that makes giving them input on a project always a bad idea?
Not that you have any choice. And it's the height of arrogance as a designer to suggest that perhaps what they want is ugly as sin - no sarcasm intended.
It just seems everytime I come up with an elegant design that I love, the client wants changes that nearly invariably make it less so.
I do my best to please my clients, but boy it doesn't help the old portfolio....
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Yes, but as they say, it's not your building, it's the clients. So if they love it, it doesn't matter that you don't.
At least it's a building in my field. I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about.
Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
More print and web design, but the same principle applies.
I think a lot of clients make changes because they can. They ask for things which are plan ugly and violate good design sense and you can't tell 'em any different.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Yup, it stinks when people who are paying get to specify what it is that their money should buy.
I hate people.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Yeah, I get a lot of that. Building owners who ask for ugly and awkward things in what would have been a beautifully designed space.
Ah well.
People know what they like, and no one thinks they have bad taste.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I work with a woman who says, "Money is wasted on the rich -- they have no taste."
I just love that.
Posted by Tresopax (Member # 1063) on :
"Good design sense" changes from person to person. It seems to me that the end produce should appeal to the client's design sense, not the designers, because it is the client that is paying and the client that will have to live with the result.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:People know what they like, and no one thinks they have bad taste.
Especially designers. ;P
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
I have a friend who got his PhD in Art History. He knows absolutely everything about art, but he has no idea what he likes!
--Enigmatic
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
Ah! The economist's motto: De gustibus non est disputandum.
Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
It was always my experience, the option you were the least happy with was the one they chose.
I found giving them three options works the best. 1 to throw out, and 2 to discuss and pick from. If you give them more options they usually can't decide, if you give less they want to see more and start making lots of helpful suggestions. Of course sometimes they choose the throw out option and you’re screwed.
If you feel strongly against doing something in your design you should be able to explain why what they are asking for doesn't work. Listen to what they are trying to communicate and suggest a better way to do it. Your Clients may not know what works or doesn't work from a design point of view, but they should know what they want to communicate on their web page or in their ad. If you can come up with a "good design" that effectively gets the point across they will want to use it. If they don't know what they are trying to communicate then you may have to help the figure it out.
Of course sometimes you just get a client who loves yellow star burst on a tie died background, in which case do what they want, put the money in the bank and don't put the work in your portfolio.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
And if you need to present multiple (more than three) options, make the one you want to use the third one. If you're only giving three, it should be the second. Never, ever make your choice the first or the last, those are much less likely to get picked. Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Troubs, I'm with you. We have a web commerce product that allows the individual sites fully customize the look and feel of the interface. Our flagship client, the one we use for most references, has customized their web store to the ugliest darned thing you've ever seen.
We use them for references on our other products, not the web piece. Entirely because their taste is so abominable.
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