Money may be tight right now, but that doesn’t mean your business can’t benefit from high quality design work. In fact, now may be a good time to invest in a web site update, or an online or print promotion piece to get the word out about your company’s products or services. And you can do that without overspending your budget, or turning to sub-par design solutions. Below are six "win/win" ideas for working with designers. afstudio has compiled these tips and suggestions from our 15 years of design experience.

Some designers may agree to give you a discount if you pay in full at the beginning of a project, so . . . .

Take advantage of your designer's type skills. A well-executed typographic design can save you big bucks on artwork, and is often just as sophisticated.

Say twice-as-much in half-as-many pages by working with a talented copywriter and selecting images that say exactly what you mean.

A designer can work more efficiently if the client is able to get all the content organized and ready at the start of a project. Additionally, organizing and limiting the number of reviewers on a project, as well as rounds of review, can also save time and expense. Here's an example of this tip at work.

Use the web or email for marketing. It's better for the planet and can reach more people, while web and email design costs usually won't exceed print design costs.

Request a quote on two or three projects at once for a single, discounted, rate. A designer can work simoultaneously on related projects. For more on afstudio project pricing, contact afstudio.