Managing a project (Communication)

Designing the artwork for the new Ferocious Dog album is the first project I have lead since the brief I worked on for the Post Office when I worked for Linney Design, however this is a much larger project. An ongoing issue I have had with this project with the other people involved is communication. 

Whilst working at companies such as Linney Design and Detonate communication between people involved with projects was simple as there was an office with people working on different things, as a result if I needed something I wouldn't have to chase people up, I would just be able to approach them in the office space or call the phone on there desk. However whilst working on this project i was often hit with the problem that i could not personally meet with people or approach people with little if any notice due to the fact that they were spread around the county or were at there jobs. ken the lead singer of the band often worked nights or long hours as a miner so meeting with him or even calling him on his phone was a challenge, the same goes for Fiddle player Dan as when he was not gigging he was working to make up for the time. The photographer also lives further away so it was often difficult to find the time to go and have a discussion with him. To top it off the people who were set to give me feedback live at opposite sides of the country.

How did I overcome this problem? The use of technology.

As I continued to work on the project it became apparent that I had to heavily rely on technology to communicate with the team of people involved. The use of email and smartphones became essential. One of the only times all the band and photographer could meet was at gigs consequently having computers there was not very convenient, consequently I could not show the how the work was progressing. I got around this by uploading everything to my smart phone so I could easily show the band whatever it was I wanted to share with them. this usually involved uploading album cover drafts or booklet designs onto my phone so they could easily see them and comment on them. Whilst not at gigs I had to rely on email to send and receive information. Dan one of the main people I communicate with unfortunately does not have a computer, luckily however he uses his smart phone for tasks that he needs to do. I have to consider this when sending him work to comment on; for example I could only send certain file types and could not put files in 'zip folders'. Emails do have there advantages, the first of which I could refer back to them for information when needed, something I cannot do with phone calls and informal meetings with the band.

Communication has been a challenge during this project but it is something that can be easily overcome once the appropriate technology is used. More structured meetings at appropriate times would be better however not essential with this area of work.