Graphic Design Services for the College

Bridgewater College’s graphic designers, located in the Carter Center, create and design materials for departments and offices across campus.

To initiate a project, please fill out and return the graphic services request form.The form provides details about your project so that we can make recommendations to you and plan accordingly. The form must be submitted before design work can begin.

Please contact the graphic designers several weeks before the desired delivery date for most publications and allow even more time for new, extensive or complicated projects. If you have an important project that demands a rush schedule, contact us to see what can be done to produce the project within your time limit.

Production process

In general, these are the major steps for all publications:

1. The Graphic Services form is submitted.
2. Information about the project is exchanged in person or by phone/email for clarification.
3. Text in final copy-edited form is supplied to designer.
4. The design is created and text is laid out.
5. You review the proof of the design, which indicates how text and art will appear on each page. (This is often done by emailed pdfs.)
6. The publication is sent for printing.
7. Finished publications are delivered to you, stored in the campus Copy Center or graphic design offices for you to collect.

Writing and proofreading

Final drafts of content in Microsoft Word documents sent via email are preferred.  All copy (text) is reviewed by marketing & communications proofreaders for consistency, accuracy and conformation to college style. Minor rewriting or reorganizing may be done to improve the clarity and readability, but no extensive changes will be made without your knowledge. All publications must conform to college style guidelines.

Approving your publication

At each stage of production, the designer will submit proofs. The final responsibility for accuracy; however, rests with your office. You will examine and approve your publication during production. Because we work on many publications simultaneously, meeting approval deadlines is important.

Printing

If the nature of your material requires printing off-campus, the graphic designer will send out a request for bids on your project to area printers and receive cost estimates. Printing usually takes two to three weeks, depending on the complexity of the publication.

Once a printer has been selected for the project, please note:

1. Once the project has been approved with no further changes by all parties involved in the proofing for that project, it will be uploaded to the printer. At that point it has “gone to press.”
2. After the project has gone to press, the designer will receive a “blue line” proof from the printer. The purpose of this proof is to make sure the final printed product matches the digital file previously uploaded, and there were no errors in the transfer.
3. Any changes made to the blue line will add to the cost of the final piece.
4. Major changes made at the blue line stage, particularly those which require significant changes to the entire document, will require additional time both on the part of the designer and the printer, and will also result in a second “blue line” proof from the printer. This will usually delay the printing of the project and significantly affect the original delivery and/or mail schedules.
5. Printers must schedule each project to run on their presses. They serve a number of clients, and while they will work to meet deadlines whenever possible, they require a certain amount of lead time. Although it may be possible to produce a rush job, these factors can be completely outside our control.

Photography and illustrations

Publications are immeasurably enhanced by artwork. Your ideas are valuable in planning the photos or illustrations that will work best in your publication. Most publication photos come from an extensive library of images from campus photo shoots.