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Richard Feinburg
2,970 PointsCopy and proofing question
I did a project with a friend of mind which we did a magazine for a church. From start to finish everything went wrong. Low rez images, half of the copy was not there yet and almost everything we did they didn't like. Also they guy who was in-charge took a class in layout so they thought he knew everything.
Anyway we got all the copy and part of it was in English and the other Spanish. I've overlook the QR code which were two and one didn't work when it was at the print. I had to get the website and redirect it to the one they wanted. Don't know how that happen but it did.
Anyway, would like to know who is responsible for the copy. I put all the copy in InDesign but because I don't read or speak Spanish and and my proofing skills for grammar and spelling is not great and doing a simple spell check could not be done in InDesign because of the switching of Spanish and English and the small amount of time we had to do it.
What are your thoughts of grammar and spelling. Clients responsible?
3 Answers
Tom Bedford
15,645 PointsHi Richard, I agree with James that this is something that should have been established before work on the project began (i.e. before your contract was signed). You can save a lot of problems by asking the right questions before you begin and setting everything out in your contract (and other documents if necessary, I usually just have a contract and itemised quote). If you are working with someone else then similarly you should set out who is responsible for which part.
I find it helpful to include a clause in my contract stating that if I am held up with my work for over x days due to lack of materials from the client (e.g. copy/images) then any outstanding work must be paid for. You could also specify the format you would like the text in along with a format and minimum quality/resolution for images.
If your contract states that you are not responsible for the copy then that doesn't mean you can't lend a hand if you see the odd mistake that needs correcting. You could establish that you have permission to make small corrections and keep/send notes of any edits.
If the client does hand you very poor copy you might suggest they have someone read through it. I have handed copy back to clients before saying that I don't think it would be in their best interest to put it up in the current state. If you feel comfortable editing it yourself you can offer to do so and give them your quote for it.
Complaints can be managed by setting out clear goals before work begins. When you present your work to the client you can illustrate by explaining how your design decisions help to achieve their goals. If they are unhappy with some aspects try to go back to the goals when talking to them and see why they are worried. If needed, you can then come back with something that addresses their concern. Design is a Job has been given me a lot of help in handling client relationships and feedback (including having unexpected "designers" introduced from the client side).
When I started out I sometimes found myself getting frustrated with clients, however now I tend to think that if there is a misunderstanding it is usually because I have failed to set expectations correctly to begin with.
James Barnett
39,199 PointsThis is the sort of thing that should be spelled out in a Scope of Work (SoW) document and the SoW should be referenced by the contract.
My own feeling is that design is about communicating something specific. If what the end user see's doesn't effectively communicate the correct message the design has failed in which case there's enough blame to go around.
Richard Feinburg
2,970 PointsWho is responsible for grammar and spelling?
Richard Feinburg
2,970 PointsDon't my client but my friends. He does not know how to use InDesign so I help him about with it so I was not able to talk to them so I was pretty much in the dark about it.
Richard Feinburg
2,970 PointsRichard Feinburg
2,970 PointsI completely understand. I would always do that when I was working for a company. But because I can't talk to the client and my friend Dont want me to and he general rush on everything. I can't do anything about it now, I told him next time, I will need to get proof sign off by clients and we are not responsible for articles and grammar. Spelling can be done very easy but with two language and very little pay I can't but much time into it. My friend just Dont understand this. He thinks that the client is always right. He thinks its okay to design website the same as clients.
The client only pay about $700 for a a 12 page magazine which my friend agree too which is nothing of what I get and Dont feel like I can put the time in to it. The funny thing about it is that all of this clients are pain in the ass. One told me that I was a thief for charging $170 for online menu changes and setting up a menu from PSD to PDF and upload it to their website. Pretty much all of his clients Dont like paying designer we charge too much even though they need us to do the work.