Comments on: 20 questions clients ask before choosing a designer

By: firebubble - logo design UK

firebubble - logo design UK — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:35:54 +0000

About point number “8. I know exactly what I want. Can I get a discount on your price.” Yes this is definitely a cause for concern. I used to do a discount on the price too but the truth is you do end up doing just as much work only you are limited to very narrow ideas. About point number “19. Will you show me a few samples.” This should be a definite no as you have to be careful they may well just be after your ideas! Thanks for the great post Leslie Tane.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:20:30 +0000

Hello Glen,

I can fully empathise with you. Clients trickling information to the designer doesn’t help one bit where timelines are concerned. As much as I advise clients it’s best to begin designing once all the information has been gathered together, it often doesn’t work that way.

By: Glen .L .Graham

Glen .L .Graham — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:16:40 +0000

Hi David
as a fellow designer I always enjoy reading your blog it’s very insightful.
And Leslie I run in to many of these questions from clients that hire me to do work for them.
How ever one that is most difficult to answer for me is number #10 How long is your turnaround time? I always tell clients it depends on when they get materials to me. It’s very difficult to provide a solid turn around time when clients trickle information to me.

Thanks again great article.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:40 +0000

Stefan,

I’m glad you appreciate Leslie’s guest post. I was very pleased she agreed to make an appearance here.

By: Stefan Tell

Stefan Tell — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:43:23 +0000

Very good summary of questions that I wish some (or all) of my clients would have asked before starting a project. Too often the focus is to get the price right and then right down to the solution (drafts), skipping the whole process of going through a well formulated brief and all that. Or asking the right questions before they might become a problem.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:03:08 +0000

Yeah, my readers are great people aren’t they? It’s an honour to have them visit and contribute to the discussion.

Thanks very much for changing my details on your site. That’s a big help. ;)

By: Leslie Tane

Leslie Tane — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:32:56 +0000

David,
Really, thank you for letting me post here. You have the nicest readers.

SUCH a bummer about your domain name hack job. I changed everything on my site to reflect the new domain name. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:24:02 +0000

Hi Leslie,

Thanks again for this excellent guest post. Sorry that my site was down for a week or so. Come back anytime with your great insights!

Thanks to everyone else for commenting, and making Leslie feel at home.

By: Justin (pusha)

Justin (pusha) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:52:47 +0000

I Definitely agree with you about not giving out comps or working on spec! So many people ask for that but it’s usually not with bad intentions, just ignorance.

By: allie

allie — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:50:09 +0000

I have hired so many graphic designers in the past year. But the truth is I ask price first and ask for a sample of how they would approach my project. Questions like “why should i hire you” are, IMHO, more for hiring a personal assistant or recruiter, not a designer. Look at the work and that’s all the proof you need. Look at their folio!!

allie