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What's What?
What's What?
Questions, questions, questions... ...and answers!
What is the main focus of your work?
Many design consultancies list everything from business cards to web solutions as the focus of their activity.
We concentrate our attention on ideas, making sure that what a client has to say is heard in the right places.
Distilling the information and assessing the best way to deliver it is what we do, this can take myriad forms, but clear,
concise communication preferably with a big idea is our focus. If pressed to say what we do we would divide our activity
into three areas:-
Branding, includes designing and developing new brand identities or reflecting existing brand values
via marketing collateral that communicates with their customers;
Catalogues, for this work we provide the whole service, from design, photography, art direction, copy-writing, artwork
and management of print;
Public sector, we design and produce communication materials such as annual reports, information leaflets, web sites etc. for councils health services and other public sector organisations.
Which disciplines do you cover?
In-house we are creative thinkers and producers of artwork for print or screen. Allied to this we are illustrators,
copy-writers, photographers and planners. For things outside these disciplines such as web programming, media
buying, market research etc. we have close alliances with people and companies who satisfy any gaps between
our ideas and realising those ideas into practical applications.
Who do you work for?
We have a broad range of clients - Private enterprise, from one-man bands to multi-national organizations - Publicly
funded bodies such as county and local authorities, health organisations such as Primary Care Trusts - and Charities.
How are you able to work for such diverse organisations?
We consider the diversity of our client base to be an advantage as this helps us to cross-fertilise ideas from one sector
to another. Our common sense approach means that we ask searching questions and make novel suggestions when faced with a sector
that we haven't dealt with before. Some questions and suggestions may be so obvious that they can be overlooked by
sector speacialists. Having a broad range of clients also provides our company with stability, if one sector such as
construction goes quiet we do not have all our eggs in one basket.
Do you take students on for work experience?
Yes we do, generally a shadowing type experience. Each year we have 2-3 students who spend time with us, they are
either from schools (usually year 10 students) or from college/university. We usually find a couple of weeks provides
sufficient time for students to settle in, get to know us and gain confidence in putting ideas forward etc. but longer
placements are also considered for undergraduates depending on our staffing levels/workloads etc. We also try to
organise a few visits to our suppliers, such as printers, exhibition contractors and photographers etc. but that is pretty
dependent on which jobs are going through the company at the time. We also encourage students to become involved
in live jobs, putting forward their thoughts and ideas along with setting a couple of other projects that explore the
concepts behind a typical design project. For example, developing a brand identity and marketing collateral for a type
of business you may have an interest in.
Everyday tasks such as indexing imagery, sorting through artwork files, readying display boards for presentations are
other things that they may be involved with, along with sharing in the making of the tea and coffee - and boy do we
drink some tea and coffee!!
Has the company grown?
We started the business in 1991 with three people, in the intervening years it grew to 14 and has now contracted to 10.
We are happy with the current size. Designing is a collaborative process and we have found that 14 people was too many to involve in every project! So, we use more speacialist freelances to fill in the gaps where we need to. It means we have flexibility for idea generation, client service as well as cover for
holidays/illness etc.
Are you expensive?
We are never the cheapest and we are sure that there are many who charge more than we do. We always quote for
projects before they begin and generally unless circumstances of a project change we honour our quotes when invoicing.
How do you charge for your work?
For creative work we charge on a fee basis and clearly state in our proposal what is included in the fee.
For production work we charge by the hour, and we have a job management system that strictly logs the time
spent on each job or project.
Do you pitch for work?
On the whole No!
We like meeting people who are looking to buy design services and discuss with them how we work and what we can
do for them and what we have done for others. But we do not agree with giving our ideas away for nothing.
Our involvement in "free pitches" are few and far between as we do not consider it to be an effective or appropriate
way for clients to buy, or for designers to sell, design services. Of course there are occasions when our arms are
twisted and we have to comply, but on our terms! - that is that we are given a good brief, sufficient access to
information and personnel for discussion and most importantly a level playing field!
How do you measure performance?
Client satisfaction, Efficiency, Consistency, Loyalty to name but a few of our measures.
Client satisfaction
We regularly meet with customers following major projects to discuss how they have run. We consider it evident
that our customers are satisfied in that we have a large proportion which we have worked with for a long time, some
from when we started the business 18 years ago. We consider these relationships to be testament to our performance.
Efficiency
We are a lean company and employ, resourceful, committed staff each of whom have specific roles. However, because
of the clear and concise communication between us, and the instinctive culture that has developed, we are able to
deputise for one another when needs arise and flow jobs through the company in the most efficient manner meaning
performance levels are maintained whatever the circumstances.
Consistency
We are a mature, established team of people who have worked together for a long time and as a result of this we have
developed ways of working, levels of service and standards of work quality which we do not allow to be undermined.
This consistency, spanning everything we do, ensures our performance is not compromised.
Loyalty
Not only do we have a loyal staff, who have been with us for many years, we also have a very loyal group of companies
who supply us with the products and services that enable our ideas and work to be brought to market. These include
printers, photographers, exhibition constructors, copywriters, illustrators etc. the majority of whom we have worked with
for many years. By knowing we have strong support from suppliers we can really rely on, we are able to perform
very confidently.
Try, test, measure? Nobody knows what works in marketing until they try it, and don't beleive anyone who tells you different!.
What is the company's greatest success?
To some a shelf full of awards denotes success, to us it suggests a lot of time filling in entry forms, mixing with other
designers and spending a fortune on entry fees. Our greatest success is our reputation. After nearly 20 years we still
have the same philosophy as day 1. We work hard, do a good job and earn a living from using our skills to help
businesses and organisations to develop and grow by presenting themselves effectively to their market.
How do I find out more about how you can help my organisation?
Either click on this link ade@barberjackson.com and send us your details and we'll contact you or pick up the phone
and call Adrian Barber on 01376 572465 and he will be happy to make arrangements to meet up, and discuss what
you need and how Barber Jackson will go about helping you out!
Thank you.
By spending the time reading this section we guess you are probably serious about employing a design consultancy
and appreciate that there is a lot more to design than the pretty pictures of best work that we in the presentation
business have a knack of making look good on this website!
If you like what you read then there is a good chance of a good fit between Barber Jackson and you. We believe,
even in this digital, instant business world, that good personal relationships create the right environment for great design
to flourish and a far more fulfilling, enjoyable working life.
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific requirements, so give us a call and we'll arrange to come
and see what you need and tell you how we could work together to achieve the results you are after.
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