Our Policies

General Policies

When requesting work through Studio13, please make sure you understand our policies. It's important that our students have adequate time to work on projects, and due to their school schedule and the time commitment they make to the studio, we require 6-8 weeks lead time for any given project. You can view our policies in detail below. 

• • Lead & Production Time

    Lead Time

    Please provide an 8 week lead time if possible. We like to provide at least 6 weeks of production time for our students, especially since revisions can take a week or two. Students are usually working on other projects when new requests come in.

    Please let us know if your deadline is flexible. Our students have varied skill levels and flexibility can help us fulfill your request at times.

    Production Time

    Students working in Studio13 commit about 10 hours per week during the semester to work in the studio. Due to the limited time students spend working in the studio, projects can be drawn out because production time does not change. Ideally, we would like to give students as much time as possible, but that's not always the case with due to time sensitive deadlines.

    When requesting work, please keep in mind that:

    • Students only work 8-10 hours per week
    • Students are asked to produce 3 versions of a design for presentation
    • Students have other tasks they need to take care of during work hours
    • Student skill levels vary, so production time for say a poster project can be anywhere between 20-40 hours
    • Students are usually working on projects, so it would be unfair to interrupt other projects to meet your deadline
  • Working with Committees

    We kindly request that any commitees working with us appoint a single person as the liason for the graphic design work you request. We will not accept feedback provided by the committee as a whole, as there are often times contradicting points or too many opinions to have a clear message. It is important you keep your message simple. The more you try to fit into your message, the less effective it will be. This can also draw out the production time significantly and lead to missed deadlines.

    The liason should discuss opinions with the committe and narrow the ideas down to something you can all have a consensus to. If there is no way to reach a consensus, it is ideal if you allow the liason to make a final decision on feedback or design choices.

    If you are working with a committee, please ensure we are in contact with the person making the final decision.

Requirements

At Studio13 we are trying to provide our students with the best experience possible, which is a large part of the reason we try our best to ensure students meet with the client before starting any project. In order for our students to develop their skillset, we need to ensure their client interactions are typically what they would experience when working with clients outside of the college.

• • Client Brief

    Meeting with clients is important experience our students need to gain. Please submit the form provided here with details about your project, and we will follow up with you to let you know if we can help you with your project and when a student would be available to meet with you.

    Developing a design brief is an essential part of the design process for our students. They need to learn to ask the right questions during a client interview and receive the feedback that would help them determine the direction the project should take and lead to designs that are on point.

  • Design Contract

    We want our students to get used to putting together contracts with clear limits in mind. You will receive a faux contract, which does not require a signature. You can just view this as an agreement stating that we have taken on your project. This contract will state what the student will be expected to produce and what you will receive by a specific date. There will also be a theoretical price based on values for the type of work you’re requesting.

    Any work done beyond what is stated on the contract will be done at our discretion. Please make sure your content is ready so edits do not run beyond what’s stated in the contract and projects do not become open ended. If a project is not completed by the end of the semester, you will be contacted by morozco@mtsac.edu to discuss options. If you are unhappy with the outcome of your project, depending on the reasoning, we may be willing to try again the following semester. After reviewing the agreement you have been presented, you can contact morozco@mtsac.edu with any concerns you have.

Feedback Guidlines

Effectively communicating your feedback will lead to a better quality product that meets your needs and helps you with your goals. It is important to note the difference between your personal opinion about the design and whether it would work for your brand and reaching the target audience. Please make sure you read through the guidelines to ensure the process goes as well as possible and you are happy with the final product.

• • What You Should Ask

    When evaluating designs, you should ask yourself some of the following questions depending on the type of project you are requesting:

    • Is the design effective in communicating your message to your target audience?
    • Is the tone/emotion correct for the message you’re trying to send to your target audience?
    • Does it appeal to your target audience?
    • Is the design on-brand and was it requested to be on-brand? (this must be stated during the initial meeting and a brand. References of your brand or brands you emulate should be provided. If you are interested in developing your brand, let us know.)
    • Is the flow and heirarchy of information correct?
    • Is the call-to-action clear?
    • Are benefits to the audience communicated effectively?

    
    Designs are always meant to appeal to, attract, or say something about your brand to your target audience and not your staff, unless your staff falls within that target audience. Please make sure that if you are asking for external feedback, you are looking for feedback from your target audience. This means that you should consider your goals in the design in whether the design will work or not.

  • Providing Effective Feedback

    Graphic design is not about creating visually pleasing graphics, it is a discipline about visual communication. In order for graphic design to be effective, it has to communicate a message inline with your goals or message to the specific audience you are targeting. Design choices  are not arbitray, even the choice in colors has a reason dicated by what would be most effective in achieving your goals.

    Here are effective and non-effective feedback examples:

    Color Choice

    Bad Example: I don’t like that color. Can you try another color or this color?
    Good Example:  That color is too intense for the tone we are trying to set. We were hoping for something more welcoming rather than alarming.
    Good Example: While we like some of the color options provided, we feel it's important to maintain color continuity with the branding on campus.

    Design Choice

    Bad Example: Can you change the sizes and make each of the following bigger?
    Good Example: The logo is a major component of our marketing efforts and has become the face of our department to students. While the overarching message is the most important part of the poster, can you find a way to make our logo more important or prominent in the design?