This blog post was created in reference to item #1 in our post, “101 Graphic Design Tips for Business Success“

Please make the content clean!

We know that it’s not the job of the Designer to provide project content. Every Designer dreams of being given “clean content”. That means pristine, free of errors, complete content. But that rarely, if ever, happens.

What usually happens is that you are provided with a vague at best outline that you have to somehow conjure into a fabulous brochure. This brochure not only is to be perfectly designed, but entirely accurate and free of errors.

This is where you can go from being a good Designer to a great Designer.

From good to great

Most designers prefer to look at content as geometric blocks to be moved around and squeezed into a design. What most Designers forget is that it is the content that is the most important piece of the design… YOU aren’t most designers.

Be meticulous. Spelling errors, grammar, and other issues with designs can really injure the initial viewing of a concept. You may have a wonderful concept, but if it contains little errors that might be pet-peeves of the client, you and they might miss out on a quick conclusion. Double check, triple check, and when in doubt, look it up.

Here are a few helpful steps:

1. Take 10 – ten minutes that is. No matter how pressing the job is, clear some space out before you send it for review to go over every single page. You will be surprised what you find. Stray lines, weird photo cropping, inconsistent spacing, etc.
2. Spell Check – Even if the content was provided clean. Check again. Odds are you have had to do edits and some typesetting. A simple CTRL + Shift + I. Also run your eye over it. I might recommend something ridiculous, read it. If you have time. You will find things the spell check doesn’t catch, double words, incorrect words (that are spelled correctly but misplaced for a similar word), capitalization errors, etc.
3. Check for Extra Spaces – this is a pet peeve of mine so I always do a CTRL + Shift + F (Find) for extra spaces. Some clients like double-spaces after a period so iron out grammar and punctuation preferences first.
4. Read the Brand Guidelines – Another thing that spell check won’t catch, Company names – make sure you know the brand guidelines:
   1. Does the company use capitalization exceptions for the company name?
   2. Does the company name or product name need registration marks?
   3. Do they use initial caps in their titles?
   4. What are their bullets and alphanumeric preferences?
5. Widows, orphans, and paragraph spacing –Try to make sure that all of your widows, and orphans have a home, your paragraph spacing is consistent, and your hyphenation is sensible (never hyphenate a company or product name). Widows and orphans are usually words at the end of a paragraph that get thrown to the top of another page all alone and look out of place…
6. Phone Numbers: Dial any number that is provided in the project to ensure that it is correct and working.
7. Any information missing? It’s a good idea to question the client if a copyright, legal boilerplate or contact information appears to be missing.

Take 10 minutes, run through my little checklist. You’ll be surprised what you find. When you find an error, alert the client. Let them know that you have gone above and beyond to ensure that their product is error free. Most clients will appreciate that and remember it the next time they do a project.

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All the best!

ThePerfectDesign.com Team