3 Years ago I posted an article about content called “Your client is not a copywriter” and all the points are still valid today. What changed in the last 3 years is that now we have “content strategy” and everybody talks about content. Content strategy is an abstract concept about copy, photography, graphical elements and the guidelines to keep these elements consistent over time and aligned to the communication strategy. But does the client actually understand us, when we talk to him about content?

We just assume a client knows what content is

In client services we often assume that the client knows about the creative business as much as he knows about his own business – and sometimes they let us think they do.

Most clients business is not to produce content, in fact it is the business of writers, photographers, musicians, videographers, artists, designers, … also known as content creators. The business of our client is accounting, making coffee, build machines, … you name it, that’s their “core”, this are the things they know about.

It’s not in their core business to know if they have user focused, high quality content. Even worse, they will most probably not have the competence to know where to get or produce new content if they realize that they have no content.

Content Strategy is not only a buzzword

Educating our client about what content is, is in my opinion the most important part of content strategy. It is actually one of the first things we should do when talking about the project – because it will affect our proposal.

There are many great blogs and podcasts about content strategy out there, so I will not go into much detail. It’s a great tool, and you don’t need a dedicated person with that role for small projects, as long as it’s part of the process.

A quick recommendation is the Content Talks Podcast where you can get a great insight into what content can be and how to educate your client about it.

Get the content before we start

Even if  you don’t want to dig into content strategy – ask for all the content even before doing  the proposal. If you find that to extreme, introduce an initial step in your process called “content audit” – a billable step where you ask for the content before you start working on the project.

In either way we have in an early stage the possibility to get back to the client if the content hasn’t the desired quality or if parts are missing. Document the communication about this as it is important not only for planing the schedule for the project, but also if a deadline fails because the content is not ready.

Go ahead and take control

After the content audit it’s time to do proper content strategy, lining out guidelines and take control over the production of the content. I will say that 90% of the time a project will end up in a success when the responsibility for the content lies in the hand of the agency/creative side – we know what content will get the results and we push for quality.

Build up a vendor network

Networking for me means to build a list of vendors/partners I can contact for specific projects. You should have a couple of trusted “preferred” vendors and some for special needs. It’s a common in the print design world as you have to deal with printers, media etc. but I still see many freelance designers lacking a trusted network of professionals they can reach out to if they need to.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In the end it all boils down to recognize strengths and weaknesses, our client weakness could be our strong point – and our weaknesses can be overcome by partners. The result will be the famous “win win” situation, where ideally everybody wins – our clients customers, our client, we and our partners, isn’t that something to aspire to?

Ever wondered at an job interview why they ask you the wrong questions? As freelancer you get only projects you are not interested in? People always refer you as the technical/programmer guy, not the designer? Maybe your portfolio website targets the wrong audience.

I started thinking about this topic by reading about the job interview process at Google, and in the podcast about target audiences over at Boagworld. One thing most designers miss is, that you target your audience not only with the design, but mainly with the content of the site.

The wrong topics or the wrong target audience

Blogging about yourself and the work you do is one of the best things available to the professional today. It helps creating an unique profile about you and what you can offer to friends, colleagues, employers, clients.

This may seem straight forward, but I have seen that many designers write about the things they care about in a way only other designers can appreciate. This is useful to gain reputation and if your target are creative design agencies (like I do), but if you want to attract clients the behind the scenes talk is not the right way.

Same is true for your CV and your portfolio – if you want to be a designer just put design projects into your portfolio. I know it may be tempting to include other great work you did, but it will confuse your clients – do you remember the Unique Selling Proposition you learned in the marketing class?

Be true to yourself

So you are sure that you target the right audience but you still get the wrong job offers? Maybe you promote the wrong work you have done. I still wonder how many “designer” don’t see what their strengths and weaknesses are. They try to be or call themselves designers even when they are developers, project managers or simply are good at drawing. There is nothing wrong in being what you are, but stay true to yourself.

Look at the work you have done until now. Which one was the most successful? It often isn’t the one you enjoyed most, or maybe it isn’t the one you found interesting, but it’s probably the thing you do best. Don’t be surprised, just embrace it. And if you think you really want to do something different go ahead, but don’t promote it until you are really good at it

Everyone of you uses email, but did anyone of you learn how to write emails? In the old days of the ground mail there we learned how to write a business letter. There are books on how to write business letters with templates for any occasion. Here is my tip on writing a successful business email.

Writing a business letter is time consuming and the time it takes to get to the recipient seems endless nowadays. So the email took over. Faster to write, faster to send, faster to receive a response. What get lost? Not only the form. I cannot actually know how my email is displayed and and on what device. But the worst is, that many times we cripple the message because we are such in a hurry when writing the email.

I write every email like I would write an ad. I’m no copywriter, but I do fine enough. And I try to structure it, especially if I write to a person for the first time, following this advertising rules:

• Who I am (for first contact)
• Reason Why
• Unique selling proposition
• Call to action

Who I am

Introduce yourself in one sentence – if I get an email from an unknown person I want first of all know who he is.

Reason Why

Right after the introduction tell the people why you are writing them. Studies show that if you give a reason why your are asking for something people will be more likely to comply. You must give a reason why they should continue reading and make them know that it matters to them. How many times I get calls where a graphic designer asks me to send him a logo in a printable format. The first thing I ask is: “What do you need it for?”

Unique selling proposition

This is maybe the trickiest part, because you have to think always in a way that you are selling something – even if you ask them to do something for you. In fact if you ask them to do something for you (send you something, give you a backlink) you are actually selling them this favour they will do to you. You must therefore find a benefit for them and possibly one that doesn’t sound bland. Or it can be a straight “if you do this x for me, I can do this y for you”. Don’t try to sell “x” and pay “x” back (say backlink for backlink) – it doesn’t work. Your a genius if you can write this part in a way that the receiver thinks he profits from doing what you ask him to do.

Call to action

I sometimes wonder how many times I get emails where after reading them I think: “Ok, and what should I do next?” No, really. Check if your email has a call to action in the end where you distinctively tell the reader what you expect him to do. This applies also to “informative” emails, where you just want to inform someone about a specific topic – include in the end a phrase like “Please keep this email in your records for further reference” or “You can delete this message after reading”. Very popular call to action phrases for emails, where the request is actually clear from the central part or where you respond to a request “If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.”

And now an example

A classic example – you are making a brochure for an event and your client gives you a list of sponsors. You have to include all the logos of the sponsors and you have none. The agreement between your client and the sponsors are usually made at management level and therefore the marketing department doesn’t know anything about it. Not all firms have printable logos at hand so the email must include the right information about what you need and that they might better forward the request to their graphic designer or advertising agency.

Dear Sirs,

my name is Frank Neulichedl and I write you on behalf of
Mr. Smith from ThisIsAfirm ltd. I am currently designing
the brochure for the annual spring concert in Holland Park
and I've been told that your firm is one of the sponsors.

I would therefore include your logo in the brochure and would
ask you to send me a high resolution digital version of the
logo suitable for print in order to display your commitment
in the best way.

Suitable file formats are Adobe Illustrator (.eps, .ai)
or high resolution images .jpg .tif (File size larger
than 500 KBytes).

If you do not have a suitable format at hand please forward
this request to your graphic designer or advertising agency.

Feel free to contact me for any further questions.

Yours faithfully

Frank Neulichedl
...

For further reference on this subject I’ve found a nice resource here:

• Better writing – tips, useful phrases and sample letters

How storytelling improves corporate publishing

Why more and more companies choose to publish their own magazine is a wider topic I will cover in a future post. I will start my new series about corporate publishing by demystifying a myth – corporate publishing is boring. I will show you in this lesson how you can make a graphically stunning article about the introduction of a new window hardware product line by telling a story.

The Briefing

The goal of the article was to inform the clients of the product line – in this market new product lines come every 10 years and therefore it’s big news. On the other side it was important that the client doesn’t get the feeling that he has to switch to the new hardware immediately (meaning a big investment for new tools etc.) and that the existing line will continue to exist.

You see, the difficulty is to push a new product without saying “the old product is crap, get the new one”.

The Idea

To make a graphically great article you have to get a good written article beforehand. If the copywriter knows how you want to “show” the reader the content of the article he can adjust the tone to get graphical interpretation and contents in harmony.

In this case we opted to split the article into a introduction part and a technical descriptive part. The basic idea for the introduction part was “alternation of generations”. A kind of father and son story where the new product line was the son and the old one the father.

In the introduction the article show the reader how window hardware evolved from the medieval times until now. In the second part of the article we just made a showcase of the new hardware pointing out the new highlights without comparing it to the old one. The basic claim here was “We maintained the good stuff and added something new”

The graphical concept

In the graphical concept I thought it would be a nice setting if we let the reader explore the history just like if he was looking at the “window hardware family photo album”. In a family photo album you collect memorable events and pictures of the children. In this case I combined photos of various times with pictures from the different window hardware parts.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

As you can see in the first spread the hardware is nowhere to see, just pictures of a father with his son and some old photos. It was important that the pictures showed only well known Italian places as the magazine aims for the Italian market. I created a real set, simulating that the photo album and the photos lie on a desk and the coffee mug give you the impression that you, the reader are sitting at the desk looking this photos.

The text talks about the new hardware, but gives much emphasis to the whole “generation” concept.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

In the second spread we get more technical. The photo album is gone and there is a writing machine and an old camera along with the pictures showing some old windows and some family and car shots from the 70s. To push the concept even more the frames of the photos change with the time they represent. The older ones have the scrambled edges in the 70s they become Polaroids and later one, the just get a nice white border (as it is in fashion today). I’ve put also an old catalog of the company publishing this magazine because it combined two facts. First it shows the ancestor of the modern windows and with the cover you see that the company introduced this revolution in window technology in 1968.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Revolution in some kind of way is the main theme on the third spread. We moved ahead in time and there is now to see an computer and a mouse. We are close to our present days and just like the fall of the wall in Berlin and the technically revolutionary architecture of Norman Foster the first photo of the new hardware is shown. The concept is now clear to everybody and the certificates for the new hardware are important for the reader and are mentioned in the text, so why not put them here, as some sheets of paper on a desk look quite natural.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

I just show here one showcase spreads to let you see how radical the cut between the introduction and the actual product presentation is. Every spread looks more or less (graphically speaking) the same. We have the background where you can see the window as a whole and details of the new enhancements.

And the lesson is

The importance of a good storyline is obvious to catch the attention of the reader. The layout and design can help telling this story and in combination with the text you can bring the message to the reader in a stronger way. Don’t limit yourself even when the facts you have to deliver seem dull or not exciting. Setup a story and embed the facts. The reader will benefit and you will have more fun designing.

Picture by Marta Potoczek

We have seen in the last lesson, that a copywriter is important and necessary to get good copy text and headlines. Working together with a copywriter on the other hand is sometimes harder. Here a few tips on how to get in sync with the copywriter.

Is the copywriter on your level?

Copywriter like graphic designers and art directors are not all the same. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some are bad at their profession. You, as the art director, must know the difference between a good and suitable written text and a bad one. You “direct” the project as a whole, so it’s your responsibility. You don’t have to be a writer to note the difference between good and bad texts, but you want to read some good books or newspapers to get the feeling for a well written piece. Don’t tell me, that you are a creative mind that has no use for the novels and ordinary newspaper – if you think like that you have already lost. As an art director you must have a broader view. So when you choose a copywriter or you start to work with one, read some texts he has already written. This way you see if you can talk and communicate on the same level or if you have to take the lead.

If not – you take the lead

If you find out that the quality of the texts are not as good as hoped or the copywriter is not used to the advertising/creative writing you have take the lead. You have to give him examples or guidelines he can follow. I collect great advertisings or brochures which I think have not only a great layout but also have great text. You can use them like you would use a mood board. The copywriter will be thankful and the results will benefit. Give him also the creative brief, it’s also a guideline he has to stick to and tell him how long the texts should be. Remember you are in charge.

If yes – lead depends on the project

If the copywriter is on your level or maybe better you may go along together or let him leave. This means that you can develop the ideas together, decide if you want more or less text and what type of layout you want to create. If he takes the lead, he may find also the visuals for you. I know a few copywriters that give me these hints for magazine layouts. I’m in charge of the look of the whole magazine, but I don’t decide on the content of every image. I’m with the copywriter in the first briefing, to know what comes along, staying in the background and making some questions, but the copywriter is on its own in the briefing for the content. He might come to me for a brainstorming about the “visual and text metaphor” for the article, but he also might not. If he is a good copywriter this metaphor will lead me easily to the visuals and how to integrate it into the magazine.

Keep communicating

As you can see communication with the copywriter is essential as your both work has to get together. In the case of a not so good copywriter the main communicator will be you leading, if the copywriter is a well trained professional the communication well be more about the idea and creative things. But also in this case show him you pre-layouts and sketches and he should show you his structure and ideas before he elaborates the whole piece. If you think you don’t have time for this, think again. You will benefit if you don’t have to lose time in getting the layout to work because the text is too long or short and I don’t even mention the lost time when you have to redo the job because it’s lack in quality of the text.

Presenting the project together

Presentation of your work is an important thing, you know that already. If you understand that the job is done in team with your copywriter than you want to present it in team. You present the layout and the copywriter the idea behind the text. You sure want to rehearse the presentation in order that you both point to the same direction and don’t get into contradictions. You will see that having the copywriter with you is a nice thing. If something comes up with the text you don’t have to take just everything what your client says about it. A copywriter can argue with the client or even better understand directly what went wrong or where the text is not pointing to the right spots.

In conclusion I just want to say that graphic design is teamwork and therefore a good collaboration with your copywriter is the key to success. It also applies to other parts of your “team” like the photographer and the printer and I will point to these team-partners in another lesson, son stay tuned.

How many times have you seen a folder, website, brochure with poor text? How many times you read a headline and thought what is this all about? How many times did you stop reading a text because it was tedious to read? I’m sure many times. These texts are not written by copywriter but by the client himself. As a graphic designer you don’t care much about the text, it’s not your business – as an art director you must care about it. Here are some tips on how you understand if a text it’s good enough and how you convince your client that is worthwhile having a copywriter do the job.

Copywriting is a job on its own

Like being an art director or graphic designer, being a copywriter is a job of its own. It’s more than just writing grammatically correct; it’s about tailoring the text to the medium to transport the message. It’s very similar to the graphic job, just with other tools. By that said it’s obvious that a client whose profession is to develop/sell products or services is not the right person to write the texts. Neither is the secretary or a journalist (unless your project is a house organ).

Advertising text is not the same as a technical description

Most of the time you will get texts which read like fact sheets or are technical descriptions which are suited for the experts. Most of the time all facts and topics are treated as if they have the same importance and the texts are therefore dull. As with all advertising you can transport only one message which has to be single minded. A good copywriter tailors the text to transport this one message and incorporates the rest in order to strengthen this message. You see, there is clear difference between simply describing the features of something and transmitting a message to the audience with the description.

Half-ready texts needs to be reset

The worst thing is, when your client thinks he can actually write. This results in halfway-technical and halfway-old school-advertising texts. You can recognize them easily. You find the company and product name hundred times in it (written in capitals), many bold text phrases (everything is important) and a lot of words like “new” “best” “never seen” “amazing”. The sad thing is that the strong points of the product get lost and you have to reset the whole thing and get a briefing to be able to find out the structure und the facts which matter.

Copywriting comes after the creative brief – but the copywriter needs to be there first

In most cases the creative brief is made not only for the graphic design part but also for the copywriter. But like I said in a lesson, the creative brief is a compressed form of the briefing which helps you stick to the track. You need to be at the briefing and so does the copywriter. You maybe want to get the help from the copywriter to write the creative brief and convey with him about the direction the whole project should go. It’s important that you both now what you are talking about. You may be surprised how valuable it is to have the copywriter with you as you proceed with the project. You can decide with him how much text you need or want for example – your job is to make the text fit into the layout and the job of the copywriter is to write a text which stays in the layout. The communication between you and copywriter in this sense is crucial.

Get valuable partners

Every professional has his strengths and his weaknesses. The same is true for graphic designers, art directors and copywriters. Some may be perfect for technical products, others for consumer products or cosmetics. Not only graphical appearance must comply with the audience, also the words, and the language. Some creative professions are already more open to classify themselves, like photographers for example, its common that a photographer states that he does only fashion. I haven’t seen this happen yet with copywriters and it’s your job as an art director builds the network and understands what the strengths of the copywriter are. Ask them what they enjoy most writing about, get to know them and the writing style they have. Get to know more than one, so you can bring the right copywriter to the right job. And finally if you have to do jobs in more than one language (of which you may not speak or understand some) is sure you can trust the copywriter.

Now that you know how important it is to have texts written by a professional you can approach your client accordingly and “sell” the copywriter to him. But to get good results you need to communicate with the copywriter and how to do this will be part of the next lesson.