Frequently asked questions

How can I give feedback about my experience of working with CPS during my current job or following a recent job?

CPS are committed to improving our service. If you have specific feedback, good or bad, please email Hannah Milway

Can I have a 'Lessons Learned' meeting at the end of my job?

We would be delighted to discuss ways in which University teams can help each other to repeat successes and to ensure we learn from experience.

Why do contracted external designers have to show visuals to CPS before clients?

The University requires CPS to ensure design standards and brand consistency are achieved across all external-facing work. We get involved early in projects to avoid the pain of having to step in and reject off-brand or inappropriate work late in a project, when time and effort may have been wasted.

Can I specify specific CPS designers to handle my project?

We endeavour to build effective and lasting relationships with you. We understand you may want to work with the same designer every time. Where possible we try to allow this, but individual workloads and deadlines mean that work has to be shared across the team. Senior members of the Design Team oversee all design work.

How much will I pay?

We know that budgets are under pressure and that you need value for money. We are familiar with our templates and offer efficient ways of getting to solutions fast. Our design fees are based around £70 per hour. Not all jobs cost this much. Some cost far more. At the start of each job we provide estimates based on your specific requirements. Once agreed that's the price you will pay, unless you move the goalposts.

To minimise costs we encourage you to use our templates and to think carefully about your requirements in advance. A clear brief and clean copy (or efficient, legible amendments) make a significant difference to the time spent on a job and its success.

Where you have a team working on a project, one project manager providing clear, collated instructions saves ambiguity and wasted effort.

Download our indicative design charge list (pdf 114kb)

What's the most efficient way to make amendments?

It depends on the extent. A few words can be talked through over the phone. Minor amends can be written neatly on hard copy.

Extensive amendments are best added in Acrobat Reader (on all University PCs) as 'Sticky notes'. This allows us to copy and paste replacement text and to see exactly where you require changes. Please find instructions here. CPS will need to provide a 'comment enabled' PDF. Please email us the CPS job number of the file you would like to amend and we'll send you an appropriate file.