Geekspeak Guides

Geekspeak Guides


GSG: Getting a Grip on Your Graphic Assets

September 21, 2015

 

We'll help you know what you should have, what to expect from a designer and ways to cover yourself do you don't get in trouble with the Getty Police. Some of the highlights include:

00:40 - "Oh I don't have the originals."

01:11 - Your Logo - do you have the raw/layered version? What you need. The formats you are looking for are: AI, EPS, PSD, LAYERED PDF with the fonts embedded.

04:16 The difference in a web designer vs. a print designer. The two need to meet - not necessarily the people, but the outcome of the version.

04:50 - CMYK vs. RGB. CMYK are duller because they include black, but simply converting one to the other doesn't make it match. Some beautiful print logos end up looking blown out or hyper colors.

06:15 - Designers need to tell you that there will be a difference. But, where are you focusing - web or print? I'm guessing web is your highest priority - focus on that first.

07:00 Are you holding your business card up against your website? Of course not.
07:30 - A style guide - what is it and why do you need one?
09:24 - Not all reds are created equal. You may need more than one. Your style guide is YOUR guide. Name these styles anything you want - Big red, little red, headline red.

10:35 - What about your stock photos that you have purchased - or so you think...

11:30 - The Getty Police - it's no joking matter. They have a HUGE team to help them with image theft. That's what they are. If you use an image from them you didn't pay for - that's stealing.

12:16 - Do you have the rights to use this image? Make your designer put it in writing to cover yourself. Then, get a copy of the usage licence. This type of information should be in your contracts back and forth between you and your designer. They need you to assure them, as well. Are you supplying them with images? Do you have the rights to use those images?

13:40 Make sure you have the biggest version of the images, especially if they were purchased on your behalf. They may have only purchased a small one, but if they bought the large one for you, get that version, not the scaled down or cropped one they used.
HOW TO SET YOUR MIND AT EASE:
15:37 - when you hire a designer, ask them - Who owns it all? You want the vector graphic versions to allow you flexible use. Samples are development versions - don't expect to get the layers of those. You are only buying the FINAL one, you do not own the creative process.

17:45 - It will never look exactly the same on all computers. Get over it.

18:00 - Ask your designer for a style guide. This will really help your marketing team (even if that's you). This helps you continue branding, company culture and consistent message.
You want the RGB colors and the HEXDEC numbers - sometimes your site admin has plugins that ask for colors - sometimes they need the RGB (255,255, 255) or the HEXDEC (#ffffff) - both of those mean WHITE.

19:23 - Where are you storing them? How about Drive or Dropbox and shared folders? Be sure to make subfolders to keep it easy to know quickly where your graphics assets are. This is a good place to put the worksheets from Episode 1.

21:55 - The more information you withhold, the less people can help you be successful. Sometimes you have to pass off access to make it easy for your trusted team to support you. Share the folders specifically with those who need to have access to them. The whole team doesn't need access to all items.