When working in a team driven environment on design materials it is key to take your time and build trust. Community partners are often working as volunteers or with very limited hours in the day to schedule meetings. The following Frequently Asked Questions are from past students and have helped shape the way we run the IMA Labs and Practicum courses.
Use the following email outline to correspond with your client.
Project Contact (not necessarily team leader just emailer) please send to your original applicant and CC all team members and Ryan Gibboney.
Hi (NAME),
We would like to thank you for your recent online application through the IMA-Studio website. After a thorough review and a weeklong discussion we have determined that your proposal is a great fit for the Fall 2020 Practicum class! Congratulations on being selected to work with our team.
Under the instruction of Professor Ryan Gibboney we are in the early stages of planning for your project.
We are most excited to (WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED FOR???).
We have a few questions regarding (WHAT???)
Team:
My name is FIRST NAME and I will be the point of contact for the project this semester.
The other members of our team include: First name last name, First name last name, etc.
What Happens Next?
Now that you have been selected we will setup a meeting with you via Zoom. Please visit this Doodle Poll to send your current weekly availability. We may not need to meet weekly but it is helpful to find a common time. We will meet this semester on Zoom and will send you a recurring Zoom link that we can use for each meeting.
Deadlines for the fall semester:
We finish the semester on Tuesday, November 24th. If you have specific deadlines such as events or promotions that we should consider please share them as soon as possible.
If you would like to see past projects that we have completed please visit IMA-Studio.info!
Sincerely,
Name
POE, Grad Year
Anything else (website?)
DO:
DO Always take thorough notes every meeting. Document your notes in the same place with dates in a consistent way.
DO explain your ideas thoroughly to your client, make power points or mockups to allow the client to be on the same page as you. Changes and new ideas can be scary so make sure to highlight the positive things they’re already doing before suggesting that they change things.
DO allow them (the client) to feel included and heard. (We did a really great job of this as a team in IMA Labs fall 2019 with HCHS!)
DO always keep track of your deadlines, hours, and suggested changes.
DON’T:
DON’T Email proofs to a client that you have yet to share with them in person. Asking for feedback via email on a new concept is not ideal as your design and creative work lives in you. You have to be there to share your ideas!
DON’T take on too many things by yourself, everyone knows I have a habit of doing this, but even if something isn’t being completed right away or needs more thought and time, don’t pick up that task. Be reasonable with what deliverables you take on and always leave room for unknown things to happen. It might take hours to teach yourself how to use a new technique on Photoshop!
DON’T send a proof without telling the rest of the people in your team, even if we are in the design/deliver steps. This happened in LABS when the writing team was working on writing the Press Release. We sent a copy to be proof-read to another team member, and, without telling us, that team member sent it to the client (it wasn’t edited or close to being finished yet!!). It was awkward. That’s the only “don’t” I can think of right now.
If you are on site to visit a client be sure to always ask permission to take photos or video. Asking for a sign off on a Photo/Video release and explaining to the client and the community partners on site how this content will be used is key.
