how do you deal?
- Started
- Last post
- 19 Responses
- leftwave
this continues to happen and i'm about to kill one of my clients....
today, i showed 2 clients each a design concept for their website that I thought was fantastic. immediately, they start listing off all of these AWFUL changes that they want me to make. i tried explaining, "as your professional designer, i really recommend that you don't do x y and z because it's really not going to look good, etc", but they insist on their awful ideas.
now, both of these clients have managed to take full control of the process and their designs look so awful now that i'm not even motivated to work on them.
how do you deal with clients who have ZERO TASTE? ultimately, they are paying me to provide them with what they want, but how do i convince them that what they want looks like shit?
- mr_snuggles0
drugs, alcohol and the blog thread...
- emokid0
snuggles wisdom is beyond his years.
- uberdesigner0
from the top
- Rand0
spiritual pursuits
squirrel killing
what snuggles said
- Crouwel0
get to know your client. develop a nose for clients. see what sort of person it is. if he/she is really passionate about what he/she does, or about the company (not for profits, but for the craft/product/service etc.) then usually this may be a good client to negotiate with, as they want only the best to represent their product.
if it's just an arse with several companies and/or only in it for the money and wants you to shit out a logo, don't even think about starting to work with them. don't accept the job and move on.
also, be selective to what you put in your portfolio, show clients you are a designer with a vision and a passion for good and unique solutions, not a generic-marketing-man's-slave-de...
do not follow trends too much, as those sort of clients usually treat designers as someone manipulative..
this is basically my vision on these things. hope it's helpful.
go for durable design. create timeless work. show them what's good, don't let yourself be dictated, as it will only get worse and worse and worse if you do!!
- jevad0
nice janne
- leftwave0
crouwel, loved the advice. thank you! (the drugs and alcohol can only help so much)
my question still is how do i not let myself get dictated? when my client says "move that blah blah and make the color more like this and bring in an image of a blah blah" how do i just tell them no fucking way?
- jevad0
Do it their way - then do it your way.
Justify everything you have done that you think is better - why you did it that way - why it is a better and more visual appealing direction or whatever.
As long as you give good justification for things - and your case is stronger - you will always win.
- uberdesigner0
don't deal.
endure
banana hammock
one.
- Jaline0
I'd just take the money and then throw up a little in my mouth after seeing the final design.
- ninjasavant0
I'm with jevad. When it comes to clients I've delivered what they wanted but put the one I liked in my portfolio. When people have asked about the live site I say there were changes made since I delivered the one I liked.
I guess the thing you have to let go of is your sense of design entitlement. They're paying and want to see their vision in some cases. So give it to them, I'll take their money to make the crap they probably could have done in FrontPage. But that's me.
- Jaline0
That's definitely a good idea. No crappy designs in your portfolio if you had something much better than what you ended up making for the client.
- nosaj0
Suggest something better.
- emmaopeel0
another interesting tactic is to say "no " to a clients (can you see why I am not a billionaire at my wise thirty-minus-one age)...
truly: to say "as your creative consultant, I have serious reservations about the path that you have asked me to pursue. And, as I am confidant in my skills but sometimes humble in my opinion — after all, you know your business better than I do — I might recommend that you bring in another designer or firm with more specialty in the type of work you are looking for."
and then you pass them off to your immensely talented and fresh-to-the-project good pal (does this ring a bell, torres?)...
who might someday involve you in it again if you are interested!
- khilled0
you should kill yourelf and blame them
- blaw0
my AD is a strong proponent of getting everyone involved. get the client to feel like their opinion matters, benefits the project, etc.
once they see the success of their contribution, they are less likely to fuck the project up.
i, on the other hand, am firmly in line with the drinking and telling them 'no' logic.
my way gives you a headache.
- khilled0
you should kill yourelf and blame them
khilled
(Apr 10 06, 17:35)but let your elf know it's for the betterment of the design
- mrdobolina0
sadly, it all depends on how much I need the money.
sometimes you gotta bite the bullet to keep the lights on, it is just a fact of life.
- monNom0
a little trick a like to use it to do it their way half-assed, then do it my way to the nines... show them both and they'll almost always pick the well crafted one.. plus you can bill double!
I'm also a big fan of going over people heads... if my contact at the company starts getting stupid ideas, I leapfrog over to his/her boss and let them know that the project is going to shit because of their incompetant employee.
//