Suppose we commission Rumba to do some graphic design work. What happens next?

An accurate brief is the key to producing effective graphic design work. We’ll sit down with you and find out all about your company, what you hope to achieve with the work, who the target audience is and if you have any pre-conceived ideas about how it should look.

We then make some basic recommendations. Maybe your idea of a folder with inserts wouldn’t be the best way of reaching your audience: maybe a mailer or an email newsletter would do a better job .

After discussing these over-arching issues, we’ll agree a timetable and the dates on which key stages of the project will be completed and most importantly give you a cost for all the work.

Then we’ll go away and start on the first stage, which is producing a visual – an accurate representation of what the finished design will look like.

We’d like a new corporate identity designed, but it seems expensive?

Graphic Design companies get a bad press when it comes to corporate identity. Designing a logo takes time. There may be a 100 different ways an identity could be represented and the essence of your company has to be distilled into one mark. The logo has to be legible at small sizes; work across a wide range of applications; reproduce in black and white and on the web.

If you’re a larger company you’ll need a style guide to ensure the identity is applied consistently across the organisation, from stationery to a vehicle livery.

A company’s identity is its most important visual asset, so it’s important to get it right: after all a good corporate identity will serve a company for many years.

Will you show us one visual, or will we have a choice of ideas?

Graphic design is a subjective discipline so we always come up with at least two alternative solutions. This is especially important where a logo or corporate identity is involved in which case we may present up to six design solutions.

What if we hate all the design ideas you present?

We can truthfully say that this has never happened. Taking a thorough brief and then presenting a range of ideas has always meant that the client has gone away happy.

If you really don’t like anything we’ve designed, we’ll go away and come back with a completely fresh set of ideas.

OK so you’ll present some more ideas. That’s going to add to the cost isn’t it?

No. We’ll quote you a set fee for the visual stage of the project and stick to it. So any extra design work at this stage will be free and we’ll keep producing ideas until you have a design you’re happy with.

We like the visual. What’s the next stage?

If it’s a print job it’s time to produce artwork – an accurate computer file with text laid out and incorporated with photographs, illustrations and charts as appropriate. There will generally be two or three sets of author’s amends, and then the file will be checked and sent to a printer.

We’ll make-up printer’s proofs for a final check and sign-off by you.

If we’re producing a web site, we’ll show you a site plan, produce code and upload to your server.

Can you get it printed for us, or should we find our own printer?

Either way. We have a number of printers we deal with depending on the complexity and size of print run and can oversee this aspect of the job for you. We’ll specify a paper stock, check and deliver proofs and iron out any niggles. But if you’re happy to deal with your own printer, we’ll supply a file for you to pass on.

Do you offer any other services allied to graphic design. Copywriting and marketing for instance?

We can supply copywriting and can source any other service that you might need.

Do you charge a fee for handing over artwork for our own use, once its been completed?

Unlike some graphic design companies, we believe that once you’ve paid for artwork, it’s yours. We’ll archive your work, but if you need it for whatever reason, just ask and we’ll send over the files.

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