- We all know that asking the right questions
yields the best answers.
I can ask you, "Who cuts your hair?"
and you will tell me,
"Joan, would you like her information?"
If I ask, "What happened to your hair?"
the response will most likely be less friendly.
There are the fundamental questions
that need answers for many items.
For printed materials, what is the quantity?
You need to know if the client needs 100 or 100,000 copies.
The quantity will impact how the project will print
and what the budget might be.
Do you have a budget?
Suppose there is a pre-existing budget
for printing or web development.
In that case, you can work backward from that figure
to determine how many colors, which paper,
any special techniques to use,
or how complex or straightforward
a site and app can be.
When do you want this to be received?
Received is the key word here.
When should the recipient see
or have the items in their hands?
The hard stop deadline lets you determine a schedule,
including design, production,
coding, printing, and mailing, if needed.
If it's physical, how will it be distributed?
Does the client plan on mailing this
through the U.S. Postal Service?
If so, this will impact the size and weight of the pieces.
If not, is it handed out?
Is there existing copy or images?
If there is existing copy or imagery that is required,
you will need it.
Is it pertinent and timely?
Are the images of decent quality and the correct resolution?
Even though these items exist,
they may not work for your solution.
You need to know this before beginning to design.
And there are the less concrete questions.
These tend to be more about why than what.
Some of the most critical questions are about the audience,
but we'll cover those a little later.
I need to know why the client wants this group
to receive this information.
Is it to promote the brand, a product, a specific event?
I want to know what they have done in the past
to achieve this and if it succeeded.
I need to know if there are any issues,
even silly ones, that might come up.
For example, I had a client who insisted
on fancy printing techniques,
like foils and engraving on each project.
Once I knew this, I padded the schedule on each item,
as these things take longer to produce.
Or perhaps the client has no internal support
for their online presence or social media.
In this case, I can help them identify the resources
they need internally or externally to support it.
The answers you get may not be precisely clear.
Remember, you're interacting with someone
who doesn't have your breadth of knowledge
about marketing design and production.
In a client's mind, you may be printing 5,000 copies
of a 24-page booklet on your color printer at home
and binding it at your kitchen table.
Your answer may be a shock when you explain
that this is impossible to accomplish
without spending an enormous amount
by commandeering a large printing company
working 24 hours a day.
Think of yourself as a doctor.
You may ask precisely the right question,
but if someone has gone online
and already decided they have dengue fever,
it may be tricky to get the unvarnished truth
about the symptoms.