A machinery works by the correct interaction of all its components
If we take this truth and transfer it to the world of marketing, we should argue that to achieve success in commercial strategies, an absolute synergy between its protagonists is necessary. Now, is design, or rather, the designer, considered relevant to those who are in charge of the destiny of a brand?
It is a condition of those who occupy leadership positions within companies to know minimally the role that each member of their team will play. This is essential if you want to be able to pool your knowledge and lead it to successful results. If this statement is correct, and if we consider how design processes are currently handled, then we could infer that the designer will never be seen as an important part of the group, since there is no specific interest in knowing about its technical limitations, or about their needs for creative times, and the opinion that questions the specific assignment is not relevant.
For this situation to be reversed, for designers to obtain the much desired integration and for marketers to be able to exercise a judicious and effective direction over them, they must emphasize training.
Learn to design? No. Understand what underlies the world of design? Yes.
Why worry about a simple screw if the machine works the same?
The biggest drawback of this proposal is that nobody wants to be trained in what they consider irrelevant. That is why in the rational world of business, everything related to aesthetics is often called superficial. Everyone can comment on design, everyone knows what is cute or ugly. So why know more?
The estimated profitability numbers, the process analysis and many other steps keep the marketer so busy that it obscures and even nullifies any serious discussion related to compositional balances, color palettes, reproducibility, etc., etc. To be totally honest, I should say that these discussions do not disappear completely, but rather emerge as informal opinions among a select group of people (including the designer) and that they are conducted under absolute technical and practical ignorance.
While it is true that marketing increasingly turns to designers and expresses genuine joy when the piece achieves its commercial objective, the reality is that the method used to achieve that end is haphazard and can even be counterproductive. The brief dialogue that a large part of marketers have with designers today could sadly be synthesized in some of the following phrases: "Put green", "Take out the plate", "Move the text", "Change the letter", " Join the logo of option 2 and join it to that of option 4 ”, etc, etc. Does this number of requests provide a space for the exchange of opinions? Of course not. Indeed, marketing is missing a screwAnd it is, in that absence, in that daily disregard, that a large part of the designs that aim to lead a brand towards its leadership are developed today.
Only one damaged or missing screw is enough for the entire equipment to fail
Only one, neither more nor less. If we consider that design will ultimately be the visible face of the business strategy, then we could agree that we are facing one of its most important components, the failure of which could represent an example of disastrous inoperation. In other words… how many marketers would be trained to understand the risks of a photochromic in a mass print run or would have enough knowledge to demand that the arts contain too much when printing?Without a doubt very few. And the serious thing about these examples is that, although the aforementioned knowledge seems to be simple technical issues that are plausible to be ignored, in reality, the ignorance of these “screws” could trigger unfortunate situations that lead to great economic damages for large companies. (The use of photochromic can negatively affect the color stability of a “large print run”, and not applying too much could generate, from areas lacking in printing, to the elimination of valuable legal text that would destroy any possibility of incursion of the product in the market).
The importance of locating the screw in the right place
As I said, knowledge enables control. But for this statement to be totally realistic, it is essential that this knowledge be prosecuted, that is, that the design process is sustained by an organized methodology based on concatenated steps that lead to the final objective established. This direction, this establishment of order of creative work, must be an inescapable responsibility of marketing. An example of an ideal process, in my opinion, could be summarized as follows:
- Reading and joint analysis of the Brief.
- Debate between designer and marketer of the proposals presented.
- Exposition of the concepts and rational evaluation, based on the level of effectiveness against the initial objectives originally set.
- Mutual consensus of the chosen alternatives and progress in polishing them.
- Round trips where the client makes clear the strategic reason for each requested change, and the designer understands their approach.
- Establishment of at least one alignment meeting in the middle of the process that allows taking stock of the progress made, crystallizing the different visions (commercial and aesthetic) and preparing the ground for the final phase to be a logical conclusion and jointly, endorsed by all the protagonists of the future launch.
Knowing how to place a screw is good, but only those who know which one is the right one will make a real difference.
As I stated earlier, the stated stages will be much richer when the requests, arguments and decisions expressed by marketers are in tune with project knowledge. So I return to emphasize the incorporation of basic technical and aesthetic knowledge that increases your understanding capacity and improves your "quality" of judgment when faced with a designer and his / her design proposal.
To illustrate this cognitive flaw, I will now answer common questions related to our “metié”, and whose ignorance provokes in marketers from an important state of crisis, to the most absolute immobility.
All this, precisely, in a framework where the immediacy of action is essential.
01- What type of files does a designer need to start working?
It depends. A Corel file is not the same as a Photoshop file or an Illustrator file. Some are compatible and serve as a foundation, and some are not.
02- Can you send me the Illustrators in registration?
It's a ridiculous phrase. Illustrator files are vector files, they generally weigh little when they lack images or they are linked.
03- Can you quickly correct the text that appears on a photo?
It is not simple. If the typeface is glued to the image, it will involve complex digital retouching and the time to do it will be extensive.
04- The provider says that the Illustrator received has no images.
Sometimes when an AI file with attached images is sent to a printer, the program will request to relinke them. Doing it is simple, it only requires will.
05- Are all the photos used for a print original?
Photos that wish to be applied to a graphic piece must have an adequate resolution for reproduction. Not all images serve an art. The print quality of a photo is measured in DPI. Only an image at 300 DPI and 1 in 1 size, has the exact measurement.
06- Can I use the pdf as print originals?
The files in PDF extension can be opened and intervened when they have been saved as editable. In that case it is not necessary to claim its equivalent in Illustrator format.
07- Why don't I receive the original if I have just given the OK to the design proposal?
The sketches are not closed arts, they are models made in order to expose creative ideas. Once the alternative has been chosen, only then will the final art be made, which will require to arrive at an optimal result, time, care and neatness.
08- Why, if we were seeing the sketch with a certain intensity in the colors now, that they give me the original, that palette changed?
When the sketched colors are replaced by their corresponding “Pantones”, the color palette undergoes a change of tonalities. This alteration will not affect the final result.
Covering all the "yeites" of our profession in this article would be impossible and it is not my goal either. What is truly relevant is that the terms contained in this knowledge ("Resolution", "EPS", "Editable", "Channels", "Layers", "PDF") must be incorporated by marketing teams in order to be able to follow ideal the designers' thought process, from the beginning (when the professional is provided with the appropriate materials to undertake a design) to the end (when the color proofs provided by the printing press are reviewed and the subsequent control in the footer machine).
A training policy can recover missing bolts
Fortunately, companies are discovering that their marketing teams require further training to enhance their commercial capacity.
Unfortunately, their training policies don't put graphic themes at the top of their preferences. I urge, through these lines, that the big companies reveal this big mistake. It will depend on them to understand the close link between marketing and design, and to improve their interaction through the organization of courses taught by suitable visual communicators, combined with the vision of many other members of the project chain (printers, input suppliers, packaging companies, etc).
All screws, all efficiency
conclusion
Random raw material generating machines, screwless mechanisms, that's how marketing behaves on many occasions, ignoring a partner whose influence can be vital in the image of a product or service.
While it is understandable that marketing and design are separate professions with their own terminologies and specific functions, it is also true that both have a common goal, which is to launch a product in the best possible way. For this, it is essential to review the methodology applied to date. And, if what is stated in these lines turns out to be true, then put into practice a basic synergy, that is, a growing interest on both sides to function in an integral way in pursuit of successful results. Finally, I highlight the role of companies in this objective, which should issue a "top down" drop that stimulates more intensely their marketing teams to soak up project terminology and create spaces for dialogue with their communication providers.
Three words can make a difference: "Make you feel part." That vision, without a doubt, will constitute the raw material with which, together, we can give rise to a new generation of machines, more functional, more efficient… and without any missing screws.
