it’s no secret that the attractive-ness and visual quality of any item is a key factor in determining its market-ability. Every where you turn, it’s staring at you in the face! Whether it’s an Abu al-Kheir Jewelry billboard on the Mezzeh Highway, the menu you are holding in your hands at Gemini Restaurant, or even an irritating banner that pops up while surfing the Net. There are a few basic preventative measures that will protect you from committing ultimate design blunders. They will ensure the absence of a headache when coming to deal with inevitable issues like creating a website or searching for the most suitable designer for a job. Keep in mind that “most suitable” doesn’t always mean “cheapest.” So here they are: the pillars of Graphic Design; the Ten Commandments. Thou shall allocate a budget for your design needs: Let’s face it, if you haven’t already set aside an amount for design needs, you’re long over-due. Whether it’s for a website, printing packages, or even for your stand at some annual exhibition, there’s always going be some fee to pay the professionals. Even if you’re not yet prepared to do it formally by informing your accountant to allocate a certain amount at your annual budgeting meeting; the least you can do is be psychologically prepared. Nothing is for free nowadays, and if you’re not willing to spend extra pounds on such a powerful marketing tool, which in turn will undoubtedly increase profit and revenue, then what will you spend your money on? Thou shall employ a professional graphic designer: Every field has its specialists. You cannot employ an accountant to draw up some blue prints and maps for your villa in Yaafour, that is, unless he minored in accounting and originally has an Architecture Degree. There are always the inner workings of a complex system that ONLY the professionals will take into consideration. For a graphic designer that could be the resolution of large scale printing or website dimensions, compatible with the Internet speed in Syria. It’s things like these that an accountant who likes to practice his little aside hobby of design would never take into consideration. Your designer doesn’t have to be some New York Parsons graduate, or an international advertising agency. You just have to ind someone who acts like a professional, is organized, and to you, seems talented. These are at-tributes that you can discern from an interview and the designer’s portfolio—the key to the chamber of his talent. If your designer hasn’t heard of the term “portfolio,” then don’t even bother to continue the interview. And again, nothing is for free. Graphic de-sign is a formal profession preceded by a formal education. Most of us worked very hard to reach where we are now. Designers work with the “time-factor”, in which we measure the worth of the design by the time and effort it takes to create it. For instance, the fee of a logo alone, will not be equivalent to the fee of a whole corporate identity. Furthermore, the fee for a 20 second demo CD of your company is not going to be drastically more expensive than the fee of a brochure because animation in its nature is very time consuming and will take much longer to create than most printed material. Working on projects is incredibly time consuming, but we love it. That is why we continue to do it, and why we can sometimes charge high fees for specific designs.