website tenders..
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- forbes
for awhile now ive been working for this company where the boss insiste i knock up a 'quick visual' as part of a tender for any web design brief we've been invited to do..
the quick visual is there to show potential clients what we're capable of doing in just 2-3hours of designing and thus helping them think how much better their website would be if the brief is awarded to us.. so my boss says..
i cant but help think its actually doing more damage than good, my feeling is that no matter how much you try to emphasise that its just a 'a quick visual we've knocked up' blah blah clients will be more inclined to believe that its exactly how it will look if they award the brief to us...
out of 4-5 visuals ive done for tenders we've only been awarded 1... plenty of work comes in but when i get asked to do a quick visual i can help but think its a waste of time
do any of you web designers do this? just wanna see if theres anyone out there that think what i do is a bad idea or good etc..
how do u guys normally do tenders?
cheers
- RoomFive0
I know exactly what you mean! And yeah the exact same thing happens at an agency I do work for in the UK.
"i cant but help think its actually doing more damage than good, my feeling is that no matter how much you try to emphasise that its just a 'a quick visual we've knocked up' blah blah clients will be more inclined to believe that its exactly how it will look if they award the brief to us..."
...Yep, happens almost every time, I've found this particularly with clients in big companies!
- chossy0
Absolutly, same in my industry I used to have to knock up a quick motion graphics thing with someones logo or do a lilttle montage for someone and I literally was given two or three hours to do it, more damage than good like you say.
If you want people to think you are a good company with great work show them the great work simple as that.
- jamble0
It's a tough one, on the one hand, some clients will appreciate the nature of a rough initial design for what it is and base their decision on the fact that the visual will show you've understood key points in a brief.
On the other hand, others will like you say, think this is a final design.
I guess if you're getting the evidence that it's not helping the cause, then it's certainly you should consider when tendering.
- forbes0
good to see im not alone.. theres gotta be a better way to pitch to clients, we're a small company and we dont have a proper tendering structure in place and sometimes its all a bit random... 1 out of 5 projects won on this basis should be enough to back up my argument but i dont really wanna rock the boat....
sod it im gonna come out guns blazing!
- Wolfboy0
couldn't agree more forbes. in my experience, if a client sees something that could be in any way interpreted as something that is approaching a visual for the finished design that is what it is taken as and I've found that as soon as you show them something produced on a computer that they take it this way.
Personally I think the best route is the good old fashioned scamp, if you (or if you've got someone there) can scamp to a decent level then a black and white drawing is a good way of getting ideas across and your other exsisting work should be able to back up the standards you work to and the quality of the work you will produce for them.
I always think that it's important to bear in mind that this is the start of the process between you and the client and they need to be fully aware of that too.
long live the black and white scamp.
- max_prophet0
Should be dealt with in relation to the size/worth of the job in question, if it's a big worthy job with strong likelihood of ongoing work then it is probably worth doing an amount of lead-in work that displays a possible route the client can engage with, the difficulty is whether or not you are in a company that actually offers any value in regard to marketing.strategy or whether you are just those people that prettify something.
Really you should just show them a good case study that is relevant to their needs, talk through how that worked and explain how you would deal with their needs in a bespoke manner. Showing them quick comps is retarded.
- forbes0
good advice guys. i agree that previous work should back you up and il suggest using previous work as case studies as max_prophet suggests... it is a bit retarded doing quick comps cos i think it makes us look like we're trying too hard and perhaps come across as a bit desperate...
perhaps a black and white scamp, a case study, 3-4 page written tender could be a much better way.. cheers again
- max_prophet0
it actually devalues your work and casts doubt in the clients mind as to what they will be paying for if you are happy to just 'knock up a quick visual'
- neue75_bold0
I've got children in every state...
- max_prophet0
yeah I've read news stories about those awful dutch pedophile rings.
