How many times have you faced the demanding, impatient, not well paying, not-really-knowing what-he-wants client?
I Bet enough times to recognize him from a mile away. But what doesn’t work with these clients? Is it he? Is it you?
I bet most of us, usually answer it’s the clients fault. “He doesn’t let us create quality design. The time is not enough. He comes and changes my idea to something unrecognizable. He thinks he knows everything…and my work is worthless to his eyes.”
Well in graphic design there are always 2 sides. You and them. But is there really something that makes you enemy? I guess not. You both want to create something beautiful. A piece of design that his bussiness will gain from it and you, as a designer, will be proud of.
Client Design vs Yours (I really hope yours is even better than these...:P)
Well, usually the main problem is that your pride, or your preconceived ideas of what your clients visual communication should be, don’t let you think what he really wants. Despite the fact that we tend too consider ourselves something between artist and God and thus unmistakable, there are sometimes that the client( you know, the one who pays the bills) has something very clear in his head about what he wants.
So what? You are the designer. You know everything. Well, what I am suggesting is to reconsider what your job is. Is it to create “art”? Is it to have the client happy? Or is it the combination of both? I understand that most of the time you have very good reason to react like that, but think for a moment what your clients feels.
He pays (hopefully for you) a good amount of money and he wants to get something he likes. And besides that, since when did you become a specialist in any market? Each market (e.g. food market or clothes market) has different rules and different visualization. You might have the super artistic-beautiful and eye-catching design for the fast-food restaurant in your area but does it work? Are you sure you know better a market then your client who’s been established in that with his knowledge and hard work?
So, make peace with the client!
Just give him the chance to teach you. After sometime you will be in position to offer better solutions to your clients since you will have explored a vast variety of markets. But working and not listening to what the clients wants is totally wrong. You miss the chance to be taught from a great range of professionals about the specific markets and become a great designer after a while! Take care!
