Comments on: Hiring a designer: a client’s perspective

By: Sara Boyd

Sara Boyd — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:46:24 +0000

This article was one of the best ones I’ve come across, actually being able to see in black and white what the “other person” (client) is most likely thinking will come in very handy as I personally find that I sometimes feel that a client gets a bit too full on, but this could very well be down to the fact that I might not have listened as well as I could have done.

So many thanks for this, I will make sure to pass it on to my other frustrated designer friends.

By: Penny Yuen

Penny Yuen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:16:13 +0000

So far I’ve only encountered two types of clients…respectful ones and disrespectful ones. Working with the former they were often times smooth and successful and I was more than happy to stick around for more business opportunities from them. But, with the latter, I can usually tell from the first meeting, the minute they want to have total control and tell me what to do, I will instinctively add 10% on job/client difficulty factor to my estimate, if client starts to ask more than what they’re willing to pay I will complete the job the best I could within the dateline, cut my losses and dash for my life. No sticking around, thank you very much.

I had a client who asked for a logo design…he was totally happy with the outcome and later harassed me to design his business card for free. His exact words ‘all you have to do is put the logo and contacts on it, very simple’.

Often times, clients do not understand the difference between styling and design. Styling is simply making that piece look pretty. Design is solving a business problem visually. This is when the client needs to know exactly what is their business objective and their brand identity that they want the design to communicate. When the client doesn’t know the problem, the designer will not be able to come up with a visual solution. Clients who understand this usually have no problems working WITH their designers.

By: Sven

Sven — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:23:54 +0000

Great read! – I’ve been in the industry for 20+ yrs and should know. But it’s a pretty good thing if someone takes the time to remember us how the other side looks and feels.

By: jackie

jackie — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:14:55 +0000

We need an apposing side for clients to read up on us.
Clients need to trust designers a little bit more.
We are trying to help you, we wouldn’t do something if it didn’t work.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:51:14 +0000

Its important to listen to the professional when your paying to get something done. You are passing the ball, so don’t try to take it away from them prematurely because of your ignorance or selfishness, or the designer will just think you are not worth it and walk away (subject to a contract, if there is one).

By: Danny Foo

Danny Foo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:38:55 +0000

A lot of clients in Malaysia are just as described above. But from a more extreme point, they think they’re the paying customer hence they’re always right.

Which brings me to my debate and disagreement of the “I need control.” Here’s a simple point from me after some thought.

“Clients hire a designer for their knowledge and experience – so, listen and don’t mouth off.”

Clients who need control should remind themselves again, they’re paying the designer not because they know how-to use the tools but because they know what works and what doesn’t. After all, that’s what research gathering is for.

And don’t worry, we’ll know you’re still the brand owner.

By: Ricardo

Ricardo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:02:57 +0000

“put out decent quality for 1/10 of your costs”. Hmm, right. I assume “quality” here stands for “reasonably visually pleasing design”, which is really only 1/5 of the end result. Real design for the web focus on user experience, findability/usability, and ultimately some form of ROI. It sounds like you still hire designers to make virtual business cards, not websites with a real purpose. As Steve pointed out, for any professional design firm it’s unfeasible to involve the client in all parts of the process.

It seems small business owners are still fooled by the notion that web design is “easy” or just “mocking up in the PC”, the old “anyone can do that” stand. There is real value in a proper design process, which that guy that costs 1/10 won’t deliver at all.

By: Aditya Mahesh

Aditya Mahesh — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:18:32 +0000

Steve,

You would be surprised to see how many designers do just that, especially on small projects like a simple logo or graphic.

Seeing how inevitably some of these designers would be readers of this blog or at least interested in such a guest post, I thought it would be a good thing to mention

However, I’m glad that this point does not apply to you or the compaies you work with. Unfortunatley the fact of the matter is that it does with others, and it was these designers who I hope benefited from that section of the post

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:47:30 +0000

Aditya,

Thanks for responding. Now that you’ve clarified, it sounds like you’ve never worked with anybody I’d call a “real designer” or “real design firm” when you make your statement about control.

Any designer / design firm worth its salt has a specific process that involves presenting you with 2 or 3 options/directions for potential designs, then doing “revision rounds” where you are presented with revisions to 1 or 2 of those directions as you narrow your choices down.

The fact that you have clarified your statement about control as just not wanting to be out of the loop for a month and then get a final product says to me that you’ve never worked with so much as a “decent” designer, let alone a good one, because your post gives me the impression that the process I just explained above would be foreign/novel to you.

As someone who has worked with a few design / web firms in his time, I take for granted that these things are just a part of the process!

By: zoe

zoe — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:04:37 +0000

Whilst this is all good as a wish list. You must consider if you can afford a level of service like this. All this talk about. “Good designer will” and “bad designers won’t” drives me mad. The process is only as good as the amount of time put in, the more time the more money. Creating a design which is not 100% as you imagined or providing as much interection does not make a designer “bad”. You get what you pay for. You have to separate product (design) and service (providing constant feedback – two lots of mock ups etc). Often the end result is no different to the passing eye, just the experience for the customer, hence the perceived value and hence the price is bigger.