TGJ Communication Technology Notes Series:
The Final Review Process
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Think You’re Finished?
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The Five Key Checks:
Just as the thumbnail sketches help shape creative ideas and the comprehensive layout (or
comp) provides a more detailed plan for production, there are certain key steps you should take
when finishing your artwork before submitting it to a client - or to your instructor. Your instructor will
assume you have checked your work thoroughly before submitting it, and accuracy/quality are part
of the rubric upon which your work is marked.
1) Completeness
Compare your artwork against the criteria contained in the supplied rubric. In the ‘real world’ this
would involve checking the information with legal teams and against the client-provided
specifications/creative brief. Are all the required points present? Were any assumptions made that
led to inaccurate information? Could you have added extra touches such as adjectives or logos?
2) Proofreading
Read all your copy carefully and slowly. Do not rely on spell-check utilities to do the job for you.
They are not comprehensive, and the spelling utilities in drawing packages are not as sophisticated
as in specialized word processing programs such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. There is a
great difference between checking spelling and checking context. Spell check often recognizes that
a misspelled word is still a word and won’t flag it for you. The subtleties of context are best caught
by you, not software. See the note on Objective Critique below.
3) Visual Flow
This is where you must objectively apply the ‘Rule of Thirds’. Is your eye led from the most
important element through the layout? Are all the components reinforcing each other? Do any
elements such as peoples’ faces lead the eye out of the layout rather than into it? Is the information
prioritized by placement and type size, or are there many elements and text points the same size
and competing with each other? Some designers list the order of importance of elements or copy
and then check that their layout draws the viewer’s eye through these points in the desired
sequence.
4) Objective Critique
Throughout the project you’ve spent time developing the design, and perhaps by this stage you’re
too close to it to be objective. A good idea is to have an associate provide some positive input. Does
the layout do what you think is does, or do you have to explain some point? If you have to clarify
anything, then the layout requires fine-tuning because the average reader won’t have the
opportunity to get extra information from you. Be a willing critic for other designers too. Proofreading
is also more effectively done by a person unfamiliar with the text.
5) Contrast Check
Even though your work will be assessed on the screen in lieu of colour output, take a moment to do
a print preview in greyscale to see if any colours ‘disappear’ due to their close values in shades of
grey. You will be required to produce a black and white copy for the instructor, so make sure he/she
can read it. If colours are hard to read on the screen, remember a significant part of the population
is colour blind to some extent, and may not be able to perceive the words if the colours lack
contrast.
© TINGLE 2004