Need Custom Art? I’ve Found a Place to Get It
Thursday, June 29th, 2006[Link]
by Kevin Slimp, July 2006
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When I take a break between sessions at a convention, it’s not unusual for a software representative to attack … I mean approach me to share information about a product or upgrade.
Such was the case in Miami a few weeks ago when Jill Addy, Senior Vice President at MultiAd, approached me about their custom artwork feature. At first, I feigned interest. Then, as she showed me what they were up to, I realized MultiAd was on to something.
AdBuilder, a division of MultiAd, is an online service that provides clip-art, stock photos, spec ads and other materials to newspapers on a subscription basis. I’m not sure how many customers they have, but it seems like somewhere between a third and half of the newspapers I visit subscribe to AdBuilder.
I’ve always liked materials from AdBuilder and Metro Creative Graphics, another artwork service used by a lot of newspapers. Both vendors have had a lot in common over the years. In the “olden days,” newspapers primarily received their material from these providers on disk. As time moved on, both developed online access to their materials. Both services offer products at such great prices, I’ve often recommended that newspapers subscribe to both of them. OK. Back to the story.
So Jill Addy approaches me and tells me I’ve got to see a new feature from AdBuilder. She takes me to the AdBuilder home page (AdBuilder.com) and clicks on a link titled, “We’ll Create It for You.” Doing so brings up a form that allows users to input their names, addresses, etc., along with an area to describe the type of artwork needed.
I turned to Jill and asked, “You mean AdBuilder will create custom artwork for your customers?” Following her affirmative reply, I asked the obvious follow up question, “How much?”
That’s when the conversation turned from somewhat interesting to, “I can’t believe that,” interesting. It turns out that subscribers to AdBuilder pay nothing for custom artwork. That’s right. Nada, nilch, nothing. One reason I found this so hard to believe is that back in the “old days,” when I owned a graphic design firm, I used to pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a thousand dollars for a custom art design. To think I could get it at no additional fee is pretty impressive.
Finally I asked, “How long does it take?” I figured a few weeks or so would be a good response. The answer almost floored me. “Five days is the normal turnaround.”
Last week, I decided to test the folks at AdBuilder. I have an AdBuilder account, so I simply logged in at AdBuilder.com and entered my password. On the home page is the link titled, “We’ll Create It for You.” I clicked on the link, completed an online form and described the type of artwork I wanted. I described a piece of art, full color, that included two newspaper designers working on their computers at deadline. In addition, I asked for a publisher pushing them to get the paper out.
Yesterday, I received an email from the art department at AdBuilder. Attached were two EPS files, one each in color and grayscale. It was exactly what I had asked for.
I contacted Natalie Giroux, AdBuilder’s Syndicated Product Manager, and asked how they can offer this type of service so quickly. I learned that Natalie works with 12 staff members, including artists, designers and two copywriters. All art requests are completed in-house. I was surprised to learn that they normally receive only 20 to 30 custom requests per week (I have a feeling that number will increase after this column is released). Requests include cartoons, realistic images and some spec ads. They advertise a five-day turnaround for art requests, but most artwork is delivered to the client within two days.
I was very surprised to learn that AdBuilder has offered this service for more than two years. After getting such a great response from AdBuilder, I contacted Metro Creative Graphics to see if they offer anything similar to their customers. After visiting with Lisa Regina at Metro, I learned that Metro also creates custom artwork for its clients.
Metro has a service called “You Tell Us,” which allows subscribers to write for artwork they haven’t found on the Metro Web site. After receiving a request, Metro routes the information to their Customer Relations Department, where a search is done to find if any existing artwork meets the criteria. If not, the information is passed on to Metro’s planning team for inclusion in upcoming offerings.
Lisa added that if a request is urgent, the planning team doesn’t wait to include the artwork in an upcoming release. They will create custom artwork, usually within a few days, and send it back to the customer via email. Metro subscribers pay no additional fee for custom artwork.
To learn more about AdBuilder and Metro Creative Graphics, visit their Web sites at AdBuilder.com or MetroCreativeGraphics.com. For more information concerning custom artwork, contact Natalie Giroux (AdBuilder) at ngiroux@adbuilder.com or Lisa Regina (Metro) at lregina@metro-email.com.
