One of the keys to successful design is getting the support from your management. If you want to really do something unique, outside of the box or even just plain ambitious, there can be plenty of nay-sayers along the way. You don't want your boss to be one of them.

Mario Garcia once talked about newspaper editors having "teddy bears" or conventions that they are uncomfortable leaving behind. The expression, "We don't do that here," often is supported more by habit than by compelling reason.

By carefully building trust and credibility with your management, you'll be able to get the support you need to do your best work.

 

Building blocks of persuasion

Research: Read everything. You'll have to be more articulate about visual concepts than your word-oriented brethren. Your credibility will increase when your ideas are based on proven knowledge. Try quoting Mario Garcia (see above), because everyone will recognize his name and nod approvingly.

Diplomacy: You'll never get someone's support by telling them that they haven't got a clue. Being gently assertive will get you much farther. Make your arguments in a dispassionate manner using facts from your exhaustive research. Keep your emotions from putting anyone on the defensive.

Patience: You are not going to change the world over night. Bit-size changes will be easier to sell and will accumulate momentum over time. The idea is for change and growth to eventually become the norm.

Give and take: Pick your battles and let others have their victories. Perhaps it will be your turn when it really matters. You won't, for instance, change Gannet's design philosophy over night but you might develop more freedom within that structure.

Build relationships: Let your managers get to know you as a person who cares more about the publication than about building your portfolio. Give them reason to trust you as a person and therefore trust your ideas.

 

Trust: Many papers won't allow art to cross in front of the nameplate. After a careful introduction of the technique, the publisher of the Sun Journal understands that it actually draws attention to the nameplate and fully supports the activity.

 

Useful arguments

Designing for the reader: Designers are often accused of making egocentric packages that are tributes to their own design prowess. You need to convince your editor or publisher that you are selling the stories to the readers. Reporters will be more cooperative if they understand that your design will draw readers to their story.

Selling newspapers: God forbid that journalists think about sales, but isn't that why we make the paper the best we can. A publisher might support more creative packaging if increased readership is attached to the equation. With the increased competition newspapers face from all media, the argument for better design is stronger than ever.

Case study: How many papers would let us do this? In this page by Fabio Sales, stories are no longer parallel. They are now polar.

View Fabio's portfolio

 

Case study: This page by Anthony Conroy took a bold step, placing a giant promo above the nameplate.

 

Anthony 's Comments: I wouldn't say this page was designed for design sake, as has been suggested. Just the opposite, actually. For a slow news day, I decided this would be our No. 1 way to get readers to buy the paper. Why not run a story with it if it's that important? Because sports needed the copy.

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