Who Should Create Your Catalog? (1,113 words)
Art director—laying out pages, spreads and order forms—from pencil roughs to tight page comprehensives.
Desktop page producer—physically combining copy and photography on the computer.
Copywriter.
Photographer.
Photo stylist.
Photo art director.
The most important criteria in selecting talented free-lancers is not necessarily what they charge, but whether they know cataloging, and more specifically, do they know your type of product category and positioning. There are major differences between business and consumer catalogs. There are also big differences between food catalogs and catalogs of apparel or computer supplies. Whether the free-lancer has relevant experience in cataloging in general and your merchandise area, specifically is the starting question to ask a free-lancer. In other words, the statement that "an art director is an art director is an art director" is not true. The same goes for photographers, stylists and photo shoot managers. On the other hand, desktop page production is less product specific and more skill-level driven.
