Is this something you could prevent by handing your client a list of FAQs or something they sign off on reading and understanding?

No need to apologise for the vent.

Take my last project as an example. I am currently overseas in South Asia, where I was contacted by a large international cluster-company in a panic, who needed a set of eight pull-up banners (design and photography) for an unscheduled visit by one of their largest clients. The cluster that I am working for has very little concept of visual-marketing, as the majority of their business is acquired via the fact that they are very much a niche provider. This set of alarm-bells, compounded by the fact that I was given a deadline of four days. But, the money was good and they seemed to listen to my suggestions, so I took it on.
After being told that there wasn’t enough time for a brief (!?), I persevered and managed to set up a meeting with each of the cluster companies to squeeze out enough information to get the job done. I was told at this point that I would be left to my own devices as there wasn’t time to evaluate / amend (which, I must be honest, pleased me somewhat) and promptly set about contacting each P.R. dept for information, colourways, logos etc. After nearly two days of headbutting the wall, I decided it would be a whole lot less painful to re-vector several of the cluster’s logos myself, rather than expectantly wait whilst a CD was burned with yet another 250 pixel-width Jpeg, or to explain for the umpteenth time what a vector was, and that ‘no, I can’t simply copy it from your Powerpoint presentation’. Corporate colour information never came.

Then came the photography.
I truly hope that you can’t empathise with my having to travel to five different locations, each of them in either 40° direct sun (awful for shadows) or frequent torrential monsoon bursts (awful for annihilating delicate digital cameras) to take shots of company grounds and factory processes. On making it abundantly clear that I would be taking in the region of 7 relevant shots (5 for use) at each location, I was put under pressure to take photographs of CEO’s, boardrooms and other things that were of absolutely no use to me, but obviously would’ve saved them a pretty penny in getting another photographer in to do this kind of work. My protests were eventually heeded, but many hours were wasted being surreptitiously ushered to areas that they hoped I’d shoot as a freebie This happened in 3 of the five locations.

I did however return to find a word document with all copy enclosed.

This left me with just over 24 hours to complete the project, so I had to pull an all-nighter to get everything finished for the print deadline. My nerves were shattered at this point.

The next day, bleary-eyed, I turn up the the main office and print out a set of inkjet ‘proofs’ so that the marketing dept could at least have a quick scan in case of glaring omissions and mistypes (I needed a confirmation that all was present and correct as I was absolutely knackered and could’ve easily missed a typo). After a quick look through by one of the directors and a few of the marketing staff, I was given a big thumbs-up and told to take all files to be printed.

One hour later and I’ve literally just pulled up outside the printer. I get a phone call from the marketing dept with a list of changes as long as my arm. All of them utterly pointless and most of them damaging. Initial design agreements made during the cluster meeting are ignored and deemed unsuitable, text provided to me is deemed ‘incorrect’ and the sweeping amendments completely avoid the focus of the whole project. For 10 mins I sit there and refuse to change anything other than small amounts of copy, standing my ground and repeatedly trying to explain the process and reasons for the designs being as they are. As soon as I mention the ‘psychology of design’ I am told in no uncertain terms (By the CEO no less) that they are the client and therefore the ones paying my bill. I must do as they say.
So, I sit in an Asian McDonalds for 2 1/2 hours, drinking coffee that I have to chew, making amendments that are murdering the work, several thousand miles from home.

But the clincher? At the top of one of the banners was a photograph I had chosen from an image library that illustrated a multi-racial business set-up. The purpose of this particular banner was to tie-in all of the companies and as a global concern.
I was asked to remove it, and instead put in an acronym that appeared twice already on the banner. The acronym: CSI. I was then told that I must use the CSI typeface from the television show of the same name. At this point I’d given up. But I still managed to ask: “why?’.
“Well, everyone watches the tele”…

Sorry for the vent. Really needed the catharsis of a good digi-yell.

But before I go, if I may be so bold as to ask a question: How do you manage to not take these things personally?

‘I have an idea but don’t know how to create it on a computer’

one client told me:

‘you’re not the creative one, I’m the creative one, you just operate the machinery for me’,

I drew exactly what they asked for (a book cover illustration & layout) and they now have complained about everything that is ‘wrong’ with the ideas of the piece!!

Dan

I will definitely be checking your blog again in the near future.

There are some people who go against your advice, no matter how much you protest. It hasn’t happened to me for some time, but I’d go ahead with their wishes. Give them what they want, then show them what you think is better.

One of my first “paid” logo design jobs involved a client who insisted in getting a design that was overly flashy, highly detailed, and full of raster “bling”. I suggested to her repeatedly, that a clean and simple vector logo would be the way to go. There was no winning this one however, so I did what she asked for.

It turned out that she loved the design, but she was un-happy with how it displayed in smaller sizes. The reason being; the logo just had too much gong on.

I’ve found myself in this situation more than once. The client wants what they want, depite your strongest attempt at convincing them otherwise. I’m curious to see what you other designers do in a situation like this. Do you tell the client you just won’t proceed with something you know is not appropriate and will cause problems later on, or do you bite your lip and do what the client asks?

Nice article as always David. Keep it up!