Working with partners on the Communications Framework

Time spent planning your project, copy and imagery will ensure it runs as smoothly as possible at the implementation stage. The guidance below aims to help you understand the process involved and what to expect from the partners on our Communications Framework.

Approval process

The first point is to establish the internal approval process; who needs to approve the document/copy, and who has final sign off of the project? It is their responsibility for ensuring they are happy with the quality, content and tone of the communication and how it represents the University.

Timings

You should plot a comprehensive production schedule working backwards from your overall deadline. Use this final deadline to draft a timeline, plotting key dates and when the first visual is needed by. Agree this timeline with your internal sponsors, as well as your design agency and printer on the Communications Framework. Being clear on these dates will allow all involved to work to set deadlines. This timeline should take into account things such as annual leave and time out of the office.

It is worth noting that where a deadline slips, this may have implications on future deadlines in the project, so it is important to flag with all involved where a deadline may potentially be missed and to then identify where time can be recovered to bring the project back on track or revise the final deadline.

Writing the brief

Always provide our framework partners/design agency with a clear, written brief. You can find our best practice ‘design brief’ document at: www.durham.ac.uk/communications.office/marketing/local/toolkit.

If you have had a face-to-face meeting, it is good practice to confirm discussion points with a follow up email to all involved reiterating actions and key points from the meeting. This ensures that everyone has understood their role and requirements and that everyone is ‘on the same page’.

Clearly communicate how you visualise the final product

Provide the framework partners/design agency with ideas of the kind of imagery you would like to use and those which you would not like to use. You could even provide Image Management System ID numbers: doing this will ensure that you are happy with the end product and also minimise to-ing and fro-ing with image amendments.

Copy

Please ensure that you submit final copy to your chosen framework partners/design agency. Submitting draft or unapproved copy will result in extra time that may not have been factored into your quote and may result in your agency needing to charge you additional costs at the end of the project.

It is good practice to ensure that your final approver has had sight of the content and approves this before beginning any creative work. Be sure to fully proof read your copy before sending to your design agency. Check for consistency! Your chosen framework partner/design agency cannot be expected to know the institution inside out therefore it is not their role to check copy for accuracy or consistency.

You can find best practice guidance on the University’s house style sheet and a list of the most current facts and figures by visiting: www.durham.ac.uk/communications.office/marketing/local/toolkit

Design

Use the stage one PDF from the framework partners/design agency to pass the design style through your final approver – at this early stage it is more cost effective to make design ‘tweaks’ than to alter at a later stage in the process. As you will have clearly communicated how you visualise the final product, there should be minimal changes needed at this point.

Any amendments which need to be made to the copy or design once the process has started are the responsibility of the project manager to request and subsequently check once a revised PDF has been supplied. Please do not presume that all requested changes have been made; the very nature of design allows room for human error, therefore it is advisable to keep a documented record of changes requested to make the checking process easier.

Communications Office – our involvement in the process

You might notice that the framework partners/design agency copies in the marketing.team@durham.ac.uk email address in correspondence with you. As a team we have sight of all design work produced by partners on our Communications Framework. This process was put in place to ensure that items being produced are on brand, but also to aid the retrieval of artwork and to help us keep track of what is printed/designed and by which framework partner.

We will be copied into emails to you so that we have sight of items at an early stage in the process. We take this opportunity to look over the document from a brand perspective only ensuring that the design fits within approved guidelines. It is worth noting that we do not offer a proofreading function; this is the responsibility of those on the project to ensure that copy is checked for spelling and grammatical errors, as well as for factual accuracy, before supplying copy to the framework partners/design agency. You can find our best practice guidance on house style, writing web addresses, and the latest facts and figures in our toolkit (www.durham.ac.uk/communications.office/marketing/local/toolkit).

Once the artwork is finalised and signed off by your internal approver, the framework partners/design agency will ask the Marketing Team for an artwork code. The code is placed discretely on the artwork, for example: WARM/02/13/050 or HPM/02/13/069.

The artwork code will only be issued once we are satisfied that the brand is in no way contravened. We keep a record of these numbers in the office, which speeds up the retrieval of artwork for future reprints/revisions.

The marketing.team@durham.ac.uk email address is checked at least once in a 24-hour period. Therefore if you have something which urgently needs looking at please get in touch with us via telephone to raise our awareness to the urgency of the item. We will then try our best to check this as soon as possible for you. (The marketing.team@durham.ac.uk is not monitored over weekends or whilst the University is closed).