Let’s start by understanding difference between agencies and designers. Typically, a designer will work on specific projects under your direction. For example, you may request an ad design for your Halloween event, and give designer your copy (the text) and party theme. You are responsible for booking ad with newspaper, getting flyers printed, having posters made, etc.

An ad agency plays a more active role in planning promotion of your events. They can work with you to plan your ad schedule, suggest right mix of promotional tools to reach your audience, help you evaluate effectiveness of your promotions, and negotiate ad rates and printing rates on your behalf. They can also help with choosing promotional themes and writing ad copy. Of course, you will pay more for these additional services - but you may actually save money by letting your agency do your negotiations and booking.

Whether you are working with a designer or a full-service agency, it pays to plan ahead. If you can plan your advertising a year in advance you should be able to lock in much better ad rates. Leaving a couple of extra weeks when printing flyers will save you "rush printing" charges. And giving your designer extra lead time will almost certainly get you a better looking result!

A typical small agency might require final "concept and copy" at least a week in advance of newspaper deadlines, four weeks in advance of distribution for printed materials like flyers (to avoid rush charges), and six to eight weeks in advance for complicated projects (such as die-cut and folded invitations). Many business owners don’t understand why final copy is required so far in advance… they ask designer to do a design, and add text later. But in a good design, text and typography are very important to look of piece. So if you want your advertising to look good, plan on providing copy when you give job to designer.

The above lead times allow time for client to proof final artwork, and make minor corrections, based on a single design. But when working with a new designer, or when promoting an important event, you may want to see several design concepts, and possibly several versions of artwork. This can add one to two weeks to schedule (more for very complex ads), and of course will cost more than a single design.

When ordering work, make sure designer understands your market and image you are going for. For example, you may look at a design and say, "That’s not cool enough for our market." Another business manager may look at same ad and say, "Whoa, that’s way too weird for our customers." Show your designer ads you like (and don’t like) to help them understand look you want for your business.

But what if you don’t like designs your agency produces?

Well, you obviously shouldn’t run an ad that you feel really damages your image, doesn’t convey your message, or isn’t what you requested. But at same time, avoid temptation to micro-manage design. You are paying your designer for their professional skills; their judgment is probably better than yours when it comes to layout, typefaces, color choices, etc. Also, if designers feel that work they do for you is going to be extensively changed, they won’t give you their best efforts.

So find an agency or designer whose work you like, and trust their design sense. If you find you consistently don’t like work they’re producing, talk to them about problem, and if necessary find another design firm. But don’t spend your time trying to "fix" designs.

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