How Much???

An interesting week in design. I was very privileged to be asked recently to sit on the steering group for the newly formed NI Design Alliance (nice job by Jamie at Design by Front) and I attended the first planning meeting last Thursday – it was very interesting and we looked at some really cool ideas for 2010 – I’ll keep you all posted on how this progresses.

How much is design worth? I ask the question because of a very interesting telephone conversation between Jo, our Production Manager, and a long-standing client at the beginning of the week. The phone call concerned a regular (quarterly) magazine we design and print for said client, for which the contract is just coming up for renewal.

The magazine, while quite small (typically 16 pages) can be a bit of a beast to pull together and we know as a matter of historic fact the  design time comes in at around 40 hours, but, mindful of client budgets and the realities of present economic conditions, we are happy to bill for 30 to keep everyone (except Jo, who wants to charge for 40!) happy. All well and good.

As part of the new contract process, our client was required to put this out for comparative quoting, and as we knew she would be approaching studios operating at the same level in the marketplace as us, we felt quite comfortable that our costs would compare favourably and we stood a better than average chance of retaining the business. Imagine our surprise when she called Jo to ask “how  come X studio are quoting just £400 for the same job?” Hmmm…

If the studio (don’t ask, I’m not telling, but you’d be VERY surprised if I did) were a two man band I could understand, but knowing them and knowing what level they tend to pitch themselves at, I’m at a loss to understand what’s going on – possible reasons include:

1: Someone missed a zero off the quote
2: They figured Whitenoise were a cert to retain the work so they’d just put a silly price in to see what happened
3: They’re in trouble

My concern isn’t primarily for us or the other studio – it’s with the client, who will be under pressure from her procurement people to award to the lowest price, regardless of the quality of the outcome, resulting in her budgets being cut for the term of the contract.

The reason I say all this is there has been a similar pricing war rumbling on in the Northern Ireland print trade recently, resulting in ever lower prices and margins, the building of an unrealistic expectation amongst clients of the true cost of print, and, ultimately the collapse of a major printer and employer. And we all have to live with the fallout. I won’t go into the number of businesses I hear of recently who are kitting and training up internally to produce literature and sales & marketing materials themselves rather than engage the services of a professional design studio.

The result of all this? The devaluing of design as an essential tool in the business community, falling standards in execution and competency as more work is hurried out by competent designers working under pressure to deliver with no time or budget, and weakened advertising, promotion and branding, produced by non-design-literate internal staff who have been ‘upskilled’ by short-sighted management – right at the time when powerful, compelling and value-rich design is needed most. Hmmm…

So, that’s enough of my ranting – soapbox away.

Investment makes sense: we think so anyway, so we’re continuing with our rolling programme of Mac upgrades, with the 2nd lovely shiny 27″ iMac arriving this morning, making Mark Canavan a very happy bunny. It’s a beast:

I have six or seven other G5 Desktop PowerMacs scheduled for similar replacement over the coming months, and I’ve told the crew it’s names in a hat and the luck of the draw, so there’ll be some nail-biting times ahead…

Lights, Camera, Action: While we’re in a spending mood we though we’d finally address Peedy’s constant complaints about our ageing Canon XM1 DV Cam, which has just this week made way for a Sony EX1R HD camera. All I know is it shoots 1080p, it’s black and it’s covered in hundreds of buttons. Oh, and it’s bloody expensive too:

So I want to see some awesome self-promo video work over the coming weeks Peedy – no excuses.

Back of the net: and back to Mark Canavan – here’s his funky wee corporate identity for the Soccer Shed – the soon to be opened indoor football and sports venue:

Isn’t it smashing? Another smashing thing is the current state of our production board – nice to see lots of felt-tip squiggles and not too much white space:

We’ve hit 2010 running, and long may it continue. I don’t think for one minute it’s going to be an easy year, but we seem to be keeping busy with a healthy mix of existing and new clients requiring a bit of the Whitenoise graphical pixie dust.

All aboard: We managed to deliver the new Ulsterbus Tours 2010 brochure just before Christmas, thanks to the sterling work of Kerrie and Alix:

This one was a bit like War and Peace, and while strictly speaking it isn’t hot off the press it’s definitely worth showing.

One Last Thing: That’s about it for now, apart from, in true Steve Jobs style, “One Last Thing”. No, it’s not a game-changing new tablet Mac crafted from solid glass and titanium, and powered by unicorn tears, but it is almost as wonderful and legendary in it’s own way – here’s a blurry spycam shot of the new Whitenoise website, due to be unveiled, ahem,  “Some Time Soon”:

And that, as they say, is that. Ta Ra.

Mark C