process improvement

Not just a designer

Below are samples of problems and solutions that I identified and implemented to help cut costs and increase team productivity.

Print Project Savings

Problem: Excessive funds spent on project production.

Solution: Reduce spending by ensuring a minimum of 5% of all print projects are printed in-house while delivering the same quality.

Results: 10% of all print projects were produced in-house. Approximately $14,435.71 was saved in 12 months.

Competitive Print Pricing Savings

Problem: Excessive funds spent on project production.

Solution: With the same specs, determine the best price for a project between multiple vendors.

Results: A 27% price difference was found among vendors. By choosing a vendor with the lowest price at the same quality, approximately $11,134.68 was saved in 12 months.

On-time Project Delivery

Problem: Projects were consistently delayed for various reasons.

Solution: Track and categorize each step in a project’s timeline to identify the points of delay.

Results: 5% of the late projects were determined to have hold-ups from project manager/client delays. 95% of all projects are completed on-time.

Creative Services Checklist

Problem: Project managers were inconsistent with the questions they were asking their clients leading to missing information and delays.

Solution: Develop a checklist with standardized questions to ensure the project manager collects all the information required of the project.

Results: 100% of project managers now use this checklist, leading to more projects being completed without delay.

Standard Templates

Problem: A majority of business partner requests were for unique projects that required an exuberant amount of time and diluted the identity of the brand.

Solution: Build a library of standard templates to help cut down on time and reinforce the brand.

Results: 100% of team members now request these templates.

Photography Catalog

Problem: Storage of photography was scattered and hard to find among team members.

Solution: Develop a catalog describing each photo so any creative can find them with relative ease.

Results: 100% of team members now use this catalog.

Recommended Word Count Guidelines

Problem: Requested projects were given excessive amounts of content resulting in ineffective designs.

Solution: Create a standard word count range for template projects.

Results: 100% of team members now use this guideline.

Identifying Projects

Problem: Due to the vast amount of projects, business partners had problems identifying old jobs for updates or to be used as a template.

Solution: Apply a job tracking number to the end of the copyright line on every project.

Results: Job tracking numbers are used on 100% of projects, making them easy to locate.

testimonials

Jennifer Healan

Group Director / Integrated Marketing Content at The Coca-Cola Company

Mike brings a sense of creative excellence and integrity to everything he touches. Shaping ideas and taking them to the next level is his strength.

Ferdie Martinez

VP, UX Strategy / Internet & Mobile at Citi

Mike is one of the most talented visual designers I have had the privilege to work with over the years. He has strong personal skills that enable him to work effectively with a wide variety of individuals at many different levels. He is a passionate designer and always seems to have great awareness of new creative concepts and strategies, which makes him a great asset to any company.

Ralph De Simone

Senior Manager / Digital Marketing at Elsevier Clinical Solutions

Mike is one of those rare breeds of designers who can quickly understand what a company is trying to accomplish and deliver something better than expected. Working together with Mike, I was amazed at his technical and professional knowledge and ability to accomplish projects within tight deadlines.

Lindsay Powell

Senior Graphic Designer / UF Health

As Mike's colleague for five years at Nemours, I had the opportunity to watch him develop some of the most innovative and original solutions to many design challenges. His talent is only one facet of what makes him such an impeccable designer—what is an enormous value is his skill to be able to work within a team environment OR guide himself independently. I was lucky to have had the chance to collaborate with such a gifted artist.

Gene Burns

Principal / Gene Burns Graphic Design

I worked with Mike for close to three years at the Creative Department in Center City, Philadelphia. From the first day, Mike proved to be a very valuable member of the design team. From concept development through design and production, Mike brought a fresh approach to every communications challenge. In addition to print and web design, Mike is also a very creative photographer and illustrator. Mike’s talent, enthusiasm and can-do attitude is clearly represented in his work!

Krista Serianni

Graphic Designer / PRO Sports Club

Mike Berger is the kind of graphic designer who thinks about what he is working on and his target audience. He makes sure that everything he works on has a unique voice and perspective that completely elevates any project he works on. Because of these traits, among others, Mike truly helped me become a better graphic designer than I was before.

Dale Parenti

Principal / Dale Parenti Design

Mike is a very talented designer with a solid background in design education and valuable on the job experience. While he worked at The Creative Department he always went above and beyond the assignment bringing his unique perspective and fresh ideas to every project. His abilities with photography and illustration were an added value to The Creative Department.

Terri Wilsie

Director Brand Marketing Communications / Nemours

While Mike is an artist and graphic designer, he has brought to bear his analytical skills to serve his commitment to ongoing improvement. Every member of the MarComm team and all of Mike's colleagues know that he can be relied on to meet our goals in every case.