impossible client ....
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- exador1
hey guys..
have you ever had a client demand to be involved in the 'creation' part of a design..
i've been working on some corporate identity stuff for this one guys for a few months now...we've got his company logo done, the product logo....but this last logo..a 'methodology' thing....he keeps nixing my ideas...
anyhow, he keeps sending me emails about how he wants to come to my house and watch over my shoulder as i work..now..two things prevent me from saying ok..
one is, this guy is like, a crazy mad russian scientist...sorta albert einstein vibes...not all there...and i don't particularly enjoy the idea of him muttering a barage of 'can you make it more blue?..can you make it bigger?...what if we put it on angle?....45 degrees?...in my ear while i'm working in illustrator..second..he works fulltime during the day....which means he'd want to come to my house...
in the evening..
while i'm usually chilling with my wife and daughter..my studio time is
9-5 and then after the wife and kid go to bed, say...from 11-1am
the evening is out of bounds...
and frankly...so is my house to weird cats like him...anyone ever been in a situation like this?..
he's not directly my client, my client is an old boss of mine, that thinks he can market a piece of software this freaky dude created...
now freaky dude is getting cranky and sending me slightly rude emails like
" as I repeated several times, what I want to do is to sit with you in
front of a computer. Computer is better suitable in that case, IMO,
because allows to play with shapes, colors, etc. And we DO NOT need Marc
for this, he is also too busy; that will only increase the chances of
further delay.If you cannot do that, or cannot do it soon, let me know."
so there ya go NTers..
am i being unreasonable?
would any of you go along with this?
let this dude 'back seat' design..
i'm at a lossex
- jox0
Yes. My first job ever as junior at this shite print firm, we worked like that. We had clients sitting next to the designer in the cubicle going "make that text right there green. No... greener! That's not green enough! Ew, that's too green! Try flip it.. No, wait I meant horizontally... eek! try vertical!..Ah, just forget it."
A very bad way to work. Creatives aren't supposed to be monitored and given two cents every other second from a shoulder-designer. You'll end up with either nothing or something that sucks for both sides.
Tell him no. For your own sake. You'll go mad.
- agentfour0
tell him to f@ck off!
- plamenski0
He wants YOU... badly.
- gravityroom0
You answered your own question - except add that you don't do a dog and pony show. You have a process and a method and you'd like him to respect that. Then add what you've already said -
my studio time is
9-5 and then after the wife and kid go to bed, say...from 11-1am
the evening is out of bounds...
and frankly
- exador10
hey jox, agentfour, plamenski, gravityroom...
thanks for the feedback..
i thought it was bullshit too..but i wasn't sure if i was being unreasonable..
this guy is seriously getting on my tits now...
i don't stand behind programmers and mutter 'I like the number 9..can you throw a bunch of 9's into that code?..
and how come there's so much code?...can you delete some of that?...
why not?..fuck..
i just want to settle this before my old boss starts getting irate..
he's really my client, and i don't want to make things uncomfortable between him and this dude....
but it's starting to get weird..thanks for the feedback guys
ex
- rabattski0
never ever have someone looking over your shoulder when you work. there is nothing more annoying and unproductive as that. you could use that as an argument. that it isn't productive.
but he is not your client, the other guy is, so what his client thinks, wants is his issue. not yours.
on another note, being selfemployed myself, i do not believe in a 9-5 no work in the weekends and holidays when you run your own business. business is business.
- exador10
well...
looks like i'm gonna meet this freak on neutral ground..at my clients office..
we can deal with this there...i just want to get this jackass off my back...
as for 'i dont' believe in 9-5 rabattski, i agree with you up to a point..
being self employed, and taking on lots of clients pretty much ensures that you'll be busy...
on the other hand, i've got a wife and kid, and am not about to sacrifice my marriage and family for anything..
thats why i stop the designing in the afternoon when they get home, and resume it once they go to bed...
the evening has to be for family..
if it was just me, hell ,i'd probably go 24-7..
but you have to put family first in my opinion..
- tuig0
impossible client,i have one in sitting in the kitchen now...amazing how just plain dumb that man is.
- rabattski0
true. i realized that just now. i haven't got a wife nor a kid. if i would have i would prolly do the same as you. sorry for that.
- prodigalslacker0
haha sounds like fun.
while i don't have clients looking over my shoulder, the best is when you just keep sending client comp after comp and you're always "this close" but never right there.
sometimes i think i'd prefer to have a client just be there to tell me what i'm obviously doing wrong and how their superior design intellect would fix such a problem.
idiots...
- exador10
hahah..
to funny prodigal..and no worries rabattski...
when i first read the post i was 'hey!..but it took me all of two seconds to reallize that i worked like that before i got married too...
used to sleep at the office a few nights a week...
that shit all changes tho, when you settle down..and doubly so when you have a kid..at the end of the day, no one will remember this logo, or that logo or some poster or site or whatever..
but your family will remember if you didn't make time for them...
namean?
anyhow no worries rabattski...
like i said, before i was married, i worked pretty much 24-7 too...
and you are definitely right..
'business is business'..
damn straight
:)ex
- yarsrevenge0
Just another reason why a customer is not allowed behind the counter.
I once had this happen to me. I let the guy pretty much design his billboard while I was the puppet running photoshop while he sat there saying... "Ok, make it bigger... more red... make my face brighter"... you get the idea. But what really sucked was when the billboard was put up on the hwy, he didnt like it and referred to me as a "shitty" designer. My boss stepped in and told him to go eat a bowl of dicks. If he would have just let me do what I do best, it would have looked much different.
- SoulFly0
tell him you live in the ghetto
- bentzen0
there must be boundaries, especially with time. you can tell people you work 9-5 but actually work 24-7. it just keeps it all very professional to have regular office hours. and that way, if a client calls at 2am with an "idea" or some last minute changes, you can bill them overtime. sounds kinda shitty but it really keeps the client in line.
- magicpatch0
tell him to getcha a 17" powerbook, and you'll work where ever he likes