The other 50 percent of my time is spent scrapping the first draft and starting anew based on client comments. Are you clueless when it comes to communicating your review notes with your designer? At a loss for words when trying to verbalize the layout in your head?

Here are some tips for you, the client, when providing feedback (from the point of view of me, the designer).

1. Collaborate with all stakeholders.

Of course I like to get positive feedback for my work. But the worst kind of positive feedback is from one client contact (“I absolutely love this full-color brochure!”), which is then quickly followed by opposing feedback from another point person (“Uhhh, we were actually thinking about a black and white flyer…”). Get it together in-house, and then send your company’s collective opinion to the consultant. Better yet, schedule a conference call so all involved parties can discuss the piece together and bounce ideas around.

2. Give both positive and negative comments.

As a client, it’s very easy to focus on what you want to be different in the next draft. But it’s equally valuable for your evaluation to include assessments that touch on the parts of the assignment that impressed you. “Don’t change a thing about the cover; it’s perfect!” This tactic will likely lead to a favorable relationship between you and designer (which means she’ll be happy to go the extra mile for you down the road when you need expedited service or a donated project for your son’s school play). More importantly, it will also ensure that she doesn’t alter the parts of the piece that please you while she’s reworking the rest of the composition.

And while I’m not saying to compliment your designer for the sake of an ego boost (honesty is paramount!), if you truly don’t like anything in a particular draft, try to incorporate at least one favorable remark into the feedback about what needs to be modified. “I can see you spent a great deal of time on the illustration; it’s quite elaborate. However, we were looking for a more simplistic drawing.”

3. Be specific.

“Hmmm, I’m just not sure it’s right.” By far, the most dreadful words to come out of a client’s mouth. Please, oh please, just give us SOMEthing to go on. We might be able to work up a first draft without a previously planned concept, but if you have absolutely no idea what you like or don’t like about what we came up with, then there is no way to move forward.

A better response: “I enjoy the way the words flow off the page, and I like the font. But the stock photos don’t represent the company’s message.” Or: “The soft edges of the graphic elements really capture the feel of the piece, but colors are too bright for the intended audience.” The more specific your feedback, the sooner you will say, “Yep, that’s just what I was looking for!”

4. Be timely.

If your designer sends you a draft on Monday, you don’t have to have your crafted reaction by Tuesday (after all, it takes time to consult with stakeholders and put thought into a detailed critique!). But stick to the project’s timeline (a smart designer or project manager will create a timeline at the beginning to ensure all parties make time for their responsibilities so the final project is finished on time). If there is no set deadline for your feedback, you might ask the designer when she expects a response, or assume that one week is a reasonable time frame. Remember to allow time for multiple rounds of revisions, and keep your project’s target date in mind.

If you know you aren’t going to review the document right away, do your designer a favor and at least acknowledge that you received the link or file, and that you’ll get back to her in a few days. We’re dying in anticipation over here, wondering if you like it — throw us a bone!

5. Provide adequate direction before the initial draft.

One way to avoid a whole lot of feedback drama is to let your designer know what it is you are looking for right off the bat. If there is a certain style you want, you’ll save money (if you’re paying hourly) and aggravation (if you get frustrated when people can’t read your mind) by not playing the “just-use-your-creativity” game. This scheme — where you give your designer complete freedom — only works when you have an open mind and a good relationship with the designer.

And just because you provide a general angle for the piece doesn’t mean the artist won’t squeeze her own creative juices into the composition, so don’t worry about lost opportunity for a unique idea.

Despite my frustration with answering calls for someone who may or may not know his own phone number, I thought I’d take this opportunity to remind all you readers that whether you are placing an ad in the classified section of the newspaper, through a Google AdWords campaign, or on the side of a city bus, proofreading your point of contact is the absolute least you can do to ensure success. One wrong digit of a phone number or one misplaced letter of a URL, and your customers may never find you.

Better yet, after you’ve proofread your own work, enlist help from a friend, colleague or professional editor to make sure you didn’t miss something obvious. After staring at a particular string of text for too long, even your own name can look like there might be a mistake in it, so you can’t always trust yourself.

I’d really like to get in touch with the owner of the Baltimore home, mostly so I can stop screening potential residents for him, but also so that he may actually find someone to rent his space. But, like the others trying to get a hold of him, using the number on his listing would just put me on the line with a slightly annoyed proofreading snob.

The class president (whose debate and speech skills beat out yours truly for the position) is now an attorney. So is the valedictorian. The lead in all the school plays is a theatrical makeup artist. The girl who blew me away by how quickly she picked up trigonometry (without sweating like I did) is a financial analyst. The girls who spent the best years of their lives at conferences for Future Business Leaders of America all work in some facet of marketing. The cheerleader who was always smiling is a nurse (with a pleasant and peppy bedside manner, I imagine). The star field hockey player now coaches the same sport. And the yearbook editor-in-chief spends her time doing layouts, proof-checks, and editing blog posts.

That’s right. Everything I need to know to run LBK Designs, I learned from making a 42-page book filled with black and white photos of chess club members, volleyball games and prom kings, with captions not unlike, “Becky, Suzie and Jordan laugh over a joke told at the lunch table. A good time was had by all.”

1. The teacher (client) gets to make the final decision, but it is my job to gently and persuasively guide that person to the right choice.
2. Spelling and grammatical errors, once in print, are forever.
3. At least three people must approve (preferably with a stamp emblazoned with each individual’s initials) every page before it can go to print (see #2).
4. Turn a boring headline into a fun one, and the whole page comes to life.
5. “Nobody will ever read this” is not an excuse to skim over copy you are proofreading.
6. “Nobody will ever read this” is not an excuse to write lousy copy.
7. Only include a quote if someone really said it. (And spell that person’s name correctly.)
8. When choosing a photo, ask yourself, Would I want a picture of me wearing leggings, taken from an unfavorable angle, to be seen by others for all eternity?
9. Charge a fair price, or people will record their own memories (or use a different designer).
10. Work only feels like work when you don’t enjoy what you’re doing. Choose a career that you knew you loved even when you weren’t paid to do it. (I’m sure glad I followed this one.)

That’s probably because I never bothered to get any printed. You may think that is a little strange, seeing as how my entire business revolves around designing graphic collateral and printed material. And maybe there have been a handful of times where having a few sheets of stationery to mail with a fancy package would have come in handy.

But the bulk (and by bulk, I mean 99.9%) of my business communication is done by email. How do I present my clients with project proposals? After going over the expectations for the project in detail over the phone or several emails, an estimate is given in writing using an electronic template. How do I send invoices? Upon a project’s completion, my clients instantly receive a PDF in their inbox.

In case you’re not familiar with electronic templates, it’s not a technical term, and maybe other companies call them something else. For my purposes, an electronic template is basically everything that would go on a piece of printed letterhead — sometimes nothing but my company logo and contact info — presented neatly in the margins a Word document (and tested for color-consistent print-outs on low-grade printers). When it’s time send a proposal, project outline, invoice, or other standard document to a client, I simply open the template, add the specifics, click ’send’ and I’m done. 

To make my life easier, I’ve created individual templates for each of my oft-used documents mentioned above; this way I can include repeated elements, such as client agreement footnotes or payment policies, and not have to start from scratch each time. I choose to create PDFs from the completed document, but sending them in Microsoft Word format is completely acceptable as well.

Not convinced? Here are electronic template benefits at a glance:

• lower cost, less waste
• environmentally friendly
• ability to easily change address, phone number or even logo when necessary
• no storage necessary
• instant send-ability

Of course there are certain businesses and industries where printed letterhead is the way to go, and I’m not saying to never use paper again. But before you order 5,000, 10,000, or 25,000 sheets, think about whether you are accurately estimating how much you’ll use (order about a year’s supply). And if there is any chance your address or phone number will change, wait until these details are ironed out.

And just in case I’ve discredited myself as a print graphic designer, keep in mind that I often offer my clients electronic templates as part of a company identity package, which can include traditional stationery as well.

No matter how large or small your company, regardless of whether you’re selling goods or services, or if you’re a non-profit working for the benefit of others, no matter if your office is in the penthouse suite of a fancy building or in your mother’s basement, your business needs a logo. And it needs to do three things:

1. Represent your business as you’d like your customers to see it. Does it evoke the feelings important to your mission statement (for example, fun, friendly, professional, quality service, expertise)? Are the colors attuned to that sentiment?
2. Be unique and easily identifiable. If you couldn’t distinguish golden arches from the Burger King bun, you wouldn’t be able to remember which fast food chain had your favorite fries. Make sure your logo is exclusively yours, and different from your competition’s.
3. Act as the foundation for your company’s corporate identity. Everything your company produces all goes back to the logo. It should be legible at many sizes (think business card to billboard) and should stand the test of time. You want to create a consistent experience for your clients over the long haul, so make sure your logo isn’t designed to match the latest trends.

Can you name the last three stores where you made purchases? Of course you can! All you have to do is think back to the big sign at the storefront, look on your receipt or the shopping bag that holds your goods. Do you remember the company that sold you something on the street in New York City? Of course not! That “company” may have lacked both a name and logo, and the bag in which they wrapped your pashmina or knock-off watch displayed a big, red “Thank you” instead of an identifiable trademark.

With a strong logo, your company makes an instant impression of professionalism, quality and experience. Your constant goal is to strengthen that impact, and to create consistent brand recognition for your customers. Your logo should appear wherever your company’s name exists—business cards, invoices, office signage, company newsletter. Don’t neglect a single chance you have to fuel your company’s brand or mission.

The above are examples of logos designed by LBK Designs. View more corporate identity packages here.