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Please Stand By.



"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity; lick it once and you'll suck forever." Brian WIlson.

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to Bermoraca for the cool image.

The Designer/Client Relationship

A Clients Guide, wishful thinking? Perhaps. But, perhaps a consideration.

The digital world has vastly improved the speed of design. Proofs can be sent electronically and a great amount of design can be accomplished on computer in a much shorter amount of time than ever before.

However, technology has not made the design process simpler. Designers still need time to work with your company to decide the best way to represent it to the consumer.

Deadlines and project scope must be realistic and flexible enough to deal with the unexpected. Remember that you are buying a public face to your business, and value it accordingly.

Remember that your designer is a professional collaborator and not an employee, and brings a set of skills to your company that is geared towards expanding your business.

When you hire a designer, make sure that you make them part of your business day. Keep in touch at a frequency acceptable to both of you, and the design process will flow smoothly in both directions.

Designers, like all business contacts, appreciate returned messages, even if it is only an acknowledgment of receipt.

Spend an extra hour with your designer at the beginning to outline your needs and interests, and you will save hours of time down the road in regards to deadlines and project scope. Taking the time to deliver a sufficiently in-depth project brief ultimately serves as a cost-saving device for both parties.

A qualified designer is trained to analyze your professional needs and, with your input and guidance, craft visual expressions of your business. The client should understand that this skill goes beyond the personal aesthetic and often deals with the psychology of branding and public perception, and is as individual to your company as a fingerprint.

A designer’s suggestions and recommendations on the project are not simply what clients or designers find appealing or pleasing. Good quality design is engineered to appeal to your customer. Be fair in your criticism. Ask questions instead of making statements. If something does not work, explain your misgivings fully instead of simply.

Remember that your designer is a professional collaborator and not an employee, and brings a set of skills to your company that is geared towards expanding your business.

In addition, the concepts and ideas generated together represent a contractual agreement of confidentiality/exclusivity between the designer and client. Just as the Designer will not divulge your business operations, you and your staff are obligated to do the same for our business.

This is an excerpt from Business Of Design Online featuring Catherine Morley's A Client’s Guide to Professional Conduct in the Design Industry.

To me it all boils down to one thing: Respect.

Great read, pass it on.

That's Right,

HMK

This is a That's Right repost from March of 2008, thanks to el estratografico for the cool scan.

Classic RFP

Now this is truly a dream Request for Proposal.

This was obviously for the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album design. We all need a few more client briefs like this...

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to Swiss Miss.

This One Time, At Brand Camp...

More geniusness from Tom Fishburne over at: Brand Camp.

That's Right,

HMK

Real World Vendor Client Relationship Situations

Genius. Sadly, we've all been there.

The only thing worse is when there's no weasel negotiation/explanation and the scumbag simply refuses to pay for services rendered. All I can say is thank God for that Karma Boomerang!

That's Right, so true and yet oh so wrong...

HMK

Thanks to Swiss Miss

The Designer/Client Relationship

A Clients Guide, wishful thinking? Perhaps. But, perhaps a consideration.

The digital world has vastly improved the speed of design. Proofs can be sent electronically and a great amount of design can be accomplished on computer in a much shorter amount of time than ever before.

However, technology has not made the design process simpler. Designers still need time to work with your company to decide the best way to represent it to the consumer.

Deadlines and project scope must be realistic and flexible enough to deal with the unexpected. Remember that you are buying a public face to your business, and value it accordingly.

Remember that your designer is a professional collaborator and not an employee, and brings a set of skills to your company that is geared towards expanding your business.

When you hire a designer, make sure that you make them part of your business day. Keep in touch at a frequency acceptable to both of you, and the design process will flow smoothly in both directions.

Designers, like all business contacts, appreciate returned messages, even if it is only an acknowledgment of receipt.

Spend an extra hour with your designer at the beginning to outline your needs and interests, and you will save hours of time down the road in regards to deadlines and project scope. Taking the time to deliver a sufficiently in-depth project brief ultimately serves as a cost-saving device for both parties.

A qualified designer is trained to analyze your professional needs and, with your input and guidance, craft visual expressions of your business. The client should understand that this skill goes beyond the personal aesthetic and often deals with the psychology of branding and public perception, and is as individual to your company as a fingerprint.

A designer’s suggestions and recommendations on the project are not simply what clients or designers find appealing or pleasing. Good quality design is engineered to appeal to your customer. Be fair in your criticism. Ask questions instead of making statements. If something does not work, explain your misgivings fully instead of simply.

Remember that your designer is a professional collaborator and not an employee, and brings a set of skills to your company that is geared towards expanding your business.

In addition, the concepts and ideas generated together represent a contractual agreement of confidentiality/exclusivity between the designer and client. Just as the Designer will not divulge your business operations, you and your staff are obligated to do the same for our business.

This is an excerpt from Business Of Design Online featuring Catherine Morley's A Client’s Guide to Professional Conduct in the Design Industry.

To me it all boils down to one thing: Respect.

Great read, pass it on.

That's Right,

HMK

The Customer Is Always Right…

…is such a flawed statement. It’s the kind of phrase I can only suspect that some deceptive salesman concocted in the early days of American hubris. It reeks of that complete insincerity, which ultimately only says, “I’ll say anything, as long as you buy it.”

Our culture (inappropriately) feels so starved for a sensation of control, that we’ve come to love this phrase, regardless of the fact that deep down we know it is a complete and utter fallacy.

This is an awesome repost that's always nice to re-read. Big thanks to Eric Karjaluoto over at: Smash Lab.

Or, you can skip it and do yourself a favor by keeping this one thing in mind:

The idea and end result for the client has to remain your singular focus.

I choose to work with suppliers and partners who argue with me when I’m wrong. I would certainly prefer to be proven incorrect, as opposed to being erroneously lauded for my oversights or lack of knowledge. Put simply, if we care at all about the welfare of our clients, it is our duty to tell them the truth, even if it means upsetting them, or losing their business. It is both responsible and ethical.

When you finally start to say “no” to client requests which you believe to be misguided, it almost becomes hard to imagine doing it any other way.

Two Types of Clients

There seem to be two distinctly different types of clients. The first looks to you for your insights and professionalism. They clearly articulate their needs and ask you to direct the creative process, acknowledging that you are the professional in your field. These are responsible clients, and we have learned to count your blessings for these ones; likewise, we take their contributions seriously, as they are generally valuable and inform our work. These clients often seem to be quite successful. They find good talent, manage well, and get out of the way when their knowledge is not as strong as another’s, on a particular topic.

The second is the type of client who will make you question why you ever got in to the business. They will not respect your profession or knowledge. These are the kind of clients who say “I just want to sit next to you and tell you what to do. I know what’s good when I see it, but I just don’t know the programs.”

After over 15 years of dedicating every moment I have to this practice, and selectively choosing to bring incredibly talented designers to our studio, I feel no compunction to press buttons mindlessly while a wayward client exorcises their need to do something “kind of neat.”

These clients are hard to say “no” to. When you do, they will remind you that they have paid you substantially, and as such, you are indebted to do as told. The implied message here is “We’re paying you big, so bend over.” When a client sees the people in our firm as software operators, I politely suggest they work with other designers. I’d encourage anyone to do the same. Believe me, you sleep way, way better at night as a result.

Good clients will respect you for your principles, and for fighting for what you believe is in their best interest. Our friend, and client, Mishtu (perhaps the smartest person I know) often laughs about our first meetings. He jokes about how brash we initially seemed when we told him that he couldn’t do certain things, without damaging what he was trying to accomplish. That being said, his company’s interests were always central in our suggestions. As such, he has come to see our positions less as bravado, or “being difficult”, and more as us acting in his best interest.

Exactly.

Read the whole thing over here: Always Right.

That's Right!

HMK

No Posers Part 2

Looking for a relitively quick (49 pages) but super cool and uplifting inspirational read?

Well then, meet Hugh MacLeod, an advertising executive and popular blogger with a flair for the creative, as he gives his 26 tried-and-true tips for being truly creative. Each point illustrated by a cartoon drawn by the author himself.

If you've ever felt the draw to do something creative but just haven't been able to pull it together, you'll love this manifesto.

Here's a little sample of Hugh's How to Be Creative which can be found in the handy PDF format from the smart folks over at one of my favorite blogs, Change This.


Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships, that's why good ideas are always initially resisted.

With business colleagues, it’s even worse. They’re used to dealing with you in a certain way. They’re used to having a certain level of control over the relationship. And they want whatever makes them more prosperous. Sure, they might prefer it if you prosper as well, but that’s not their top priority.

If your idea is so good that it changes your dynamic enough to where you need them less or, God forbid, THE MARKET needs them less, then they’re going to resist your idea every chance they can.

Again, that’s human nature. Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships, that is why good ideas are always initially resisted.

Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it.

Nice.

That's Right,

HMK

Hugh MacLeod is a brand consultant, copywriter and cartoonist. Born in America but educated in the UK, he has spent most of his life shuttling between the two countries. He started out in straight TV advertising writing in the early 90s but with the advent of new media it evolved into new brand thinking and cultural transformation. Check out his website, Gaping Void.