How Often Should You Change Catalogue Designer?
Many businesses design their catalogues in house while others prefer to use a third party for some or all of the process. This may simply be for extra assistance with graphics, copywriting or editing – or it may be an end-to-end design service. If you use a catalogue design company, how can you be sure you are getting the best value service, and when should you consider shopping around for another provider?
Why Does Anybody Seek To Change Something?
The answers are probably too many to list but when it comes to changing catalogue designers there must be a strong sense of dissatisfaction about how the catalogue is performing. If it were massively successful then nobody would dream of changing anything, therefore the opposite must be true and it needs to be freshened up. In the end, like many commercial decisions, it comes down to money or, in this case, inadequate sales and therefore a poor ROI for the considerable costs involved in producing a catalogue.
That is, of course, assuming that the ROI expectations were reasonable in the first place.
Changing Designers Is A Big Decision
Changing catalogue designers is usually quite a major decision. Tweaking the old catalogue a little must have been considered and discarded. Engaging a new designer is like a big football team changing their manager. You know that wholesale changes can be expected as the new man stamps his mark on the club and reshapes things to match his own beliefs of how they should be done.
It also begs the question as to why the original designer was deemed perfectly adequate until recently and now is considered not fit for purpose.
Designers Are Imaginative & Adaptive
The reality is that most, if not all, designers can go away and come up with a whole range of new and fresh concepts if asked to do so. This is what designers do – they take what exists all around them and build on it to deliver a new and improved version. This article on the BBC website explores some examples supporting the proposition that the best designs in world are always evolving.
On the other hand, a company can feel that a catalogue designer is just another supplier and subject to change at will or when a better offer comes along. That is the prerogative of the management. However, identifying a better designer is not always a straightforward exercise.
Our Approach At 21st Century Print
We believe that discovering a really good designer is a big deal, a happy event, and does not happen every day. Therefore, we treasure the best ones with whom we have worked. Our list of top designers comprises some agency designers mixed with a sprinkling of talented freelancers. Our experience enables us to match the most suitable designer to a particular job. A catalogue requires an experienced catalogue designer while new branding, for example, may be better served by a slightly different skillset.
When you work through us, finding a new designer is less of a risky step than if you do it by yourself. We will work through your rationale with you to come up with a list of what you think a new designer will bring to the table and then use that list to narrow down the list of potential candidates for your work.
The Best Outcome
We believe that the designers we have selected have the ability to present a fresh perspective on what may be a jaded catalogue. That may be a total visual and aesthetic revamp, or some fresh professional photography, or changes to appeal more to your target audience – or a mix of all these. We speak their language and we can interpret what you want to achieve in terms that express them clearly to a designer.
Download Our FREE Catalogue Design Guide
Download our free eBook The Catalogue Design & Print Guide and learn what makes a catalogue effective. It provides an excellent primer for anybody considering designing and printing a catalogues and will help steer you along the right track.