Processes

Important information to consider before getting something designed.

Please always consider the format of the item you want designed before requesting any design work from the College marketing team. You need to consider how your designed item is going to be distributed – for example, will it be printed, will it be published online, will it be sent out via email or will it be displayed on a digital screen?

If your item is intended to be published online or sent out via email, in most cases it should be published as HTML, either on a web page or as an HTML email (not as a designed document/pdf). This is to ensure that, as a college, we are adhering to government accessibility regulations. All information published online by public sector organisations must adhere to accessibility standards. In most cases, it is difficult for designed PDFs to meet these standards.

If you request a design through the marketing team and it is solely for a digital audience, we will likely advise that you publish this information as a web page instead through the college website, staff or student portal. Similarly, if you send through your own design for approval and it is only intended to be published online, we will not be able to permit it to be uploaded to any of the College’s digital channels.

Please note, Issuu embeds are also not accessible. We are currently in the process of phasing out the use of Issuu. If you intend to have something designed as an e-publication you will need to provide an alternative accessible version of the content as well.

Producing your own designs for marketing approval.

Staff from any area of the College are able to download and use templates to design printed materials if graphic design is part of their job role and they are proficient using Adobe Creative Suite package. You can also create your own designs not using the templates, but you must still adhere to the brand guidelines and use the Adobe Creative Suite packages (so that your designs can be easily tweaked by the marketing team if necessary).

Whether you have designed your work locally using a branded template or you started from scratch, this must be approved by marketing. Send your design to marketing@nclan.ac.uk in good time to allow for you to make changes before the design is produced or used in any way.

Having materials designed for you.

If your design is for an internal audience only (eg current students or staff), your request will be handled by the communications team.

If your design is for an external audience, eg prospective students, applicants, teachers, parents of prospective students, stakeholders, business, your request will be handled by the marketing team. Please note, this also includes designs that are displayed internally but are for external audiences, eg open day attendees.

Designing work for external audiences.

Designing branded materials takes time and expertise.

Complete our design request form (staff access only) to schedule a design job for an external audience. The design job will be managed by the marketing team and someone will be in touch shortly after you complete the form.

If you would like design advice, assistance developing a design brief, or if you have any other questions, please contact marketing@nclan.ac.uk

Requesting designs for an external audience?

The marketing team can design materials for external audiences, eg prospective students, applicants, parents, school teachers etc. Simply complete our design request form (staff access only) giving us all the details you can about the item you want to produce.

The design process.

To schedule a design job for the marketing team to work on, please read the information below and complete the design request form (staff access only).

Our in-house designers regularly produce:

• signage
• adverts
• banners
• booklets
• flyers
• invitations
• newsletters or magazines
• posters
• branded images, icons, graphics, charts or maps
• social media assets
• logo files to specified sizes or formats

Please note merchandise should be ordered through the marketing team. Please email marketing@nclan.ac.uk to discuss your request for merchandise.

What is the timescale for design?

Design jobs are scheduled in advance, with work to begin the following month at the earliest. It is never too early to submit a design job – you can schedule it for any forthcoming month you wish.

For a standard flyer or poster, the marketing team requires a minimum of 7 working days to work on and deliver print-ready design (this does not include the printing of material) from the point when you send final text and high-res images.

For more extensive publications, such as multi-page booklets or any project requiring input from a team, this timescale will extend significantly. Timescales will be reviewed on receipt of final text and high-res images.

It is your responsibility to ensure all text sent is accurate and reflective of the brand voice and tone before sending to design. If this is not the case, your copy will be sent onto our communications team before design can begin. We will notify you of this and you should expect a delay in the design process. 

If you would like your copy to be reviewed before sending to design, please email communications@nclan.ac.uk. 

What happens if I need something designed at the last minute?

It's unlikely that we can accommodate last-minute large design requests.

The completion of last minute requests is dependent on whether there is capacity in the marketing team to handle them. If you have a last-minute design request we would appreciate a call to talk it through. Once discussed and approved, you will still need to submit the job through the design request form afterwards.

What we need from you at the beginning of the job.

Before you complete the design request form (staff access only) please be ready to provide:

• the details of one person who will act as a point of contact for the duration of the design job.
• final, complete text in line with the brand voice and tone.
• high resolution images. If you don’t have any images that are suitable, guidance on imagery will be required.

What we ask from you: 

• To involve us in your project at an early stage and communicate your objectives clearly. 
• If more than one person or department is involved in proofing and corrections, all changes must be amalgamated into one marked-up document.
• Changes should be marked up on the electronic PDF proof using the commenting feature of Adobe Acrobat.
• There will be points when you are asked for feedback on the work. If this isn't provided promptly it will hold up the design work. We wouldn't normally expect any more than two rounds of changes.

Our commitment to you: 

• To provide advice and services including design for print, digital and web, branding guidance, marketing consultancy, public and media relations, internal and corporate communications, publications, photography and event guidance.  
• To offer clear, responsive communication and realistic innovative recommendations based on resources and deadlines. 
• To provide limited proofs for approval before work is completed and signed off. Please note that two rounds of revisions are industry standard and any more than that may delay your project. 
• To welcome your feedback and aim to continually improve the service we offer. 
• We will provide a timescale for the production/print process.
• We will send you a PDF proof of the design by email.
• After you have approved your project in writing, we will send it to print.

Print and production process.

Staff can use the college’s print portal to get printed copies of items that have already been designed. If the marketing team is working on external material for you, they will print your item through one of the College’s procured print suppliers.