FAQ's About Hiring Paul Gregory Media.

• How much does a design project cost?
• What does the cost include?
• Such and such charges less than you. Can you match them?
• How long will the project take to complete?
• Can you start right away?
• What's involved in the design process?
• I've never worked with a marketing company or graphic designer before. Can you tell me what I should expect from the working relationship?
• What exactly do I receive when you send initial design ideas?
• What file types do you provide?
• Do you create style guides for your brand identities?
• How much of your project research is based upon client competition?
• You're in a different state from me. Will this affect things?
• Can we talk on the telephone?
• How do you accept payment?
• Will you use current trends for my design?
• Will you feature my new brand identity in your portfolio?
• Can you recommend any other graphic designers?

How much does a design project cost?

An obviously important question, but one that can't be answered without specific details about the design project. Every company is different, and every project is different, so it makes sense to tailor a quote to individual project needs.

Pricing varies depending upon a large number of factors (see right sidebar). Take the size of the company as an example. For a logo project, a small-sized enterprise might have just one person responsible for identity usage, whereas a large multi-national company might require exhaustive documentation analyzing the competition, exploring a wide range of strategic variations, and arriving at a set of branding guidelines.

Comparing the design profession to any other is by no means exact, but the, "How much for a brochure?" question is kind of like asking a real estate agent, "How much for a house?"

Back to questions

What does the cost include?

The cost includes a significant amount of time, which spans over weeks or months, depending on the complexity of the job. For more details about exactly what happens behind the scenes, read about our approach to design. The client receives full ownership of the completed artwork and materials, along with original files suitable for use across a wide range of media.

Back to questions

Such and such charges less than you. Can you match them?

Design is not a commodity.

Just as a client chooses a designer, the designer should choose the client. It's up to the designer or marketing firm to work with those who value the service provided. Our satisfied client list is extensive, and you can read some testimonials here.

Back to questions

How long will the project take to complete?

At the beginning of each project the designer and client will set some delivery timeframes, such as when initial ideas are to be expected, and how long possible revisions may take. As each project is different, we wait until learning about client needs before providing a deadline. Depending upon complexity, projects can last from a few days in length to upwards of six months.

Back to questions

Can you start right away?

It's possible, but not likely. We have several ongoing projects at any given time, so we schedule your project into our workflow to ensure we meet everyone's deadlines. We have the flexibility of bringing on additional contract designers and creative professionals should your project be time-sensitive and you require a priority service.

Back to questions

What's involved in the design process?

You can read about the steps involved in our approach.

Back to questions

I've never worked with a marketing company or graphic designer before. Can you tell me what I should expect from the working relationship?

Here's a relevant PDF File: how_we_work_together.pdf.

Back to questions

What exactly do I receive when you send initial design ideas?

We will normally send clients a PDF file with designs and concepts shown over a number of pages. These concepts are a direct reflection of the creative brief that we created at the begining of the project. There may be several concepts to show you a few different creative directions, and/or there may be different concepts from different designers (each has their own style). From there, we focus on a particular direction and revise from there.

Back to questions

What file types do you provide?

For print-based projects, you will recieve a web-suitable PDF in addition to the print pieces themseves.

For logo projects, you will receive the following vector-based files: Adobe Illustrator (.ai), Encapsulated PostScript (.eps), Microsoft Word Clipart for creating your own electronic letterhead (.wmf) and an Adobe PDF file format. These vector formats can be scaled to any size necessary without loss of quality. You will also receive the following bitmap files in 3 sizes: (.jpg & .png with transparent background). I'm more than happy to help with specific file requests at any time, and will answer questions if clients are in any way unsure.

For branding identity projects, you will receive everything in the logo projects above, plus a branding/style usage and guidelines document in PDF format (see next topic below). Additionally, most clients have us design their identity package as well (stationary, business cards, envelopes, notepads, etc.)

We will provide any other finsihed product files upon request.

Back to questions

Do you create style guides for your brand identities?

Providing a style guide is certainly an option, and is dependent upon individual client needs. If only one person is responsible for using the design, a style guide is much less important than if the client is a 500 person strong organization. Usage Guides are supplied as a PDF file, and can be from a single page in length to upwards of 40 pages. They can contain brand culture, usage instructions, color codes, minimum reproduction size, correct page positioning and isolation areas.

Back to questions

How much of your project research is based upon client competition?

A great deal. Evaluating the competition is a necessary part of the process, and should be expected from any marketing company and designer. Even though we research client competitors for every project, some clients choose not to have this stage documented and supplied, thus saving money.

Back to questions

You're in a different state from me. Will this affect things?

We have many clients outside of Illinois, mainly because of our strong search engine rankings. This hasn't adversely affected any of our design projects with them, and while we'd love to meet face-to-face, it can often save time by communicating only via telephone, online presentations and email.

Back to questions

Can we talk on the telephone?

Absolutely. Call 630-384-9061 between 9am and 5pm Central Time on weekdays.
Communicate with us other ways by visiting our contact form.

Back to questions

How do you accept payment?

With most projects, we request a 50% downpayment prior to scheduling the work. This is payable by a number of methods: credit card through our online invoicing system, credit card via telephone, or sending a check to our company address:

Paul Gregory Media
2020 Calamos Court, Suite 200
Naperville, IL 60540

All details are included in an initial invoice, and the remaining 50% is payable upon completion of the project, sometimes broken into phases for longer projects. Print costs are usually required at the time of printing.

Back to questions

Will you use current trends for my design?

Trends show where we've been, and can give a glimpse into where we're going. With regard to branding, we don't create designs based solely upon trends, because we don't want clients coming back to us a couple of years later when the design style is out-of-date. The brands we create are intended to last the duration of clients' businesses - not to look trendy.
For an interesting discussion about logo design trends, read this article: current logo trends.

The opposite may be true when it comes to promotions, campaigns, and advertising. These are short-duration projects usually lasting less than a year, and it's a time to consider showing off some cutting edge designs to break through the clutter. It's not just about style though - we take your existing brand culture very seriously. Ultimately, it's the results that matter to us and our clients the most. Cutting-edge means nothing if it doesn't meet it's purpose.

Back to questions

Will you feature my projects in your portfolio?

We reserve the right to showcase projects and designs in our promotional work, but it's not guaranteed all will be included. We only include select pieces to showcase in each category.

Back to questions

Can you recommend any other marketing firms or graphic designers?

Absolutely. We are not the right firm for EVERY client. With some details of the project we can refer people to a company or in some cases a contract freelancer that we think is a good fit (for PR campaigns, web development projects or others).

Back to questions

Thank you

Should you have any questions of your own, by all means drop me a message using our contact page, or if you haven't already you're more than welcome to browse through our portfolio.