faq

questions answered

There are many technical aspects to design and different processes that our clients aren't always aware of, or fully understand. While it is our job to take care of the technical side of things, 'knowledge is power'  and having an understanding of what's involved can only be beneficial to your project.

Below are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions we get from clients.

design faq's

What is Graphic Design?

In the simplest terms, graphic design is the development and preparation of information for publication, combining text with symbols, colour and images.

Graphic design is sometimes referred to as visual communication.

The areas of graphic design are very broad, large volumes of visual material are produced in various mediums including print, web and multimedia.

What is a design brief ?

A design brief is a written definition of a project. Through discussions with our clients and discovering their needs we can establish a clear understanding of what is required and by when.

A clear brief can reveal and resolve misunderstandings before the project begins, remove any assumptions, expose technical and practical details often not understood by clients and creates an agreement by all involved.

What is a brand?

A brand is more than just your company logo, a brand is a set of associations that consumers make with a company, product, service, individual or organisation.

While absolute control over a brand is not possible due to outside influences, intelligent use of design, advertising, marketing can help to generate associations in people’s minds that will benefit the organisation. Any organisation can benefit enormously by creating a brand that presents the company as distinctive, trusted, exciting, reliable or whichever attributes are appropriate to that business.

print faq's

What is a proof?

Proofs are supplied to clients at various stages of a project including concept through to finished art. This ensures that our clients are happy with the project as it progresses and is also an opportunity to make any minor amendments before the final project is printed...

Why can't I send a proof directly to the printer?

A proof is a low-resolution composite of the final artwork to be produced and may contain images, fonts and colours that have not yet been prepared for print output. This may cause major issues/errors if the printer attempts to use the document to produce final output of your job.

What does resolution mean?

Resolution refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image. The term is most often used to describe monitors, printers, and graphic images.

In the case of graphic images, the minimum resolution required to reproduce an image for print in 300dpi (dots per inch). This limits the actual physical size in millimetres that an image can be reproduced. For example if an image is 100mm x 100mm and is 300dpi, the image will not reproduce clearly if made any larger in size.

If an image is to be used for a website then the resolution only needs to be 72dpi because a computer monitor does not display any higher than this.

What does Offset printing mean?

Offset printing is a printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface (paper). Offset printing can produce jobs in 1 colour through to full colour. This method of printing is most cost effective when producing large quantities of a single document.

When should I use Offset printing?

Larger runs or generic items like business cards...

What is Digital printing?

Similar to your desktop printer, commercial digital printers output printed material on demand...

When should I use digital printing?

Small runs, short turn around, or individual items...

web faq's

What is website hosting?

Web hosting is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organisations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web.

Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data centre.

What is a Domain name?

A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet.

People register domain names in order to 'stake a claim' to a particular name - whether for business or personal reasons. Once you register a domain name, it is entirely yours, no other party may use that identity online as long as you continue to pay the yearly renewal fee and abide by the terms of use.

What is a Content Management System (CMS)?

A system used to organise and facilitate digital content.

A content management system (CMS) supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of information.

It covers the complete life cycle of the pages on your site, from providing simple tools to create the content, through to publishing, and finally to archiving.

It also provides the ability to manage the structure of the site, the appearance of the published pages, and the navigation provided to the users.

What is Flash?

Flash is a vector animation software, originally designed to create animations for display on web pages. Vector graphics are ideal for the web because they are so lightweight.

Over the releases of new versions of Flash, it has become more and more controllable via programming, where it is positioned as a competitor to HTML to build interactive web sites and applications.

What is HTML?

(HyperText Markup Language) A mark-up language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser.

Allowing connections from one document or Internet page to numerous others. HTML is the primary language used to create pages on the World Wide Web.

When should I use Flash?

We like to use Flash when it is best suited to the task at hand and more often than not, partnered with good quality HTML content.

Flash may be a good solution because of the following reasons:

• Flash movies load fast and save on download time if the content to be displayed is graphics rich.
• Flash allows access to high levels of animation and can add impact to branding and promotional activities on your website.
• Flash can give the user (the person viewing/using the Flash movie) a more responsive 'rich' experience.
• Flash can be a great way of presenting multiple images in one space, in a slide show format which allows images to load seamlessly in the background and be presented with slick transitions.

There are some drawbacks to Flash and they are sometimes a more important consideration than the positive aspects.

Search engines can not 'see' Flash, they cannot read the content within Flash files and they will not index your Flash only website (your site won't be listed in search results.)

This may sound like the end of the road for Flash - your business 'must' rate a mention on Google these days if it is to exist on the web.

Flash usage needs to be stratigic and measured. A good balance of HTML (text based) content that the search engines can read (as well as your visitors) and using Flash when and if some wow factor is required.

We can advise you on maintaining this balance and leveraging the best technology to provide the ideal solution.