The Publisher/Graphic Designer Relationship (Part II)
The Communicator
The key to every successful client relationship that I’ve had has been communication. When there is a continuous 2-way flow of communication between client and designer, there are no big surprises, deadlines aren’t a problem, and things just seem to go more smoothly.
What does good communication look like?
Take a minute and think about the last time you worked with a graphic designer.
Were they attentive and engaged in what you were saying?
Did they ask questions?
When you reach out, were they quick to respond?
In general, do they keep in touch on a regular basis?
If you checked most or all of these boxes, it sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid relationship. On the other hand, if you answered no to at least 1 or 2 of these, then you might have felt a little frustration from time to time due to poor communication. There’s nothing more aggravating than receiving design proofs that clearly don’t reflect your direction, or flirting with blowing a deadline because you haven’t heard from your designer in weeks and are unable to reach them.
Just as important as the frequency of communication is also the depth; do you find that you and your designer have to go over the same concept multiple times or on multiple occasions? If there is such an obstacle in communication, you might try setting aside some time to figuring out what this difficulty is. The sooner these misinterpretations can be dissolved the better, and not casting blame but instead making a conscious effort for collaboration will keep tempers from flaring.
Many of these issues are eliminated when you’ve got a great flow of communication with your designers. And furthermore, now that we live in a world where you can collaborate remotely with colleagues all over the globe, staying in regular, positive communication is that much more vital, especially when you can’t just hop in your car and meet at the local coffee shop to hash things out.
Recognizing if there’s the potential to build a solid base of communication with your designer will pay off ten-fold. Once you’re both on the same frequency, things will do more smoothly and all the stakeholders rest assured that the focus is on creating the best product without having to deal with poor or intermittent lines of communication.
Next Up …
Now that we have an idea of what a good commuincator looks (and acts) like, we’ve got a solid base for builiding a great relationship with the graphic designers we work with. In the next installment of The Publisher/Graphic Designer Relationship, we will be introduced to “The Action Hero”, who puts their money where their mouth is. Until then, citizens!