Well. It seems the time has finally come to introduce what is now an old friend to Kevin, myself and the rest of the studio. Before I get to the history of this project, let’s start right off the top with what the “Kevin Clark Photography Order Center” (KCPOC) is any why you should keep reading this, what I assume will be epic, blog post.
The KCPOC serves two main functions –
ONE: It is an interactive proofing system.
Starting February 1st, 2009, we’ll be uploading your proofs to a private profile that you will have 24/7 access to. Only you or those you give your login info to (like your agent, or family members) will be able to view your proofs. You can mark down your favourite images (FAVES) anytime and the system will remember your selections everytime you return to your profile. If you change your mind on your faves, simply deselect them. This is very handy as your agent can also login and mark down their faves so you can quickly see which ones you should consider before ordering.
TWO: It is an interactive repro ordering system.
Once you’ve reviewed your proofs, you can order anything you need through your profile, (I’ll elaborate further in later sections of this post) including 8×10 or 4×6 custom designed repros, high-res or low-res digital files, CDs of your proofs, 4×6 printed proofs. The system even remembers the custom repros you build and order so you can easily re-order the exact same repro design again at a discounted re-order price.
The gem of this website is the interactive repro builder. Once you’ve selected your favourite images, the site will easily walk you through selection of border, font, quantity and more, with all the changes applied directly to your image, right before your eyes.
THREE: I know I said two and this isn’t really a “function”, but I have to mention this. Retouching is included with ALL repro orders!! So you’ll be saving money since you don’t have to pay both the studio for retouching and the repro lab for printing. It’s all taken care of through the KCPOC!
(While we’re on the topic of orders…this system is 100% secure as it does not ask for or store any financial information to complete an order. All order values are for reference only. To receive payment for your orders, we only take credit card numbers by phone, or you are welcome to come to the studio directly to pay with credit card, debit or cash. We would have loved a secure online payment program, however it is very difficult and costly to implement and will have to wait for a future release of the site. )
So lets get to the details. This site is actually pretty self explanatory once you’re inside and playing around. However I wanted to write something up for those that possibly haven’t shot with us yet and are wondering what sort of services we offer. We hope that this is just one more reason that you’ll choose our studio to get your acting headshots.
With that said, I should mention that the KCPOC is only for our Actor clients. Because the system is based around repro orders, we’ve decided that our corporate and musician clients are better of not being confused by a system that is not geared towards them. Perhaps down the road a new site will be possible that encompasses all our clients, but we’ll have to take it one step at a time for now.
STEP ONE: Login
Once your photoshoot is uploaded to the KCPOC, you will instantly be sent an automated email with your login details. This should speed up the time from your shoot to seeing your proofs by at least a day. You won’t have to arrange a time to pick up a CD at the studio, it will just be in your inbox waiting for you when you get home. And don’t worry if you lose your login info. The studio always has access to your profile so we can reset your password anytime you need us to.
Once you login. This is what you’ll see. The Ordering System Overview page. This is the homepage where all your ordering begins. You’ll see the green welcome box on your first login and then after that just your ordering options. We’ve tried to make everything as simple as possible.
STEP TWO: Review your contact info
The first thing you’ll want to do when you get to the Overview page is review your contact information which is viewable on the right side of the screen. If you change your email address, make sure it is 100% correct as this is the way the site will contact you. If the address is incorrect you won’t get the auto-notifications the site sends you during the ordering process.
STEP THREE: View Your Photos!
This is the whole reason you logged in! You can view your photos simply by pressing the large button near the top of the screen that looks like the image below. You can also use the thin green menu bar at the top. You’ll notice there is always a button there which reads “view photos.” Same deal.
Okay. Now you’re inside, and you should see something kinda like this (exactly like this actually, except with your photos…and your photos won’t be blurred out digitally). You have a few different options for navigation through your images. First, you’ll notice the thumbnails to the left. You can click on these and a larger preview will open to the right of the selected thumbnail…not rocket science yet, I know. Below your thumbnails you’ll notice numbers for the total number of pages and images in your shoot. The arrows to the left and right of these numbers change the page your on in your thumbnail library. To the left and right of the large preview window, you’ll also notice two smaller arrows. These simply allow you to change one image at a time through your whole library of images. It will change the page for you when you get to the end of a thumbnail set. By now you’ve probably noticed the little “hearts” below each of your thumbnails. Let’s get right into that.
STEP FOUR: Select Your Favourite Images (FAVES)
This is where some of the smarts of the KCPOC come into play. Simply click the little heart under your thumbnail
or click “ADD TO FAVES” below the preview window when an image comes up that you like.
Don’t worry, add as many faves as you want. You can always narrow it down later by removing them. The faves you select have no impact on your orders. You are never obligated to order anything and you can even order an image that is not part of your faves list if you really want to (but why would you?). Now that you’ve gone through all your proofs and marked all your faves with hearts, what’s next?
STEP FIVE: Review Your FAVES
I know, you probably already saw it like years ago. Directly above your thumbnails is a toggle button. “FAVES ONLY” which does exactly what you think it does by showing only the images you’ve marked with a heart icon. This way you can compare quickly and narrow down your absolute most best-est faves.
Once you’re finished in here. You’re either ready to order your repros, or you want to wait for awhile before making a print order. Those exact two options are on the very bottom right of the screen. Take your time. Your profile will remain online as long as you need so you can order or re-order today or years from now. Both of these options bring you back to slightly different versions of the Overview Page. One that urges your next move if you are ready to order. Another that says “Hey man, it’s cool. Let’s just hang out for now and get to know each other.” The next step only comes when you are ready, but for the sake of this blog post, let’s pretend you are!
STEP SIX: Make an Order!
PT1: Order Repros
So you are now back on the overview page wondering. What should I order? Most of our clients will primarily use the “Order Repros” module, especially on the first visit.
As I mentioned above, this module is the gem of this website. It walks you through your custom repro design using your photo and updating it each step as you go along. It will add the border you select around your image, add the font/typeface showing your actual name onto the border. It will change the size of your image depending on if you select an 8×10 or 4×6 postcard repro. It will change from colour, b&w, or sepia. There are still a few limitations to the system like cropping and type placement, so of course we’ve added a last step where you can add special instructions to let us know the details of your custom repro design.
I should mention again that retouching is included with all repro orders. And since the studio still does all the retouching in-house, we’ve designed the site to automatically send your retouching approval proofs to you when they are complete as well. When you receive the email, simply login and you will be prompted to review your retouching. If approved, simply hit approve, if there are changes, simply hit “reject” and then leave us some details notes about what you’d like changed.
PT2: Re-Order Repros
Before we move on to the other order modules. Let’s cover “Re-Order Repros.”Anytime you make a first-time repro order on our system, the KCPOC system will remember that exact repro design, complete with the border and font you originally selected. When you enter the Re-Order Repro’s module, you’ll be shown only a large thumbnail list of your previous repro orders to select from. Simply pick the one you’d like to reorder and continue through to checkout (or order multiple re-orders). All re-orders are discounted from the first time repro price since all the production work is complete. The only thing to do is look up the old completed file at the studio and send it for print.
PT2: Order Proofs on CD
Simply put, if you prefer to have a CD copy of your proofs instead or in addition to your online profile, you can order one very easily here.
PT3: Order Digital Files
Any repros you order include retouching and also a complimentary web image that you can use for Casting Workbook, IMDB, Facebook or any other website or email submission you like. However if you find that you need additional digital files but don’t need to get repros printed of those images, you can order digital files at anytime. You can choose to order retouched high-res files, or low-res files with the option of being retouched or unretouched.
PT3 (and PT3.5): Order 4×6 Printed Proofs
The last two modules are virtually the same except for the obvious fact that one is to order colour and the other is to order black and white. Some of our clients prefer to have their proofs printed out so they can sort through them by hand. This is certainly a tried and true method to picking out your favourite shots so we welcome you to order printed proofs at anytime. And those little icon’s beside them? Those are not storm clouds with lightning bolts…they are beautiful flowers. Why? I don’t actually know (evade topic!) Pretty aren’t they?
SHOPPING CART AND MENU BAR
Probably the last thing to cover in detail is the top right area of your screen. The menu bar is pretty simple as it should be with any good site. I don’t think I can possibly explain anything further with that. So I won’t. The shopping cart icon you’ll notice when you have an item or numerous items in your cart. It’s invisible until you add something to it. Clicking it simply pops up the cart itself with it’s current tally of items. You can choose to dismiss the cart so you can add more items or continue to checkout from there. Again, checkout does not gather any payment info, it just tells the studio what you’d like to order so we can contact you for payment details.
So that brings us about to the end of the Kevin Clark Photography Order Center review. It has literally been years in the making, started from a vision Kevin had of offering his headshot clients the best service available from any studio around. Many thanks to Steven Luscher, who pioneered the design and ground work programming of the site. Thanks also to Jennifer Romita who finalized all the graphical content. And of course, many huge thank you-s to Dave Duchene at Adaptas Labs who tookover a half finished site, made it his own and stuck it through to the end with Kevin and I as we struggled to figure out how to make it work for the studio and our clients. Heck, he even built the server that the system is running on. You’re our hero Dave.
And as with any site that takes a long time to complete, we already have things we want to change, even on day 1 of the launch! But of course at some point along the way you have to stop and say “enough, let’s get this thing finished”….or you run out of money. Either way, keep your eyes peeled for more exciting changes at Kevin Clark Photography. But not too peeled. Eyes dry out fast. Blink often. It’s good for you.
– ROBERT MARKS
Studio Manager
Kevin Clark Photography | Headshots | Food | Lifestyle
Vancouver BC
