Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.
A. Logo Design and Brand Packaging for Food & Wine
Q. Describe three recent jobs you've completed.
A. 1) Wine label design for Tierra Divina Vineyards
2) Logo design for AoB Plants, on-line botanical journal
3) Logo & brand packaging for Soda Botanica
Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A. Have a list of the type of marketing goals that will be addressed by the graphic communication project. Decide on a ballpark budget for the project. Allow adequate time for development, feed-back and client meetings.
Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?
A. How does the design process work, how much does it cost, what am I getting for the amount spent? What type of mock-ups will I be seeing? What is the information that i need to supply to the designer?
Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?
A. Can I see samples of your work? How long have you been doing graphic design communication? What are your areas of expertise?
Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?
A. The budget for their project.
Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?
A. It is unique, custom-designed work, not copied or clip art.
Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. The thing I like most about my job is designing concepts and solving visual problems. I like to develop lasting, memorable work that gives my clients an advantage in the marketplace. I truly love the creative process and enjoy the interaction with my clients. I effectively become an important strategic partner in their marketing efforts. I provide insightful thinking that they don't often find elsewhere. What I do is more that just using a set of hands to execute an idea... I am engaging my mind and heart all the way through the process, including the critical final steps of production, manufacturing, programming, etc., to bring their project to fruition. I appreciate that my clients continue to depend on my expertise as an art director and designer.
Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A. Q: What does it cost?
A: Depends on the complexity of the project
Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?
A. Naming a new brand for Tierra Divina Vineyards while on a kayak trip... it all happened quite by accident, after a couple of hours of kayaking and shouting out various possibilities to each other over the distances between our boats while we rowed on Tomales Bay. At the end of the trip, as we were about to take out our kayaks, I called over to the winemaker, "Non vale la pena!" referring to the process of trying to find a name for the new brand. He started shouting, "That's it! That's It!" "What," I asked quizzically, "you mean, 'non vale la pena?'" "No, no," he said, "VALE la pena! It's WORTH the effort!" So the brand name was born, "Vale la Pena" is now the name of a wonderful Malbec grown in Argentina for Tierra Divina Vineyards. For a look at the final versions of the label go to: http://buttittsdesign.blogspot.com/?spref=tw
Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?
A. How difficult it really is... creating work that is functional as well as beautiful and answers all the needs of marketing, identity, branding, etc.
Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?
A. I am always delving into the latest methods and tools to make the manifestation of a creative ideas economically sound. Staying up on the latest software and developing or enhancing skills for the ever-changing programming languages and tools for creating website. Also, it furthers my thinking and visual resources to study the past—art history, architecture, letterpress printing, book binding, paper-making, textural and sculptural effects, surface design, fabrics, etc. The natural world, too, is a great inspiration. There is so much to see and appreciate even on a simple walk.
Q. What are you currently working on improving?
A. Currently working on improving and updating the Buttitta Design website: www.buttittadesign.com
