My sister is an excellent poker player. She was cleaning up at penny ante with my family when she was five years old. She NEVER lets on what she's holding and so when she bluffs, she's just as unreadable as when she's holding a full house.
When it comes to cards, she has a well-deserved high opinion of her skills. I’m a horrible poker player. I know that. I have a bad poker face, when I get a good hand EVERYONE knows it. The same holds true when I have a bad hand.
I do have a high opinion of myself when it comes to my profession—at least a high opinion of my skills. I’m more than a designer, I understand strategy, and know what it takes to compel someone to act. My number of current control packages supports this opinion.
I actually read the copy that is given to me, read and analyze the creative briefs and in some situations I am lucky enough to collaborate with the writer. In my opinion, that’s when I’m holding a royal flush.
No, designers are still not given the respect or the compensation that is given to copywriters, but some of us are actually worth more than most.
Not a lot of us mind you, there are far too many designers, designing for themselves, not for their client’s mission, but there are a few worth the whole pot.
My friend Pru Bovee jokes that there are only five fundraising copywriters and she knows them all. I think there actually may be six good ones and I’ve been lucky enough to work with them all.
As far as designers go I’m going with fewer than six—here’s my list of respected fundraising designers:
- Joanna Sanders of JS Creative
- Dom Spinosa, SCA Direct
- Fletcher Maffett, Maffett Creative
- Tom Drymon, Drymondesign
I know many great designers, but most of them don’t know direct mail, and fewer still know fundraising direct mail.
You can always “teach” someone how to do this, but it will cost you time and, yes, even though their fees may be less, money.
Think about how many things your designer does you just take for granted. Simple stuff like; standard window placement, BRE set up, where the address goes—does it show through the window? Basic print production, proper sizing, etc. The list could go on and on.
This is all before you get into brand standards, font, usage, line breaks, color selection, image selection and my absolute favorite of all time. Image licensing!
Yes it’s a big deal, and as some organizations know, hiring the wrong designer can cost you a lengthy legal battle over image rights.
Since I’m so lousy at cards, I prefer not to gamble. I guess if I was better at it, I might feel differently.
The same holds true for your fundraising direct mail design. There’s no reason to gamble. There’s too much riding on the creative and all parts of your packages to take unnecessary risks.
Make sure you know when your designer is bluffing and when he or she is holding a winning hand.
