If you’re totally new to all of this, we know that it can be a bit of a whirlwind trying to get everything off the ground. It’s especially tricky to know where to even begin. For every project we work on, we help our brands understand the simple processes involved with our packaging, branding, retail and pop-up design, so that they know exactly what they can expect from us, and at what stage.
Everyone is different, but this is how we like to do it:
Step 1
Getting to a brief
This is the important briefing stage where we ask lots of questions to get into your heads and outline exactly what you want, need, any parametres we should be aware of, and what you like, love and dislike.
Step 2
Getting creative
Once we’ve got a clear idea of your demands and wishes and we've scoped out the market and competition, we go to la-la land to come up with a range of concepts which will blow your socks off. We like to push the boundaries here.
Step 3
Getting onto the same page
After talking through the designs together and taking on board any comments or feedback, we refine the creative so that we get to a point which everyone is pumped about.
Step 4
Getting to the nitty gritty
At this stage it’s all about design development and working out who are the best production partners to work with and who fit your needs. We basically get everything in order, ready to hit go.
Step 5
Getting busy
This is the fun part where it’s all hands of deck to get things live and in market. Depending on the type of project we’re working on, we make sure everything is on schedule, it’s on budget, fit for the future, to the highest quality, and something we all want to shout about.
Step 6
Getting results
Your design is now live and ready to stand out from the crowd, and bring home the bacon.
How To Brief ?
One thing we hear from lots of the brands we work with is that the briefing stage is often a bit baffling. It's the most important part of the creative process as it becomes the guiding document for the agency and designers. It should spell out exactly what you want, what is needed and within what constraints they need to be done in. Again, there’s lots of ways to do this, but we’ve created a template (below)which should help you get on the right track.
Jargon Buster
We know that too often in the marketing and design world, people talk in a riddle of acronyms. To help you out, we’ve written down some of the most common one’s we’ve come across:
What is POS?
Point of Sale - These are units which are used in retail stores and help promote or display products in a more accessible and stand-out way.
FSDU:
Free Standing Display Units - Theses are a larger type of point of sale unit, which aren't connected to the retailer's shelves (often flat pack) and can be built and placed anywhere. Brands use these to help stand out from the crowd.
CTU:
Counter Top Units-These are a smaller type of point of sale unit, which sit on top of counters to help easily display and promote a brands’ products.
SRP:
Shelf Ready Packaging- Is an outer box which cases multipe products. It is designed to be used in stores and placed straight from the warehouse onto the shelves. Not only do they offer protection during transit, but they also help display the products and extra marketing messages.
BOP:
Back of Pack- Used to describe design details that refer to the back of any packaging.
FOP:
Front of Pack- Used to describe design details that refer to the front side of any packaging.
SKU:
Stock Keeping Unit- A terminology used to help easily distinguish between a range of products or units by having different codes or references for each.
MOQ:
Minimum Order Quantities- This is a production term referring the the minimum quantities that materials or units need to be ordered in.
EOP:
End of Play- A term used when talking about deadlines, requirements or managing expectations.
FOC:
Free of Charge- This ones everyones' favourite.
FMCG:
Fast Moving Consumer Goods- Used to describe consumer goods which have a high demand and are frequently bought. Including many everyday household goods such as drinks, food and toiletries.
KPI:
Key Performing Index- A marketing measurement to outline the businesses' demands that a piece of activity needs to meet or beat.
B2B:
Business to Business- A term used to define a businesses’ model, meaning their target focus is selling products or services to other companies.
B2C:
Business to Consumer- A terminology helping to define a businesses’ model, meaning their target focus is to provide goods or services for consumers/the public.
ROI:
Return of Investment- This is often used in marketing to help see how impactful an investment decision has been for the brand. E.g. for every £1 spent, what value did it create for the business.
WIP:
Work in Progress
TBC:
To be Confirmed
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions are something we like in abundance, but here's some of the most common one's we get asked:
How long does it take to design and build a trade show/sampling stand?
This will totally depend on the design complexity of the project, but on average we'd recommend 4-6 weeks from the briefing through to final production and build.
How long does it take to design and build a branded retail window?
We often get approached with these types of projects very last minute, and will always try to find a solution that will work to your timings. Ideally, we'd suggest allowing 4-6 weeks from the inital briefing to the installation. Again, this depends on the design and materials involved.
How long will it take to design my new branding?
As these projects are unqiue to each brand, we like to make sure we have time to do our homework and suss out the competition. Depending on the requirements, we'd recommend 6 weeks from the brief to finalised artworking. If a brand guideline document is needed, this can take a further 1-2 weeks dependent on complexity.
How long will it take to design my new packaging?
With packaging, as there are a few more creative development stages involved, including creating prototyes and packaging testing, we'd suggest allowing 7-10 weeks from the brief, through to the final packaging production. This will be influenced by the number of SKUs your requiring.
What are your prices?
We don’t have a fixed price list, as it completely depends on the project in hand. We are always mindful of budgets no matter how big or small they are.
What are your payment terms?
To kick off a project, we require a 50% deposit. The remaining 50% is paid after we have finished your project. Often for quick turn-around or small projects we understand that this isn’t always possible, so all we need is written approval of the cost proposal to get cracking.
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