Measuring the value of design in the PR world
Jan 24, 2018
Category: PR strategy
Services: Visual Storytelling
In the world of press releases, AP Style and communication plans, design is a different language and proving its worth can be a challenge. However, when properly utilized by a public relations agency, design has tremendous value.
PR agencies that use design to problem solve and elevate their work have a significant one-up on the traditional firm’s structure. They’re more likely to thrive in the ever-changing professional field, while those who think a Word doc in Times New Roman is style, are simply surviving.
When asking Kate, owner and principal strategist at P&G, about the importance of design and how to effectively utilize it in PR, she explained, “I think you've got to learn how to give GOOD design feedback for it to be effective. If the words people start to dictate design, we're dead. I think that in our highly visual world, we need to be able to paint pictures with words and images and finding the right intersection of those is what modern PR has evolved into.”
Our team has developed a creative process specifically catered toward the PR agency environment. It outlines what good design feedback looks like, and why it’s essential to have that defined in order to marry words and imagery to create a harmonious piece.
Being in-house allows me to work side-by-side with the PR team to bounce questions off them and get feedback in the moment. It gives me the opportunity to interpret body language and facial expressions when reacting to a visual piece versus reading into an emailed list of edits.
Veronica, senior strategist at P&G, shared her thoughts, “Having in-house design really allows the creative process to work, and work well. We loved the freelancers we worked with previously, we always felt the challenge of proximity and really getting the opportunity to know one another.”
As the creative strategist at P&G, it’s up to me to communicate with the words people and mold their writing into a piece that appeals visually to an audience. It’s up to me to listen to what the goal of the piece is, and it’s up to me to translate it into a design that emphasizes the original intent and impact.
