Design

Best Practice = Best Results

To ensure a seamless, efficient and overall rewarding design process, we ask for the following "must-haves":

"Must-haves" (essential briefing material):

1. Pre-existing high-resolution assets (images, logos, graphics, typefaces, etc) you would like to include before we start.

• Layered file types are the best for us to work with (PSD / Ai) however, we can also work with flattened images if you do not have a layered alternative. It is important to note, however, that when working with layered files, we have more control over the final outcome as separate components of each design are free to change independently of each other. This often results in an overall better product compared to those created using flat files.
• High-resolution refers to any asset with 300 dpi (dots-per-inch) and typically a resolution above 1500 px in length on the shortest side of the asset. This is to guarantee that the asset isn't pixelated when printed. It also becomes harder to achieve a desired outcome using low-res assets as there aren't the pixels present to begin with. Starting off with a large asset gives us the freedom to create designs fit for any and all purposes.

1. In addition to any visual assets, we ask that you share any lyrics, tracklists or tour dates that could also be necessary to the design process.

• If you are using a specific typeface / font then we will also need these files. Without these, any missing fonts within working documents will be automatically replaced with the default typeface by the respective program.

1. If you need any assets recreating, then please label these within the brief to avoid any confusion. Feel free to also include any existing mock-ups or pack-shots (if designed outside of terrible*) that you need recreating and we can get these done at the same time.

• Recreating assets may be necessary if the original needs to be vectorised. Due to the large number of orders we receive, we will only look to recreate assets when directly requested. Therefore, stating this within the brief ahead of time will greatly speed up the overall process.

1. An "as-detailed-as-possible" brief describing how you would like the overall design to look and how any pre-existing assets may sit visually within the new design. This can be in the form of a "design guide" if you are looking to incorporate a variety of different design elements in one overall layout (think tour posters, lyric booklets, album covers etc) or as a proposal deck complete with reference images.

• Clear and concise briefs mean that we can get fresh new designs you love into production as quickly as possible. Any grey areas in a brief could be interpreted by our team differently from how exactly you may see it in your head. Therefore, any information we can get ahead of time to help us really nail the designs is extremely appreciated.
• We love visualisations and mood boards as these are great at visually illustrating a style that may have otherwise been hard to communicate simply over email.
• Sharing with us any dream products that you would like to explore is also extremely helpful. We want to make your design dreams come true, so sharing these with us in your initial brief can help us bring them to life!

1. Your timeline, highlighting any important dates such as the start of a tour, an album announcement or any other existing tie-ins.

Helpful design specifications:

If you have any exact specifications you would like to include within your products, then please also share these with us in your initial notes, emails or discussions.

Below are some links and suggestions on different options that we tend to see clients have. This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities, but helpful for the most common requests we receive.

• Pantones
• Thread colours for embroidery
• Print sizes (grab a ruler or measuring tape if easier!)
• Ink types: (puff prints, gloss, watercolour, plastisol, metallic, glow in the dark, thermochromic, discharge inks)
• Colour palettes
• Product colours
• Garments we recommend for UK and Europe are ascolour, MADE and Stanley/Stella. For the US and UK, we recommend ascolour and MADE. All suppliers have transparent and sustainable supply chains with high-quality, readily available blanks for touring and mass-production

Please feel free to also browse our products deck for extra inspiration or guidance on what could be possible.

We are more than happy to help guide you further if you need us! Feel free to drop the team an email at design@terrible.group