Who Should Care More About Your Design? You or Your Client?

The question of who ought to care more about a commercial design project is a surprisingly divisive one. Many designers stress that it’s the client’s needs and desires which should come first, no matter what. Other designers insist that the time and energy that goes into creating a design, should never be wasted on a project that one only feels lukewarm about.

So who’s right and who’s wrong? And should this even be a question at all?

You, the designer

There’s no question that design is a very personal, individualistic profession. Ever since the Renaissance, the world has firmly embraced the idea of the individual artist, as opposed to the collective nature of art and design found in earlier cultures.

People hire designers, as much for their personal flair and aesthetic sense, as they do for their problem-solving skills.

As the designer, your name is attached to everything you produce and your reputation as a competent professional is tested each time one of your designs goes public.

Some designers’ aesthetic sense is more highly valued than others’ of course, and there is a hierarchy within the design world that largely determines who gets the choicest work.

Pride and joy

Every design that leaves your hard drive is like a precious jewel, special and unique. You trust your clients to cherish them all, as much as you do.

If a project is outside your niche or is uninteresting to you, or the client engages in business practices you don’t agree with, you will turn it down. This has the effect of creating a self-fulfilling cycle. The choosier you are with your projects, the more often you get offered projects you absolutely love. How? Well, the work you end up producing and putting in your portfolio is a more accurate reflection of your style and values, which sends a very clear message to potential clients. In other words, your body of work filters out most of the project offers that are not the best fit for it.

Client control

Ultimately, it is the client who has the final say over whether your original design vision gets to see the light of day. This is only fair after all. It’s their business and livelihood which your design is going to be representing.

There are ways to negotiate with clients and get them to “see reason” when they ask for changes you don’t agree with. But if you dedicate yourself to only accepting jobs you’re passionate about, you can greatly curtail the number of times you and your client don’t see eye to eye.

If you and your client are on the same page from the beginning, and they respect you and your contribution to their business, any changes they request shouldn’t come as a shock to you. It’s only the clients whom you haven’t built up a proper relationship with whose changes enrage you and leave you feeling homicidal towards them.

Mutual excitement

Your enthusiasm about what you do will attract the attention of clients who will be just as enthusiastic. They’ll take one look at your work and something will “click” in their heads, that you are the perfect person to solve their problem. Your commitment to serving people just like them, to providing personalised solutions to the problems unique to their niche, will be obvious.

The ideal designer-client relationship is always win-win. You win by getting to add to your portfolio another piece of work you’re proud of. And your client wins by getting the perfect solution that allows them to increase their revenue, traffic, sales or any other metric you and your client have concentrated on.

Value is more important than money

It’s been said that, when a customer achieves true satisfaction, price is almost irrelevant. If someone has a real problem, they will go to any lengths to solve it and the solution will be so valuable to them that they won’t even stop to consider how much it costs.

Value is always more important than money. This isn’t a license to fleece your clients, but a call to provide as much value as possible to each person you do business with. The increase in pay will happen naturally.

In conclusion

So, to wrap up, let’s go back to our original question. Who should care more about your design? You or your client? It’s clear from what we’ve covered here that the answer is: both.

Finding people you’re happy to serve and provide solutions for, will inevitably create raving fan clients who will be just as happy to spread the word about your awesomeness.

SOURCE: Hongkiat