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September 28, 2009
Creative Group cost-effective by design

By Kim Urquhart

Need help launching an e-newsletter, redesigning a Web site, or converting your departmental communications from print to digital? Emory Creative Group (ECG), in the Office of Communications and Marketing, can help maximize your message with minimal cost.

With staff working in the areas of design, writing, editing, visual identity, and production, ECG is the University’s full-service, in-house design shop. ECG produces more than 400 print and electronic projects per year — from posters and annual reports to eFlash presentations and html e-mail — on time and within budget.

“We meet clients where they live,” says Executive Director Susan Carini, “and give clients options viable for their budgets and for their audiences.”

Before turning to outside vendors for creative services, departments, divisions and units are well advised to call ECG first.

“In a resource-constrained environment, our role is more important than ever,” says Carini. “The staff here has long years of experience understanding the mission and vision of Emory and the way that communications need to express the fundamentals of who Emory is.

“We marshal our forces on each project to do the very best job,” she says. As an example of that commitment, ECG has recently established “rush teams” as more work flows through the door.

Another benefit: ECG can create partnerships that result in cost reductions. Priced at just $65 a project (the group’s administrative fee) for print, plus any direct costs, the savings can be significant in comparison to external services. ECG is instituting a modest chargeback system of $65 per hour for handling the influx of clients who need help getting into the new, universal Web template.

As shrinking resources cause departments to reconsider already limited communications budgets, and more printed materials are finding better traction on digital platforms, ECG counsels clients about the best venue for their needs.

For many clients, the conversation can be about pairing print and online. “Print will not fade into complete oblivion, just find new outlets,” predicts ECG Associate Director LaDonna Cherry. ECG’s designers are current with the latest technology and committed to mastering the continually evolving online strategies that will meet clients’ needs.

For example, ECG several years ago helped the Department of German Studies create a departmental newsletter in print and is currently consulting with them on a cost-saving transition to an e-newsletter.

ECG is also assisting clients with adhering to the University policy that requires any school, division, department or unit redesigning a Web site to use the universal template and the underlying content management system.

The group’s brand experts can help exterior Web sites serving virtual communities display the Emory brand on videos, iTunes albums, blog sites and html-based e-mails.

“It was a pleasure to work with Emory Creative Group,” says Silke Delamare, who just departed Emory but had served as the academic department administrator for the Department of German Studies.

“They kept all their deadlines and the quality was beautiful. In our current economic crunch, this is one of the best tools we have for the development of our departments,” says Delamare. “It is just fantastic to have this at Emory.”