From Start to Finish

CLARITY IS KEY Working with a graphic designer for the first time can be a bit confusing. Unlike buying a muffler where you can shop around and find the best price for the exact same item, when you purchase graphic design you are buying both a product and a process. Hourly rates can vary significantly between designers based primarily upon experience, location and the type of work to be done. Also, hourly rates may vary within a design firm. For example, design fees are usually higher than production fees, and fees for meetings and errands may be lower still. A lower hourly rate does not necessarily add up to a lower overall cost.

The image above illustrates the sequence of events that will take place throughout each project. First, we will gather as much information as possible about your business and what you have in mind for 1) the type of piece(s) you foresee developing, 2) the time frame in which you predict having finished piece(s) in hand, and 3) your budget. Once the project(s) is defined, an estimate is generated. Please click here for the Art Dept.’s General Estimates guideline.

Once the estimate is agreed upon and the Art Dept.’s Policy sheet is signed, we will commence work. The way we’ve found to rely on total satisfaction for our clients is to keep the lines of communication open, because when we know what you need we can make it happen.

COMMUNICATION UNLOCKS THE CREATIVE PROCESS The best way to ensure a productive and creative working relationship is to keep our minds open and our mouths moving. Fostering creativity, honing concepts and seeing the beauty in the details is what makes the Art Dept. tick. Collaboration is where it’s at and customer satisfaction is what has kept us clicking away for over thirty years.

TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY What is it about ideas that make it seem like they’re afloat, not real, or simply easy to come by? We all have them — sometimes we covet them, sometimes we dismiss them and sometimes we lament if someone else had the same idea and ran with it. The Art Dept. won’t pretend to have the answer but we do know ideas are at the heart of what we sell and therefore we take them seriously. We have come to rely on the creative process on a daily basis with the help of practicality. Yup. Call it a routine or call it a ritual, either way it works. We gather all sorts of information, then we think think think, then we let go of any preconceived notions and voila(!), up come all sorts of ideas to better serve our clientele. Once we agree on a direction, those ideas start showing up on the drawing board and begin to take on a life of their own. It is serious fun and we hope you’ll join us.