Great article and I enjoyed the bit on how we can further educate the client too.

I am a graphic Designer 2, and now i’m doing my MA in Design Education. I’m contacting a research in order to find out:

“What kind of critical decisions do designers make? How do they feel about them?”

Do you think that we can open a chat/topic with this subject
in order to use the answers in my dissertation?

I have done a research to a lot of universities based on that
topic, but i think designers knows better!

Thanks for this great article. I really enjoyed reading it, and I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve encountered this with my clients a few times, and just had to set some boundaries, when educating didn’t work – which caused either a better working relationship or losing business…there’s just no compromise when it comes to certain things, and I can’t compromise my integrity as a designer…it’s just not worth it to me.

With design (and a lot of other things) the client is definitely not always right. It doesn’t make sense for someone to come to an expert and pay them, just to ignore their suggestions in favor of their own personal preference. I think that bugs me the most. I once worked with a male personal trainer who happened to love red, silver, and black, while he was trying to appeal to dainty women. He wanted us to create advertising with that color scheme, when it’s pretty obvious that’s not going to work for his target market. That was a tough nut to crack.

This is a good analogy of what was happening here; anyone could design, but that didn’t mean anyone should. A kid with a copy of Photoshop producing beveled buttons and drop-shadowed web layouts was not a professional. The problem is the majority of people seeking designers to make their web sites and logos are clueless about what constitutes decent design and therefore susceptible to hiring any Chef de Plúnge.

So what to do? Well, the best recourse is education. Therefore as a designer I not only take the time to do an exceptional job for my client I also like to educate them on the proper aesthetics of the craft. Image is everything, after all. It isn’t just acceptable to do a job but also to do it professionally. This is important not only for your client but for the field of graphic design as a whole. Unfortunately, bad designers will always be with us, but the more knowledge we impart upon the masses the less work there will be for those who should not even be cooking in the first place.

It reminds me of the time that I was making a logo for my mom’s business. I kept the business theme in mind, and kept the logo clean, simple, and had one part that really highlighted the products. It was great. My mom hated it. She wanted something with a Papyrus font, a brick fill/texture and some grass and maybe a part of the product in the logo. This logo was going to go on a website, business cards, flyers and more. And her idea of a color scheme wasn’t really a scheme at all. So I modified the logo I made just a bit until she liked it, but still stayed within the concepts and ethics of “good design”.

It’s a sticky situation, but I don’t a client would come to you if they didn’t think you as a designer knew a bit more than they did about that subject. They’re coming to you for a reason. I think if you stick to their concepts and ideas, but also within the parameters of good design, then it’ll be a win-win situation.

Great post!!

Thanks for your good thoughts!

People who sell products have customers. People who provide services, have clients.

The expression “The customer is always right” is based on those who sell products. When you buy something, you seek assistance from the salesperson. Sometimes they are the expert, but sometimes you already know enough, so you are the expert.

Providing services is different. Someone seeks your service because you are the expert. You are the designer, they might know a little, but you know more, and that’s why they hired you. As the expert you should know best. And you should be able to provide the best solution.

As the expert you will analyze the client’s needs, branding, ethos etc etc,and design something that fits all those. If the client is still not happy, then you need to ask if you got it wrong or not. Of course, some clients will always want to fiddle and put their touch on it.

Hopefully though, during the analysis phase, you’ve already found out what they want and incorporated that if possible. If it’s not possible, then as the expert you need to explain *at their level*, why not.

If they still don’t get it, you might have to pull out the examples you gave about accountants or personal trainers.

Ultimately, that’s what we’re stuck doing, if they don’t want to listen and we want to get paid, but luckily I find more and more customers willing to open up and listen to us professionals.