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They might not have authored it, but they certainly had to be asked for their approval prior to sending anything out with an Apple logo prominently displayed an

They might not have authored it, but they certainly had to be asked for their approval prior to sending anything out with an Apple logo prominently displayed and a [redacted]@apple.com in the letter. And it's not unreasonable to think that a company that is a lot about brand message and identity as Apple would have had some feedback/required changes prior to finalizing and printing these things.

Maursault 5y ago
> And it's not unreasonable to think that a company that is a lot about brand message and identity as Apple would have had some feedback/required changes prior to finalizing and printing these things. Apple has style-guides for every product and everything Apple, which whatever external contracted agency is provided and will meticulously follow. Unless novel design is involved, review is expedient. Any that have had previous contracts will become efficient and accurate. I've seen it with my own eyes happening so fast and quietly, and periodically, it's like they didn't want anyone to know they were making money between periods of inactivity, or that Apple had been their only client for many Moons (unclear).
- scyzoryk_xyz 5y ago
  Would you care to elaborate more on that last bit? Like you mean the subcontractor does his part quietly to not call corp attention to themselves, right?
  - Maursault 5y ago
    It would stand to reason that all of Apple's subcontractors are under NDAs. But even if they weren't, it would be not just good policy, but natural, not to advertise what was going on. My second job was working for a small marketing firm in the post-dawn hours of desktop publishing. There was the owner, who would scare up business, the artist, and myself, the graphic designer. We had one huge client, Siemens, which accounted for 90% of the firm's revenue, but this left us with plenty of time available to work for other clients. Most of the work we did was for other tiny clients until we exhausted ourselves and realized the only work we did that mattered to the business was for Siemans. Eventually we dropped all other clients but in theory remained open to working for a client as large as Siemans, which never presented itself. We had no NDA, but I can't imagine any of us told anyone we were working for Siemans. Maybe having Apple as a client is more bragworthy. My first-hand experience regarding Apple subcontracting was as a resident IT specialist at offices and facilities of two businesses recently purchased by a large international corporation (my employer) that was in a period of acquiring other companies (as a business strategy, which works, but it kind of also proves executive incompetence). The two businesses were related, one was an engraver, printer and proofer (insanely professional and expensive color proofs, and the equipment was drool-worthy). The other was a design firm and, as far as I could tell, for years at least, subcontracted for Apple to design all their packaging for everything they sold. This was not International Paper or some huge packaging company, but a small firm, less than 10 employees, surprisingly enough. The nature of Apple being secretive about releases and the nature of the product this firm provided meant that many individuals not employed directly by Apple would be privy to information about upcoming products for which certain media outlets would pay. I can only assume they were under NDAs, but I was not. This design firm was moderately successful at maintaining secrecy from the vantage point of a local IT department of one that was not all that curious or suspicious of what anyone was working on, in fact, I am biased against wasting any time doing anything that was not work. I always felt that the best attitude to have in IT was having absolutely no interest whatsoever in what anyone was doing, but I still noticed and became aware without anyone actually saying so nor by way of being nosey. I accidentally saw the work (artwork and patterned die files for cutting boxes for iMacs) and immediately recognized what it was and its significance, and that they had not been doing much of anything at all for the previous 5 months informed me Apple was their only client.
- xattt 5y ago
  I am shocked that the enclosing letter to the DVD is typed in a standard Word template with a Calibri typeface, without attempts to create a consistent experience between the letter and the rest of the package. Is this the modern-day equivalent of a handwritten letter?

Maursault 5y ago

> And it's not unreasonable to think that a company that is a lot about brand message and identity as Apple would have had some feedback/required changes prior to finalizing and printing these things. Apple has style-guides for every product and everything Apple, which whatever external contracted agency is provided and will meticulously follow. Unless novel design is involved, review is expedient. Any that have had previous contracts will become efficient and accurate. I've seen it with my own eyes happening so fast and quietly, and periodically, it's like they didn't want anyone to know they were making money between periods of inactivity, or that Apple had been their only client for many Moons (unclear).

scyzoryk_xyz 5y ago
Would you care to elaborate more on that last bit? Like you mean the subcontractor does his part quietly to not call corp attention to themselves, right?
- Maursault 5y ago
  It would stand to reason that all of Apple's subcontractors are under NDAs. But even if they weren't, it would be not just good policy, but natural, not to advertise what was going on. My second job was working for a small marketing firm in the post-dawn hours of desktop publishing. There was the owner, who would scare up business, the artist, and myself, the graphic designer. We had one huge client, Siemens, which accounted for 90% of the firm's revenue, but this left us with plenty of time available to work for other clients. Most of the work we did was for other tiny clients until we exhausted ourselves and realized the only work we did that mattered to the business was for Siemans. Eventually we dropped all other clients but in theory remained open to working for a client as large as Siemans, which never presented itself. We had no NDA, but I can't imagine any of us told anyone we were working for Siemans. Maybe having Apple as a client is more bragworthy. My first-hand experience regarding Apple subcontracting was as a resident IT specialist at offices and facilities of two businesses recently purchased by a large international corporation (my employer) that was in a period of acquiring other companies (as a business strategy, which works, but it kind of also proves executive incompetence). The two businesses were related, one was an engraver, printer and proofer (insanely professional and expensive color proofs, and the equipment was drool-worthy). The other was a design firm and, as far as I could tell, for years at least, subcontracted for Apple to design all their packaging for everything they sold. This was not International Paper or some huge packaging company, but a small firm, less than 10 employees, surprisingly enough. The nature of Apple being secretive about releases and the nature of the product this firm provided meant that many individuals not employed directly by Apple would be privy to information about upcoming products for which certain media outlets would pay. I can only assume they were under NDAs, but I was not. This design firm was moderately successful at maintaining secrecy from the vantage point of a local IT department of one that was not all that curious or suspicious of what anyone was working on, in fact, I am biased against wasting any time doing anything that was not work. I always felt that the best attitude to have in IT was having absolutely no interest whatsoever in what anyone was doing, but I still noticed and became aware without anyone actually saying so nor by way of being nosey. I accidentally saw the work (artwork and patterned die files for cutting boxes for iMacs) and immediately recognized what it was and its significance, and that they had not been doing much of anything at all for the previous 5 months informed me Apple was their only client.
xattt 5y ago
I am shocked that the enclosing letter to the DVD is typed in a standard Word template with a Calibri typeface, without attempts to create a consistent experience between the letter and the rest of the package. Is this the modern-day equivalent of a handwritten letter?