Association Media and Publishing and ASAE & The Center co-hosted a lunch and learn session titled “Design on a Dime” last week, including a panel of association professionals moderated by Network Creative Director Jen Smith.
The session covered a number of ideas and insights as to controlling time and money when it comes to design work. A few take-aways:
1. Plan, plan, plan. Use a creative brief or request form to gather all the information you need to begin a project, including budget, business objectives, target audience, schedule and deadlines, design medium, quantity, format.
2. Talk it out. Involve all “stakeholders” from the beginning of a job, including the designer. By bringing the designer into the loop early, she or he will have the right sense for the piece they are creating. Understanding the purpose and goals of the piece is crucial to designing it.
3. Strategize. Try to foresee all uses of a brand’s look and feel, or just know that there may be uses you haven’t thought of yet. A designer needs to know that while they may be starting with a single element, it needs to develop into a larger strategy.
4. Customize artwork. Consider creative ways to make custom artwork: Photograph members or stage props that are specific to your field or industry. When using stock imagery, find ways to personalize the artwork for your audience. This will help you avoid cliche or overdone imagery.
5. Workflow. How ‘final’ is your final copy? Unexpected and multiple rounds of proofing add up. Make sure your copy is as complete and as fully edited as possible before it goes to the design department.
6. Get buy-in early. Don’t wait until the final proof to seek approval from the boss or any other decision-maker. You may end up redoing the piece (and paying for it twice in the process.)
Special thanks to the session panelists: Wendy Bogart, Director of Graphic Design at CASE, Amy Miedema, Senior Director of Communications at American Academy of Audiology, and Rita Zimmerman, Communications Coordinator at American Inns of Court.
Standing: Wendy Bogart, Jen Smith. Seated: Rita Zimmerman, Amy Miedema.
Find more Lunch and Learn sessions from Association Media and Publishing.
March 9, 2010
3 reasons your organization should use a wiki
1. Collective knowledge.
The more you share, the more your organization evolves. Give staffers the sense of ownership of a particular success by allowing for the free flow of information and ideas.
2. Collective ideas.
Think of a wiki as a prolonged brainstorming session with an open door policy. Ideas go in, get built upon, and come out of the wiki as fully formed innovations.
3. Collective efficiency.
Frequently Asked Questions are easily answered by a quick wiki search.
In the blossoming age of social media, organizations have a variety of options for sharing information both internally and externally. At Network, we decided to implement a company-wide wiki as a central location for our internal information.
“A wiki is akin to what the founders of the Internet originally envisioned as the primary purpose of the Web,” said Jim Cooke, Vice President. “Our wiki allows everyone to both contribute and search for information specific to our company.”
“A wiki is good for any and all organizational practices and processes, as well as suggestions, tips, and ideas,” explains Jen Smith, Creative Director.
“Information that was once only known by one person is now accessible by all departments,” says Sean Soth, Senior VP. “Using the wiki has cut down on my own individual FAQs.”
Anyone at Network can update the internal wiki, which ensures that the most current information is available. Carrie Hartin, COO, remarks, “As reflective of the media industry, our work processes and tools are constantly evolving. The wiki has been perfect for information that changes regularly, as well as more established information and procedures.”
An organization-wide wiki, which is free-form in structure, defies our usual organization of server-bound file folders. Because of its lack of traditional structure, the wiki is easily searchable. For Megan Lebo, Assistant Traffic Manager, “having one place to look for information is very helpful and increases efficiency, instead of searching through several folder hierarchies and hoping to recognize a file name.”
The fewer parameters you set for your wiki, the more versatile it can be. Because anyone can edit or comment on a topic, a wiki can also serve as space for collaboration.
“In the art department, we use the wiki to house important logistical info for our jobs, but we also use it to share design inspiration and ideas,” Smith says.
“[My team] can share conference call notes here to be sure we have a record of our conversations and joint concerns,” Soth said. The more topics we add to our wiki, the more its purpose evolves. “I have the ability to gain new ideas from what other employees are doing successfully…the wiki allows me to see what is working for our entire team,” says Shannon Reid, VP, Sales.
A wiki’s versatility and free-form structure can be adapted to meet the varied needs of any organization. From an information bank, to a collaborative, creative space, a wiki can increase your organization’s efficiency, dispense information, and build new channels for innovation.
–Katherine Boyce, Sales Associate, Network Media Partners.
December 18, 2009
