The quality of the brief dictates the quality of the product

The crucial part of any project is the brief. Hands down, every time, if there are issues with the end product it's generally because the brief was incomplete, incompetent or incorrectly communicated.

I've had many different types of briefs over the years from two words "birds" and "tangerine" (see previous post "28" for the outcome) to multiple, convoluted phone calls with a lot of "sort of" and "likes" in the conversations.

It's easy for me to say, I'm a writer, words are my thing but for many people conveying what they want in actual words that other people will understand can be challenging, to say the least.

I've been surprised by the swift, positive outcomes that have resulted from bare bones briefs and have disappointed the client who provided highly-descriptive, copy-heavy briefs.

It's about expectations.

I have a certain expectation of clients to have a rough idea of what they want at the end of the project while in some instances clients expect me to be a mind-reader. My aim is to meet somewhere in the middle.

My goal is to provide the client with exactly what they want at the end of the project, even if it's not exactly what they expected. Some clients just want you to "run with it" and create something that you feel will meet their expectations and most often are delighted with the result while others will give me a disjointed group of words from which I elicit what I feel they want from me and we can both be disappointed with the result especially as writing and design are so subjective!

So, before you approach a writer, designer, PR person i.e. me, take a minute to sit down and work out what you want at the other end of the project.

I have a briefing process that I go through with clients that involves defining precisely what is required from the project as well as who and what the company is and how and why they exist. Simple information put simply can save a lot of misunderstanding and wasted time in the long run.

For a quick guide on what NOT to do, read this.

Freelancing your way to freedom?

I am sitting at my desk pondering what the water-cooler topics are today; the GFC, the US elections, the latest Angry Birds season? Freelancing is perceived as the ultimate in employment: working at home in your PJs and clocking in on your own schedule, yet the lonely reality of flying solo can be a stark contrast to the myths.

In my years writing from home for clients near and afar I have met (both on- and off-line) a wide range of amazingly interesting and talented people. With clients from Sydney to Singapore, Dhaka to Doha, we freelancers live in a truly global community however you need to be disciplined and committed to make it in the freelancing world. No one will do your work for you, you don't get sick days and you certainly can't blame anyone else for your mistakes!

If you're thinking of entering the freelancing world, here are some tips for newbies to help you get started on your solo journey:

1. Define your skills. Unlike in a traditional localised network, potential employers don't know you or your clients; they are guided solely by your portfolio, make the most of this tool to highlight your skills.

2. Seek feedback. Ask every employer and fellow freelancer with whom you interact to give you feedback. These personal testimonials are a highly-convincing tool for potential employers - make the most of them!

3. Don't over reach. Be realistic: do you really have the skills you're pitching or are you "enhancing" your résumé just a little too much? Just like the "real" world, nothing annoys a potential employer than freelancers who over-promise and under-deliver.

In my recent sojourn into the online freelancing world (I am sure you can guess which global site) I have found myself torn between taking on too much work and stressing when my bids aren't picked up. Initially I was willing to work for ridiculously low rates, underselling myself just to get some work and prove (to myself) that I was good enough to play on the global stage.

Unfortunately this proved a foolish manoeuvre as, with everything else on my plate, I was wasting my time working for peanuts. This period of time has forced me to assess my work and my worth and happily I've found a few regular, low-maintenance clients who pay me reasonably well.

After all, I'm not worth peanuts. I'm worth pecans at least!

Colour me happy!

birth babe & beyond branding

The colors of the web

It's not only fonts that rock my world it's colour! I just love how a bright pink scarf in the middle of winter can give me a lift, turquoise thongs (flip flops) make me yearn for summer and the green of my lawn brings me puppy-like joy.

Colour affects the perception of your brand by evoking emotion which is a crucial thing to consider when selecting corporate colours for your brand.

"Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone."

- Usabilitypost.com

I have had colours ruined for me by working in marketing departments, constant use of colour can be very fatiguing and in my current role I am limited to the corporate colours of burgundy, orange, grey and black (what a combo! No, I didn't choose them!).

Thankfully my freelance work allows me scope for playing with colour, especially as my a number of my clients have recently asked me to develop logos for their brands from scratch. It's a tricky business when working with clients as varied as photographers, doulas and now, a disability service.

Colours are as important as the words you use to convey your brand. Here's another great website on the importance of colour in branding.

I just drew this little logo for a friend of mine using some popular CMYK colours and integrating "Tangerine Tango" the Pantone Color of the Year which I adore. Originally the colours were too strong and required a bit of muting however working with this client we have come up with something she adores....

The slow and painful death of traditional media

Fairfax has today announced that it will see 1,900 staff redundancies over the next three years. With falling revenue in its traditional publishing arm, the cuts will be made within its printing facilities as well as to its editorial staff cohort.

Greg Hywood, Fairfax's chief executive, said their traditional broad sheets will move to Berliner or tabloid size and even speculated that they may move to a digital-only format in the coming years.

While this reduction in size will excite train commuters, in the fully digital age I will miss spreading the paper out on the dining table on a wintry Saturday afternoon, pot of tea at my side, peering over my glasses to the top of the page. I will miss the layout, the journey and the smug sense of satisfaction I derive from reading a paper from the first to the last page; the "news in brief" stories the sub-editors have laid down the side of the page, the careful layout of images and text. I will miss the black fingertips and the gentle flapping sound as I turn a page, the soundtrack of a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Working in marketing I place great stock in, well, stock. The tactile nature of hard copy documents naturally gives us a more sensory experience than jabbing at our smart phones. The touch and feel of paper delivers a vastly different experience than online viewing.

My mother-in-law, an astute and sensible woman pointed out the fact that, in the fully digital age we leave no tangible learning, no physical mark of our written achievements for future generations to carefully excavate and examine.

Thank god for architecture.

When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words

I'm a fontiphile. A died-in-the-wool, hardcore font geek. Few things bring me such joy as trawling through typography, carefully crafted purely for my enjoyment.

But it's not just the visual appearance of fonts that makes them so deliciously appealing, it's how they make us feel.

The personality of every brand is expressed (and judged) by the font they choose to utilise in their communications. [Generally I'm a Myriad Pro or TwCenMT girl myself and am currently feeling decidedly constrained by web-safe fonts, ho hum.]

The influence of fonts and typography and there direct impact on how we perceive words is explored in this article from Smashing Magazine, 'When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words', which I think should be called 'WHY Typography Speaks Louder Than Words'....