Everyone wants to save money. We know that, but there are more ways than one to do so. Sometimes it's not so simple when putting a cost together for a last-minute production brief.
Remember, ultimately your print supplier wants to do your work – but they have their own requirements and justifications for costing a job. It could be the price of materials or paying their staff a decent living wage, it could be the location they operate from, and it could also be the short deadline for the work requested and the need to incur overtime to produce the job in time.
Now, you can shop around for production quotes and yes you might save a few pounds, but if you have an open dialogue about the brief including a budget, and if you can engage in conversation with a supplier early, you'll likely find that not only can the supplier act as a trusted partner, but they can also hit your budget as well. They'll have a good understanding of the requirements and can make worthwhile suggestions along the way – be they budgetary, sustainability, logistics or all three. Therefore you might make savings throughout the project rather than in specific areas i.e. the print might be more expensive than you'd anticipated, but you could still save on set build or installation. Perhaps if delivery of the job was thought about in a specific way from the start, it might save money and the job's carbon footprint. Some longer-term thinking and planning can speak volumes for the success of a project, including meeting the budget. It might be that the saving comes in re-use, therefore, saving money on subsequent events or production, so parts of the costs are spread over numerous market campaigns or events, and not just for one. And you might find that a supplier's proximity to you and the project (such as our central London production HQ) is worth its weight in gold when it comes to providing test proofs or hitting a deadline.
As we said, sustainability can also benefit from involving and engaging your print and display supplier early too. Suggestions can be made to fulfil any environmental concerns and requirements, so we're not just playing lip service, we're actively looking for the most cost-effective eco way to produce your visual display graphics. Who wouldn't want that kind of service and output? (Here's some info on our sustainable print and production offerings)
Perhaps we could use Dispa board and biodegradable vinyl for your event, rather than PVC-based products. Maybe the graphics could be delivered in the same van as the set-build items, or how about we plan on printing some of the boards double-sided with different designs so that they could be used at different times of an event throughout the day, and then could be re-purposed again in the future too. Or could we use materials which are easy for you to remove yourselves saving you a de-rig cost as well as an installation fee? Potentially anything is possible if we can be involved in the project soon enough.
A great example of a customer involving us early is our work for Parrott & Miller's Puma London Marathon stand. The agency approached us early on, so early in fact that we sat in at one of the first meetings with the client when the designs were at their embryonic idea stage. This allowed us to brainstorm and add valuable input into the design process with the end result and expectations of the client in focus from the start as well. We could advise on materials to use as well as sizes for the set-build elements for practicality, the efficiency of the installation, graphic production, on-site storage and budget saving. We're not here to rip anyone off, only add value to a project and do a great job. If we do, you'll come back for more, and we'd love that.
Harvey Nichols regularly asks us to attend project briefings early on in their process. Initial designs are shared along with the overall vision. We can advise on the best materials for a quote, advising on their pros and cons if any exist, and give some foresight to installation considerations too. The benefit of early engagement meant award-winning success for the department store's Knightsbridge Christmas windows – it was a combined effort in every sense of the word as so many facets of the brief needed to be considered along the way.
So remember, if you have a project coming up you need costs for, engage your supplier as early as you can, it can help with budget requirements and sustainability too. If we're lucky enough that it's The Graphical Tree you want to talk to, you can ~
Email us here ~ print@thegraphicaltree.com
or call The Graphical Tree on ~ 020 7580 4405
