This client just doesn't get it.

[Virgo Nightingale]

I have a client who organizes medical-seminars-at-sea, like a cruise vacation and learning experience all wrapped into one. I did a few 8 panel brochures for him in the past, but he's decided to bring it down to a regular postcard so he can send it out to many more doctors for less money than before (eliminating things like the registration form since they can do that online, and various details that weren't all that necessary). There are a few sections he says need to stay on the card, but it's simply not fitting. Period. End of story. So I tell him that something needs to come out or the text needs to be thinned out. Today he sends me revised text for two of the paragraphs, hoping it would help me get everything to fit. It takes up MORE room than it did before. Are you freakin' kidding me? :eek:

[EC]

this calls for 2pt type.

[jimking]

What size postcard?

[frankster]

Oh you have my sympathy! I've got one of those at the moment too. I'm struggling to be diplomatic in explaining the content that they want to include is too overwhelming for the type of advertisement and that the vast majority of info they wish to include 99% of customers won't give a monkey's left bollock about anyway.

[fredrich]

A friend of mine was supposed to make a picture of the earth on 8 x 8 pixels or something, and they wanted the map to be relatively detailed. Turning on the sarcasm in frustration, he asked if they wanted the image to be animated aswell, with an airplane going around the planet. They said yes...

[budafist]

Can you make it the maximum size that you can send via post at the cheapest rate?

Example, here many postcards are A6, but DLE can be sent via mail for same price.

[Virgo Nightingale]

The card is currently 6x9, which I think already requires letter-rate postage. I probably will have to tell him to go to a larger card, but I think he's got his heart (and wallet) set on the 6x9. The postage cost will be the same, but the printing cost will increase. Not to mention my sales person will have to get a whole new quote for a new size, and that's an issue in and of itself. :rolleyes:

[Drawing a Blank]

Doesn't sound like there is much you can do about it. People need to realize that we are designers not magicians. You can't fit an elephant into an MG midget and you can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap.

[budafist]

Hopefully printing cost wont increase by too much.

[idaho]

The postage cost will be the same, but the printing cost will increase.

Postage is about to go up BIG TIME for bulk mailing (I'm not sure when it will start though). Flat rate costs are going to be nearly double and the cost of mailing a postcard is going to go from somewhere around $.16 to $.27 or $.28 for bulk. I think first class is going up as well but not by more than a penny or two.

FYI to everyone, if you produce items that will be bulk mailed (i.e. postcards, brochures, and what-not) check up on the new bulk postage rates coming up. It may affect how you need to design the piece. Especially if the customer is a cheap bastard like most a few of mine.

[capezio]

"it's only a few words I want putting in"
The times I've heard that and those few words necessitate a complete re work of the page. <sigh>
you have my sympathy.

[Virgo Nightingale]

I managed to get everything to fit by 'borrowing' as much space from the mailing section as I thought I could. I sent a pdf to the mailing house that's handling the piece to ask if it would work before I sent it to the client and got his hopes up that everything would fit. Good thing I double-checked, since the mailing house requires 4" on the right side for printing the address - more than what I'd left. I let the client know this and included a pdf that visually showed how much "over" the text was. He just emailed me back finally agreeing to eliminate a section. PHEW!

[mac.FINN]

I always get clients comments like this.

Just yesterday had a page layout designed and it was rammed. They put absolutely everything they could on the page. Today their comment was, can we make the text a little larger, like 16pt maybe?

*SCHNOCK*

[budafist]

I thought postage was the same no matter how many you posted. Price just goes up with size and weight. Oh well, learn something new...

[Samakimoto Graphics]

...I let the client know this and included a pdf that visually showed how much "over" the text was. He just emailed me back finally agreeing to eliminate a section. PHEW!

;) That usually gets them.

[trobbins22]

I say show it to the client with all the jumbled up text... and get there response. Show them how bad it looks. I learned with those types of clients you cant stress yourself out. Sometimes they want to do your job for you. Make them see the aquederness of it, and if they still like it. Well, thats money in your pocket. Take it and move on to the next project;)

[budafist]

I've never given a job to a client with -500 kerning before, but maybe that would be an option...

[Gromit801]

My legendary "customer from hell" was the same way. She was an interior designer, so obviously she knew how to design a postcard! Uh huh... yeah.

A month and more revisions than I can count, she had this gawd-awful postcard that was so busy, I'd have chucked it in the trash as soon as I got it out of the mailbox. Long as she paid her bill....

Real Estate Agents are traditionally the worst though. Their business cards can be nightmares. Names, office phone, fax phone, cell phone, email address, office address, realtor awards lists, ad nauseum. And of course, their photo.

[Virgo Nightingale]

I know what you mean about real estate agents. My co-workers have been slaving away on materials for a top agents' conference, including a "wall of honor" - a huge wall covered with panels we print that honor the top sellers in the franchise with hundreds upon hundreds of people to include. Each person has listed: their name, photo, home office name & location, and each and every award they've won in the past year. Name, photo and location just aren't enough. One agent has literally 10 awards and the one designer had to horizontally scale the text to like 80%, decrease the leading so the lines were crowded on top of each other and track in everything so all the awards could fit. (One agent had just had a chemical peel done on her face just before her photo was taken and asked that we take out all the redness and blotchiness - you couldn't think of this when scheduling your photo session or facial?)

[budafist]

Real Estate Agents are traditionally the worst though. Their business cards can be nightmares. Names, office phone, fax phone, cell phone, email address, office address, realtor awards lists, ad nauseum. And of course, their photo.

Exactly. Why in hell do you need 2 fax numbers and 2 email addresses on your business card?

[CamarotaDesign]

Exactly. Why in hell do you need 2 fax numbers and 2 email addresses on your business card?same reason you need 5 bathrooms and 10 bedrooms in a house ;)

[budafist]

Yeah, but if someone gave me a BC with 2 fax and 2 emails, I would send everything to both numbers/addresses just in case.

[CamarotaDesign]

I think it's more the mentality of real estate: More of everything is better.

[frankster]

If I go to someone's house and they have five bathrooms I try and drink as much as possible when I am there and then pee in all of the bathrooms and sometimes a few of the bedrooms too.

[budafist]

You must get invited back to a lot of posh parties then Frank! :D

[Riya]

hmmm.... I have a project right now where I am putting two letters, one about 3/4 of a page and the other about 1 1/2 page onto one page.

Fortunatly the client doesn't seem to mind 10pt Ariel narrow.

[Gromit801]

hmmm.... I have a project right now where I am putting two letters, one about 3/4 of a page and the other about 1 1/2 page onto one page.

Fortunatly the client doesn't seem to mind 10pt Ariel narrow.

Oh what the heck, have a ball, drop it down to 8 pt.

[Riya]

Hehe...

[budafist]

8 pt is suprisingly readble still. I'd use it. Also, using columns and a condensed typeface helps too.

[Riya]

too late... it's 10pt, it fits and its off...