designer vs. client
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- leftwave
do you ever feel like you are in a battle with your client?
SCENERIO: you show your client a nice design, and they want you to make a bunch of ugly changes.
SOLUTION 1:
you give them EXACTLY what they want, even if it goes against everything you know and love about design. And then you just don’t put the piece in your portfolio because it’s embarrassing and you hate it.SOLUTION 2:
you tell the client that you can’t do what they’re looking for and they should hire somebody elseSOLUTION 3:
you spend hours making dozens of alternate comps that combine what they’re looking for with what you think they should be looking for. Meanwhile the client is annoyed since you’re not just giving them what they want, and ultimately they’re guaranteed to pick the ugliest one anyway.Ultimately they are the paying customer, and they should get whatever they want.
So my question is: how do you deal with clients like this??
- mrdobolina0
I get paid to give the client what they want and solve problems along the way. don't take it personal.
- brandelec0
solution 3
if you can 'convince' them on round 2 that their requests led to these 'improvements' then everyone's happyif its really hopeless, mula is mula, you've invested enough by then to get something out of it, scenario 1 is such a bitch
- brandelec0
i gave my 2c once after a client asked for changes, in one message telling her why its a bad idea and what im being paid for. she responded with "customer is always right"
buy something nice with that cheque and fuggedaboutit
- ********0
please kill me
- gruntt0
replace "client" with "creative director" and you'll know my hell.
- liquid0
ok how do you display work in your folio without making the client look like an idiot and how to keep a reference from them...
I would love to put in my folio..... this is what we suggested.....this is what the client wanted...
I mean some of my stuff looks like ass because the client was an ass.....
- tonia0
I say educate them as much as you can.
The client is usually as ignorant as they get and what they dont know WILL hurt YOU.
Yeah, replace client with project manager!
- leftwave0
i guess the real question is how do you make your client OPEN to hearing what you think when they think they already know exactly what they want since they know their customers and their industry and you don't and blah blah crap blah blah blah...
- ********0
designers and clients should always take e together
- Gorbie0
and be sure to get full approval before they come down
- ********0
hallucinogens make the logo look bigger
- iDp0
I have a way of dealing with just this sort of thing...I tell the client this
"Ok look...hiring a designer is like hiring a band for your wedding. You aren't going to hire a mariachi band for your Jewish wedding are you?'
client: ummm right
'And you arent going to hire some new band who just started playing last week right?'
client: ok ok I see what you are getting at...
'You hired me, I have experience and I have the style your company wants. If you put me into this whole silly wedding band scenario that I put together then you might say that I'm in the band who is going to try and fuck your new wife while you're over shaking the presents. k?'
client: ......
This is how I get rid of clients. *bows*
- chocodog0
yeah, tonia's got it ... and to a lesser/more extreme extent, iDP's got it.
education and communcation.
talk it over with a lucnh or a drink.
- whitenoise0
I find the trick is to have arguments against their ideas. Truth is that if you cant argue for it (other than that it looks better) you cant expect them to trust your advice. If they feel that you are coming at it from a business prespective they are likely to listen more.
- leftwave0
iDp
!!!
- save0
yawn...welcome to everyday life!!!
- k770
you're suffering this because you're not doing good sales. if you can make your client laugh, they will eat up anything you show them, well, almost anything.
- leftwave0
chocolate ice cream... HA HA HA!!!!!
- jeneraa0
Technically, you're doing work for them & not yourself, so give them what they want. If it's shit, they're the ones who deal with it since its what they asked for. But just think if you hired someone to do a specific task you had in mind, only to have them telling YOU what to do. You'd get pretty ticked. Who knows, they might have a little heads up on what this design is meant to accomplish and in what way it is meant to do so. It'd just be nice if they shared why. Managers/Directors are supposed to be servants as well as leaders, if they are true leaders. That's why L.O' the Rings was such a huge success. Not only were the stories already widely popular, but there was a team behind the creation of the movies. I can't remember the director/producer guy's name this very moment, but he was open to suggestions from his crew. All in all, it lead to a very successful trilogy that LOTR readers loved and not loathed. Rock on.
Oh, and don't put the project in your portfolio if it's crap. You're supposed to reserve that space for some of your best & most representative work anyway.
- jevad0
Some clients are a waste of fucking time - it's up to you to balance to hassle with the renumeration you will be getting and decide if they are worth keeping.