Efficient Workflow for a Successful Project

We on the design team want to make the best use of your time, and our own. Your projects are important to us, and we’re glad to work with you! Here are suggestions for a smooth process that will benefit all of us:

abstract illustration of workflow with shapes, arrows, clock, gears turning, dialogue bubbles, and an Amherst A
  1. Submit a Communications Request early in your process. Give us at least two weeks before your project is due (longer for print or large projects). Don’t worry if you don’t know all the details yet. We’ll contact you to learn more and advise.
  2. Put your text in a Google doc and your images in a Google folder. Centralizing your project’s assets helps us avoid spending time chasing after files or using the wrong source materials. 
    • Name your image files. If you have a lot of images, meaningful file names (such as the name of the person in the photo) will help us reduce errors. It’s easy to rename files in a Google folder.
    • Note the sources of your images and avoid using images without permission. See our Image Resources page for helpful sources and information.  
  3. Provide final text. Let us know when your text has been reviewed and is ready to go. We’ll wait to start the project when the text is as finalized as possible. 
    • Small edits can be managed later (unless a piece has gone to print), but redoing webpages or print designs to accommodate significant changes will delay our process. Please circulate your draft content with your stakeholders early. 
    • When the text is final, we’ll place a note on the Google doc indicating that no more edits should be made to it, and will transfer the text to the webpage or design file. 
  4. Provide helpful feedback. When reviewing designs, the most useful feedback to the designer is objective (rather than subjective, such as not liking purple) and focused on the big picture. Rather than prescribing detailed solutions, let the designer solve problems creatively. 
  5. You will be limited to two rounds of revisions after we share the first draft with you. If the design needs more changes after two rounds of revisions, we will do our best to accommodate (time allowing), but at that point we can’t promise that we can meet your deadline.