13 How to Collaborate With a Designer
Too often small business owners abdicate important roles to so-called professionals with more experience. The problem with this approach is that nobody has your experience.
Image majansa via flickr
By that I mean nobody sleeps, eats, drinks and dreams your business like you. So, while it’s usually a good idea to seek the help of professionals, you need to delegate and collaborate to get the best possible result.
One of the most important hats you wear as a business owner is the guardian of all things strategic – you can never give this hat to someone else!
The area of graphic design is one of those “leave it to somebody creative” areas that can be disastrous for the brand without proper collaboration.
Experience with lots of designers over the years tells me that the good ones know this as well and your “I want something that pops” or “I’ll know it when I see it” direction will effectively hobble them from giving you something that will provide the result your brand needs.
Design firms have long used something called a creative brief to help frame the needs of a design project and easily communicate to a designer elements that need to be considered when doing the research and creation of a logo or other design element.
I developed my own creative brief over the years to use as a bit of a process to get closer to the best possible design for the situation and while it’s not foolproof, I’ve encountered plenty of designers that asked if they could get a copy. (You can find examples of creative briefs at scribd)