Design Proofs: 5 Important Things to Look for
Why Do We Use Design Proofs?
If you’ve ordered anything from us at Custom Graphics, then you’ve received a design proof that showed what your final product would look like. We send proofs out to our customers no matter how big or small a project is. It’s an important step in our process to helps ensure that our sales team, design team, and production team are all on the same page as our customers.
Here’s an example of a vehicle proof we created for a customer:
As you can see, there is information at the top followed by a visual of the graphics in the center and information at the bottom of the proof. If you haven’t received a proof from us or anyone else before, you may not know what to look for.
Here are the top things to look for on a proof:
1) Does it Look Right? When put it this way, it seems really obvious that you should make sure design proofs look right. However, it’s important that customers understand that the visuals on the design proofs will be almost exactly what the final product is. If any part of the design doesn’t look right, please let a salesperson know and we will send a new proof with changes made. We don’t mind sending multiple proofs, that’s why we make them! ?
2) Is it Your Vehicle?
We do a lot of vehicle graphics whether they are small decals, partial wraps, or full vehicle wraps. When proofing vehicle graphics, our design team does their best to find a template of the exact make, model, and year for each vehicle. The make, model and year information is specified on the customer proof as well.
If there is no template for a vehicle (which is almost always the case with trailers, semi trucks, and less commonly wrapped vehicles like jet skis, snowmobiles and boats) then our team will use a photo to create a template from scratch!
When looking at the vehicle mock-up, it should look really close to what your vehicle looks like. Although it’s hard to capture the 3 dimensional aspects of vehicles in a 2 dimensional image, the lines and shapes within the template should give you a good idea of where windows, wheel wells, and other important aspects of vehicles are located.
3) Does Your Vehicle Have Any Unique Markings?
Even if the template is correct for the make, model, and year, every vehicle is unique. For example, your vehicle may have a custom emblem, a prominent scratch, or a small dent that may interfere with the placement of graphics.
It’s important to let your salesperson know about these details so they can relay that information to create a new proof. The more information we have before the graphics have been printed, the more likely it is that we can adjust the graphics to work with the unique qualities of each vehicle. We want your product to be the best that it can possibly be!
4) Are the Colors Right? Every printer is a little different and every person has a slightly different idea of what colors are. When looking at design proofs, the colors should appear similar to what you expect. We do our best to show you what the final product will be like, and to help with confusion, we have a section of our proof that lists Pantone colors we will match the final prints to. If there is no Pantone color, we will include exact CMYK colors that show the color we used in creating your design.
5) Look at Special Notes
We include a notes section in each of our design proofs to communicate the information that isn’t able to be expressed through visuals. Special notes may include the quantity of graphics, whether a sign is single-sided or double-sided, or even whether a decal is reflective or metallic.
Have Questions About Your Project?
Design proofs are just one of the ways we work to make sure every project turns out exactly the way you envisioned it. Whether you’re a first-time customer unsure of what to look for on your proof, or a returning client with a complex project in mind, we’re here to help every step of the way. Our team is always happy to walk you through the process, answer your questions, and make sure you feel confident before anything goes to print. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us — we’d love to hear about your project and help bring your vision to life!