Information for New Clients

FAQs| BASIC CLIENT CHECKLIST

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ... and answers to most of the questions you may have about working with Design Strategies for the first time ...

Why should I use Design Strategies to design my promotional materials and logos?
Just like you wouldn't trust anyone but a trained and experienced dentist for your dental work, you shouldn't trust your company's corporate image to anyone but a trained and professional graphic design company with a successful track record. If your company's image isn't top-notch, you could be losing countless business opportunities. Design Strategies is capable of creating an effective campaign for your company that will generate far more income and sales leads than it will cost you for the design work. In actual fact, professionally designed promotion doesn't cost you a thing because it generates far more than it cost to produce it. Think of it as an investment in future prosperity. Trying to save money with unprofessional promotional materials could end up costing thousands in lost sales, wasted printing costs and failed advertising. Click here to give us more information on what you need.

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Do you work with clients outside of Florida?
Yes—we do it every day! We have many clients all over the U.S., Canada and as far away as England, Germany, The Netherlands, South America, South Africa and Australia. All you need is Skype software on your computer (or a phone), an email address and a product or service that needs promoting. We can work with you to create beautiful, effective brochures, packaging, logos and web sites to help stimulate the growth of your company. During the design process, designs will be sent to you via email or displayed for your inspection on special web pages you can access with your web browser. On completion the final design files will be emailed to you or your printer, or can be shipped on CD via FedEx or regular mail. While Design Strategies is not a printing company, we work with various printing companies across the U.S. and can arrange to have them print your design project and ship it to you. Please contact us at (727) 466-6888 to discuss your specific needs, or email us with further information by using our Contact Form or Quote Request Form.

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How long has Design Strategies been in business?
We have been delivering high-quality graphic design to companies across the globe since 1990. Our offices were originally located in Glendale, California from 1990 to 2004. We moved to sunny Clearwater, Florida in May of 2004 and are just a few miles from some of the best beaches in the state. Clearwater is located just across the bay from Tampa, Florida. We have clients in 17 different time zones, from California to Australia. We have worked successfully with hundreds of companies across the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and South America producing a very wide range of products and services: logo designs, brochures, web sites, packaging designs, posters, billboards and ads. We also offer custom illustration, photography and text writing services. Our clients usually continue to work with us for many years — an indication that we provide excellent value over the long term. It's important to us on each project that our clients are completely satisfied, and we work diligently until they are. We understand deadlines and can turn design projects around quickly while still maintaining superior quality at reasonable prices. Take a look through our various sample pages, then give us a call at (727) 466-6888 to discuss your projects.

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What financial terms does Design Strategies offer?
We require a 50% deposit to begin work on each job, with the balance due at job completion. We accept checks made out in U.S. funds, and Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards. We also accept bank wires and transfers if this is more convenient. Please call Colette at (727) 466-6888 with any questions you may have concerning billing or other financial matters.

How is Design Strategies different from other graphic design companies?
We don't just create pretty pictures—our marketing campaigns are based on intelligent real-world research into your company and your customers. Our continuing successful strategy with each new client follows this general pattern:

1. We examine the company's sources of income and list them in order of volume and importance (referrals, ads, direct sales, web sales, etc.),
2. We research the types of customers the company sells to for information on how to properly communicate the value of the company's products and services,
3. We look at what has already been successful for the company,
4. We interview the top sales people and executives to obtain past successful actions to be used in the design projects,
5. We create a promotional campaign that strengthens the most productive income source using proven successful actions as part of the designs,
6. We test the designs to make sure they are effective before printing occurs, and
7. When the first campaign is producing well, we take the second most productive source of income and create a campaign to strengthen that area, and
8. When all current income sources have been strengthened, we work with the client to pilot new areas of expansion.

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What types of graphic design services does Design Strategies offer?
Brochures, logos, web sites, packaging, ad design, billboards, photography, illustration and writing are just some of the many design services we deliver to our clients. If it helps to promote your company, we probably offer it. We've designed packaging for DVDs, CDs, boxes, bottles and bags, book covers, posters and large trade show banners. Several clients have also had us assist in the design of on-screen interfaces for software programs.

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How much will a logo design cost?
Logo design prices vary considerably from $1000 - $4500 depending on the amount of work involved. After discussing the logo project with you, we will give you a written quote before beginning any work on your project. All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars.

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What about brochures, web sites and packaging design costs?
Every job we do is entirely custom, so prices vary considerably. Many variables can affect the price, including size, total number of pages, photography, custom art, text writing, research, etc. As a rough estimate small mailable brochures that fit into a standard #10 envelope cost $2000 - $4500. Large presentation brochures with page sizes at or near lettersize are priced at around $3000 - $7000 and higher depending on the amount of work involved. Web sites run from $2000 up to many thousands depending on the size of the site and the features requested by the client. Please note that these are very rough figures and that an exact determination of the cost of your job will be done when we have all the specifics of what you need. Contact us today for a price quote.

How to get ready for our first phone or in-person meeting: The following 9 points cover information that will be helpful in working on your design projects. NOTE: Don't worry if you don't have access to all of the items on the list. Just gather together the information that you have handy. We recommend that you create your writeups in Microsoft Word and/or PDF format if possible.

For Florida clients — Call us at (727) 466-6888 so we can discuss your design needs and schedule an in-person appointment. Bring as much of the following information as you can to our first meeting.
For out of state and non-U.S. clients — Call us at (727) 466-6888 to discuss your design project. We can also set up a Skype call (audio only or with video) if you prefer. Our Skype address is "design-strategies". After our initial phone or Skype meeting you can FedEx or Priority Mail the following materials to us.

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General information about your company
We'll need your company name, address, phone and fax numbers and web site address. Give a brief description of what products or services your company delivers or sells, and what specific items you may want to feature.

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What are your past successful actions?
Who are your best sales people? Do you have previously successful ads, brochures, commercials or other materials that work well for you? Do you attend trade shows or advertise in local publications? List the things you do that regularly generate new business or repeat business for your company.

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Testimonials, magazine or newspaper articles, customers that love your services or products, etc.
What your customers and the press say about you is incredibly valuable and can sometimes become the focus of a whole marketing campaign. We frequently use quotes from testimonials or articles in the web sites or brochures we design.

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Market research or surveys that have recently been done for your company?
Any research or studies that you've done on your products or services within the last 2 years is very helpful information.

Copies of your current and recent ads, brochures, mailers, packaging, stationery, etc.
We need to know what you're currently using to promote your company's products and services, and evaluate their overall look and effectiveness.

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Copies of your competition's promo items. Do you know who your competition is?
This information can be an extremely valuable part of your campaign. If possible, collect ads, brochures, web site addresses and other promotional materials from companies in competition with you. It's always helpful to know what the other guy is doing — to avoid his mistakes as well as take advantage of his successes.

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Photos or artwork showing your products.
These will give us a better idea of what you do or sell, and may also be useful in the actual advertising campaign (depending on quality). Always bring along product samples if possible.

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A list of your major clients and customers
These businesses or individuals may be surveyed for additional data or used in your promotion pieces to let prospects know who buys from you, instilling confidence in new buyers.

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What types of people, industries or professions do you sell to?
We need to know the various categories of customers you sell your products and services to. For example: doctors, homeowners, the construction industry, retail businesses, students, women, men, children, etc. It's vital to know who your customers are. Different customers may require different marketing approaches.

Be sure to call us at (727) 466-6888 if you have any questions about your logo, brochure, web site, packaging or other promotional needs.

DESIGN STRATEGIES, INC. 2060 Sunset Point Road, Unit 52 Clearwater, Florida, USA 33765 Phone: (727) 466-6888 Fax: (727) 466-6881 Skype: design-strategies