Welcome to cobaltagency.com, a newly formed media agency with years of experience helping clients stand out and achieve their business goals! We are thrilled to start our blog and watch it grow with us. Here we will discuss design, media, technology, issues effecting the Baltimore/DC area, and anything else that sparks interesting conversation. We will also show off our latest projects and exciting news from inside Cobalt.

Healthy client/designer relationships are vital to producing interesting and effective work. Here are some essential tips for both parties to ensure a fruitful relationship with happiness on both sides of the aisle.

Clients:

1. Do your research. Look at agency portfolio’s thoroughly to make sure you like their work and their personality. Does your vision fit with their style? While most agencies are versatile, if all of their work is bland or too hip and trendy for your taste you may want to choose a company more in-line with your design aesthetics.



2. Relinquish control. I once allowed a client to dictate typefaces and sizes for every word on an invitation. In the end the piece looked more like a ransom note than an invitation. Once you’ve chosen an agency and hired them… trust them! Good designers will work hard to make you happy. While you should voice opinions about the work (after all you know your company better than anyone), you don’t need to be involved in every small detail. Good designers know what works and what doesn’t.


3. Own your brand and take it seriously. Companies often spend time and money promoting all aspects of their business but when it comes to their visual identity, they go to their neighbor’s, cousin’s, son for their website (you get the picture). If you want to look professional you need to hire professionals. For better or for worse your visual identity says a lot about who you are and how you want to be seen.

Designers:

1. Communication is key: Discuss the project in detail with your clients, outlining all goals and expectations from the start. Establish a set number of design rounds and revisions in your proposal. This ensures the project doesn’t go on indefinitely and you are compensated for your time. Before you get started sign a contract where all of the details are flushed out.



2. Discuss budget sooner rather than later. There’s nothing worse than doing significant preliminary research on a project and then realizing their budget is light years away from the budgets of similar projects you’ve completed. Discuss a range up front so you don’t waste each others time.



3. Only show clients work that you are happy with. Sometimes agencies show clients everything to prove they’ve done the work. When you show the client infinite options, you run the risk of overwhelming them and make it less likely they’ll choose the designs you think are strongest. They’ll also be more likely to turn your designs into a Frankenstein by picking and choosing what they like best from each option.

In the case of both designers and clients, mutual trust and clear communication is vital. We should make the design process fun and worthwhile by establishing great working relationships. Designers must trust that clients knows their audience and clients must trust their designers to produce great work.