Wordy - but then what isnt nowadays lol, but we answered some of the feedback and questions we have been getting, as well as some issues that we have had and others have had with us. I love my customers, and I hope this helps answer any questions to people coming to us for design. We have several more questions to answer, but I only had a ten minute break Received Questions from messages: 1) We will only upload ads after the current publication is completed, thanks for the question. I prefer to upload the ads a week after publication to allow them to be viewed in their original release but YES, I will upload them later. I did not mean to leave anyone out, just fire me an email at winconline@gmail and I can upload any missed ad. 2) Editing to an extent is included in ad design, I always try and create ads that are visually stimulating, easy to read, with a well thought out layout and design. We respect the viewers perspective and allow for a clear flow of text and imagery and try not to confuse it and thus defeating the purpose of the ad, with effects, bevels, or plethoras of colours and typefaces. We constantly receive feedback from judges and professionals in the field and have been designing for almost 25 years, so we know how to best represent your dog, kennel or club, with minimal cost and maximum effect. The most common complaint is hard to read text, too many shadows, effects, styles and colours which I have to agree, give me a bloody headache. We try and keep all text contained within an add to two styles, and we try to maintain a consistent alignment - how many times I have heard Why is that text shoved down there, over the person in the ad, over the dog... and so on, convinces me that its an issue with viewers and of course aging eyes. I always try and polish off the ad, and often this means doing it on my own time so as to not pass the cost down to customer or publications I design for. I do not believe in 5 minute ads, quick cutouts, or graphic based distractions/effects to fill lesser quality work. I cannot however place a dog in a different background, remove handler, and so on at the same cost; however even with those added designs, we fall far below the average design costs across North America. 3) We work on ads in order of appearance, and we always try to meet our deadlines. We design on a priority basis (inflexible deadlines MUST be met), and in chronological order. While we usually can accommodate everyone, we continue to encourage deliver of ad content prior to deadline. We do not like turning people away and have rarely done so, but it is growing increasingly difficult to manage all publications with submissions POST deadline. We also like to give each ad the attention it deserves and we can only do that with proper time allowances. 4) Photos. I am aware many of you do not know about resolution and DPI, so I will continue to encourage you to obtain your show photos on CD and not print. A copy of a copy is never as good as the original and you can then print off as many copies as you need. Even if someone in the background is picking their nose haha - KEEP IT, make a copy and play with that one. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep your original, if you want to add frames, or effects, or text, or crop - make a copy and do it from there, or I can do that for you as well. Nothing is more discouraging to a client than to be told this photo isnt going to work. It is far easier to get rid of excess image than it is to try and make more. I like to explain this in a way many can understand (icing and cake! because who doesnt like cake??) You have a 100 DPI photo/ 100 ml tub of icing. It can ice a cake thats lets say 10 inches across. If you had a 300 DPI / 300 ml tub of icing, youd probably be able to get a much thicker, clearer coat of icing, without cake showing through. You could also ice a MUCH larger cake without wrecking the appearance of the cake. Resolution/DPI is much the same. You CANNOT make a photo larger than its resolution restricts. A small image (lets say you downsized your original win photo) cannot be made into a full page ad. Always keep your original, always shoot on maximum settings, you can make photos smaller and they will remain clear, but enlarging a photo that does not have the proper resolution, will appear blurry and distorted with pixelation (small squares of images data being spread too far). 5) Since photo editing is one of our specialties, we cannot use previously edited content (or at least content that has had image data destroyed by additions of bad backgrounds, or the forever horrible CLONE TOOL). If you are getting a photo edited by someone, please refer to the link below. https://facebook/photo.php?fbid=703304379706064&set=a.432384813464690.85075.189954671041040&type=1&relevant_count=1 Ask for them not to use the clone tool, it absolute destroys the image, blurring crisp image data and creating distracting repetitive lines where the designer has used it, instead of applying a new background properly. It is the second largest complaint we receive from viewers. 6) Ad content (and this is a biggy). I dont mind waiting on someone to decide what they want in an ad. It is by far easier to create the ad using everything at once, than to continuously re-edit an ad (and it saves you money too). Since I use multiple layers of high resolution design, it can be quite time consuming to edit and re-edit an ad. So when you get your proof, sit on it for a day (I dont mind and I encourage it) think of how it fits for you, what you like and what you dont, and then email me the changes. Send text separate, like in the ad forms, I ask that it is separate to avoid miscommunications because directional/conversational text is intermingled. Feel free to send it in a notepad document, or Word. I copy and paste to ensure accuracy (and Ive made some blunders trust me - one instance I FIXED some errors, and had no idea they were intentional and for THAT reason, I dont edit text.). Include your content (text) at the end of your email, with instructions in the beginning, be concise, condensed and clear and I will be better able to reproduce what youd like with minimal revisions. We get several hundred emails a day, and when I say WE I mean *I*, so with only one person handling them all, it sometimes means necessary changes get lost when emails regarding one ad are many in number, or long threads. I love what I do, I love sharing the journey of others through design, it is cathartic for me and I am ALWAYS willing to help a client get through the process of ad design which can be intimidating, and Ive made the process much easier for many to deal with other designers and publications as well. We work amicably with all publications (we hope lol) and share a wonderful relationship with many candid and professional photographers, and we hope to make the process of ad design, quick, efficient, cost effective and as painless as possible. And on that note - back to design!!
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:44:26 +0000
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