- At some point in a job
the client will suggest a change.
In a perfect world this would be
a change to the direction or content,
but often it is more tactical than conceptual.
Rather than looking at the goal,
the client begins to tell
the designer what to do.
That's the same as me telling my doctor
exactly how to do my surgery.
It's not good for anyone.
So how can this be avoided?
When a client suggests
that you make the typeface bold,
move the logo to the left,
or on a website add some space
between the navigation items,
he or she is trying to solve a problem.
Your job is to get to the actual issue
and not become a computer operator
or a pair of hands for the client.
This again is a designer and client
communication issue.
The client thinks telling you to make
the logo bigger solves the issue
that the identity is getting
lost with the other items.
You know that this might work,
but maybe making it huge
and overprinting the image is a better solution.
When I'm asked to make a design change,
I ask why.
Not in a mean way, but as a discussion.
That's interesting.
What are you trying to achieve here?
I might have other options also.
Then you can come back with an example
of what they asked for, and the better solution.
I had a furniture company client years ago
who loved to brainstorm ideas on a project.
I was fine with that.
I'll take a good concept from anyone.
It doesn't always need to be about me.
At one point he asked if I could create
a 40 foot sign made with ants.
He wanted an ant farm
that would spell out the name of his company.
I know that insects
rarely follow directions from people.
And I'm sure there are codes
about using live animals as signage.
But he was so excited by the concept,
even giving me sketches showing me the ants
making the letters.
Rather than saying "no, that's crazy,"
I asked him what he thought this meant.
He gave it some thought and explained
that it was a way to show that building homes
was common with all creatures.
I came back with a solution of running
a bank of monitors along a glass wall.
Each would show a film of a different animal
making their homes.
Beavers in a dam.
Birds in a nest.
And so on.
He loved it, and I saved thousands of ants.
Design is fun.
For non-designers, it seems easy.
Part of this comes from the fact
that design and typography is so ubiquitous.
Graphic design is everywhere.
How hard could it be to make a logo?
I'm sure there's a program that does that.
Our process is about digging down,
finding the truth, and applying our skills
to create a message.
A client suggestion may end up
being the right one, but we need to determine
why they want something, not how to do it.
Sometimes it takes some digging,
but eventually I can reach why they want
bolder headlines, bigger logos,
or a photo of their dog
on the cover of the annual report.
The trick is being patient and nonjudgmental.
I've always believed the client will always know
his or her business better than I ever could.
I need to listen to what they're saying,
knowing that there is a good reason
for the comment.