The Juggling Act Branding in-house or outsourcing? The importance of development and communication departments to promote enrolments and drive brand recognition has increased dramatically in recent years. With these added responsibilities, the scope given to these departments has also changed. It’s fair to say part of the job description should be Juggling Master. One factor in delivering these responsibilities is whether design should be handled internally or externally. It’s a loaded question. Outsource the design work or take full control and run it internally? The balls you need to keep juggling are control, time and cost. Depending on the pressure each of these exerts, will give you the answer that is right for your College. Control Easily, the biggest advantage to keeping design in-house is the control, but does control outweigh other factors? With in-house you can pop in and make last minute changes, sit with your designer and copy-edit on screen, review work done each day and change priorities as needed. Your in-house staff understands the brand and has the confidence to apply the guidelines on the fly. Total control. There are also things you can’t control. What happens when staff are sick or on holidays and you have an urgent deadline? How do busy times affect you, where the workload exceeds the resources? Or more importantly, vice versa? During quiet times, when you are paying for a resource that is under utilised, what does this cost you? Time When you outsource, the first project briefing will take longer, as your agency learns your brand and process. Depending on how much information you share with them, they will become as knowledgeable as any internal team member and integral to turning around projects quickly. Once an outsourced team is up to speed, the internal team can concentrate on other work and not be overly distracted with revisions and changes. Outsourcing design may even reduce the number of corrections. Even if you’re a good juggler, do you have time to be across the latest developments in printing in Australia and China? Did you get your rebate when the China Free Trade Agreement was introduced in 2016 from your offshore supplier? Do you have time to research and send your designers offsite to do specialised training? Agencies offer expertise-in- waiting, with specialties in digital, print, social media, copywriting, editing and proof reading, and of course graphic design, ready to roll. Cost Working under tight budgetary constraints is a challenge for any organisation. Contra deals for print or design can minimise costs from the budget, or even eliminate it if you’re lucky, but there are no guarantees to assume reliance upon this year on year. Even having an in-house design team is no guarantee of saving costs. It all comes down to how you resource your team and the level of expertise in the areas that most impact your requirements. The key to great design is a great designer. Now, how to find a great designer? Do you know what questions to ask to find a ‘keeper’? Do they know how to pre- flight a file? Do they know the difference between RGB, PMS and four-colour process artwork? Do they know about file sizes, pixels or resolution for print or web? You’d be surprised how many junior designers aren’t across these skills. Once you find your designer, there’s the cost of salary and all the additional soft costs such as bying them a Mac – don’t forget to also buy AppleCare and the additional cost for ongoing subscription fees. Now let’s get you back to control. Is cost more important than control or vice versa? If cost is more important, then you hire a junior designer. That gives you one designer, one aesthetic and one resume of experience. That designer can do most jobs and be moderately productive. With additional budget you can hire an experienced designer who is across more areas, can troubleshoot issues and is more likely able to supply multiple design options. Will your senior designer be content handling the mundane everyday layout job? Can you afford an experienced designer? So, do you want to outsource? It’s not an easy question asked or answered. It depends on the skill-set in-house. If there’s art direction experience and a passion for the design process internally, with someone who is able to lead the design and brand, then the in- house option is a breeze. Here’s a piece of advice most people don’t do with in-house teams… Run timesheets on all your projects – including management and design. Know how many hours are being spent on both large and small jobs. Some small jobs will most likely have turned into big jobs without your knowledge. Then compare control, time and cost against outsourced supply. Keep Juggling The development, marketing and communications teams are often the unsung heroes, working long hours in the background. But is it time to stop and reflect? Is the status quo working to support your team or is it just making you work harder? KATRINA RENDELL MANAGING DIRECTOR SOMERSAULT GROUP PTY LTD SOMERSAULTGROUP.COM.AU FACE 2 FACE MAGAZINE 2 8