The Client Always Wins(And That’s OK!)
Hear me out…
I will preface this by saying that I DO NOT advocate letting bad clients walk all over you with unreasonable demands and undervaluing your work just because they are the client. If you encounter this behavior in your design journey, CUT IT OUT OF YOUR LIFE and save time and energy with clients who will respect your talents and knowledge.
To say the “client always wins” means being open to listening to what they have to say because, in the end, they hired us to solve a problem for them. While it’s good for designers to have confidence in their skills and expertise in the tools we use, with that comes getting caught up in our greatness that we dont listen to what the client has to say or their input during the project. Also, when they bring information that may not be what we ideally envision, we could brush it off as the client not trusting our process.
But that’s the kicker... it's not OUR vision; it’s the client's!
It’s one thing to present something visually stunning that people like, but clients come to us to help define their brand's personality and create a visual identity to match that personality. So, while it may result in a revision to a concept you thought would be great, they might see something different, which is OK! Celebrating when your first concept gets approved with no changes is also essential. It’s all about creating a transparent and collaborative space for your client to be involved with everything going on in your process. This results in clients trusting your ideas more and allows the designer to learn more about the client's goals for their business. On that note, here are some pieces of advice that I learned in my journey to help develop healthy relationships with clients
Create a Client Portal
Communication is the key to creating and maintaining healthy relationships that last. This applies to the one between client and professional. One way to smoothen lines of communication is to have a client portal in your project management software. Since I use Honeybook to handle most of my operations, it creates a client portal that I can send to my clients so I can chat with them in one place rather than a flood of email threads that can get lost in conversations. I know others in my field use apps like Notion, Monday, Trello, etc., with the point being that client portals help reduce the stress of client interactions because they are simplified in a simple format.
DONT Get Too Attached to your Concept!
Easier said than done. Since you have probably worked hard on a concept-backed design, the client would love it if they gave it a chance. But, sometimes, the client has a different thing in mind, and while it is still good, you feel like the client didn’t give the initial design a chance. However, we all must realize that this logo is not for us, not even the client; it’s for the people who will be viewing and engaging with the visual identity, and you may not capture that the first time around. I encourage people to keep a loving distance between you and your designs. That way, you can still love what you do but not be heartbroken when your client asks for revisions. A perfect outlet to love your designs freely is to design mock briefs. Mock briefs are faux companies that designers come up with, and they create a brand identity as if it were a real one. They are an excellent way to develop and perfect your skills while giving you all the freedom to make your desired design. They also are great for your portfolio to show potential prospects to hire for your services!
Neatly Package your Concept
However… what if your design is in sync with the target audience, and you need the client to see the positive impact the design will have on the company? Put and package your idea to be appealing and digestible. Packaging is one of the most critical aspects of marketing. We make decisions with our eyes whether to consider one option over the other. As such, creating a presentation detailing why you chose the design, how it will appeal to the target audience, and how to use it is essential. Produce mockups to show the client how the design will look in action. Presentations help you communicate your ideas to your clients so they understand the rationale behind your process.
Encourage Helpful Feedback
We love our clients, but sometimes, they need help wording their feedback in a way that designers can work with. I’m sure we all hear the phrases:
“Make it Pop,” “Make it Bigger,” “Jazz it Up!”
While it makes for some comedic moments, it needs to tell the designer what problem the client has with the design. That’s why it is good to create a feedback questionnaire to create questions that will assist the client in voicing their thoughts on the design constructively so that the designer can take the appropriate measures to revise and improve the design.
