Last week was very busy as we come to the end of another challenging and fulfilling project. It's always this way. Others might expect a tapering off of demands when the end is near. Just the opposite happens here, because we believe the end of a brand identity project is actually the beginning of a new significant phase of our work.
In the weeks to come I want to share some insights about the many misunderstood aspects of production. Each post will eventually be indexed in the sidebar of this blog (as they all are) for easy access. It is important that our past and prospective clients understand why we never let go — until we are actually finished.
At THE HIGH SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN I had many great teachers, one of which was Mr. Greenberg (Irwin "Greeny" Greenberg" — please see his 100 "WORDS TO PAINT BY" http://grobles63.deviantart.com/journal/) — and the quote which I remember repeated over and over to us (for good reason) was NUMBER 89 : "Take the theory of the 'last inch' holds that as you approach the end of a painting, you must gather all your resources for the finish". He would often wonder why his students could expend so much time and energy — and zeal — early in the process, and then loose interest when they (we) thought they were close to the finish line.
I have seen what can go wrong when designers don't properly finish their work and leave the final touches of their vision to strangers. To name a few...
The color expertly chosen to express the perfect emotion and brand is printed too weak or heavy, in other words, wrong. Even if a color is off by 1 percent (10 percent is general industry standard), that is unacceptable to us.
The decisions that took months to make are, within minutes, distorted by a disinterested or inexperienced person who would benefit from the expertise and supervision only a designer can provide.
The execution specifications are changed, on the claim the costs are too high, when in fact a viable solution is available that would maintain the design integrity.
The final result, the end product, is what every global citizen sees, touches, holds, feels, experiences. They will never see all the hard work, the setbacks and the inspired moments. They will only see what — at the end — is realized and sent off into the world.
We want the world to see not only our best efforts but our best results. That's why the end is never the end. It is the beginning of our most vital work. Please visit again as I go into greater detail about the many perils of brand identity production, and we are hands-on from start to finish.
Regina Rubino
