the art of being nice

I love my job but some people are difficult!

Labels: clients

late for the party

Recently we parted company with a client.. well we kind of dropped them really. The client was an established boutique in the fashionable part of town, and was run by a rather hard to please madame. We'd had a very difficult relationship with her from the beginning, she considered us to be "the plumbers" and behind her website. We were not invited to the website launch party, we were the last to know when she wanted a change to the site and of course she always wanted it immediately. We quietly "plumbed" while the clients PA would hurl her ridiculous requests and then question every small detail and decision to the point where producing any sort of work was basically a ball ache.

Now being a designer can be a painful career sometimes. Its not like being a programmer or a washing machine engineer or even a plumber. For them its instantly clear if whatever they're working on is done wrong. But for designers there really is no absolute right way to do things, its just what feels right, and what feels right to one person sometimes feels very wrong to another. Its all about interpretation, how you interpret what the client wants or how you interpret the brief. Anyway for one reason or another she clearly hated our company, and the feeling was very much mutual. So after gritting our teeth for 4 years we downed tools and said goodbye, perhaps 4 years was rather a long time to not be enjoying what your doing but it took a while to realize that actually we shouldn't have to feel like this about a client. We shouldn't have to bend over backwards for a company that didn't recognize the pride we take in our work and lets face it she would never recommend us to anyone so whats the point.

So we are free and it feels great. She can carry on and I wish her every success...

Labels: clients

Just a quick one...

Ding.. you have a new email.. subject "Just a quick design job". Isn't it funny how folks who don't even know how to open a jpeg file can somehow "estimate" the time it takes to perform the digital gymnastics required to make thier poorly shot product shots into something that a person would want to buy. I guess I must have skipped that class at art school.

Labels: clients, photoshop

The power to publish whatever you want.

CMS! Content Management System.
Giving your clients the power to publish what they want, whatever that may be.

Recently we have been building a lot of CMS powered websites. Gone are the days of getting a designer to change your homepage or upload a new product. Now the client is in control of their web presence.

So... you work hard to make it look perfect, you think about the colours, the type, the tone of voice, the users, the navigation.. Its a great bit of work, you're proud of it.. its got your name on the credits.

But the client is in control of their content, that's the way they wanted it. If they want to use comic sans as the font on their homepage they can. If they want to have their name in italic text with an underline then that's up to them. If they want to have their badly scanned newspaper advert on the site as a new article then they should.. shouldn't they.. they can do what they like.. they have the controls.

Oh and its still got your name on the credits.

Labels: clients, cms, web design

Credit where credit is due

Its a strange line of work we're in isnt it? A new client approaches you with an idea.. just an idea, nothing more, nothing less. You agree to take them and their idea on, you agree a fee and a time and you set to work. You think about the idea while you drive home, while you eat, and while you spend time with your friends. Its the last thing on your mind when you go to sleep and its the first thing on your mind when you wake up. You carry it with you everywhere, for a few weeks you share your life with it. You encourage it, add to it, help it grow. You put your heart, soul, blood, sweat AND tears in to it. It becomes more than it was, something you're proud of, a product of yourself, something that you really care about.. then.. when its ready, when you have done everthing you can for it, you hand it over to the client. And in return they give you a small bag of money.

Thats the way it works, it was thier idea after all. You were just there to make it real, to breath life into it, make it work, make it look fantastic and that... thats all. No one will ever feel about it the way you did ever again.

Oh well, at least the bills get paid.

Labels: clients, ideas, web design

How to be a great client

I love this, found at www.number17.com

1. Understand that NOTHING takes 5 minutes. Or in other words: everything takes time.
2. Additional work means additional pay. We do LOVE what we do, but we don’t love it that much. So when you are asking us to go above and beyond (last minute or not), understand why you need to pay us for it, as you would when working with anyother professional.
3. Make up your mind. You can take a while to decide, but once you have, own it. If you must change your mind, understand and appreciate the implications of that.
4. Tell us what you’d like to convey, not how to convey it. For example: “I’d like the design to feel sunnier,” not “make it yellow.”
5. Good design is not done by committees. It is done by good designers.
6. Never, ever be rude to one of our employees. They are not YOUR employees. If you have a problem with something someone did, tell us (without yelling), and WE will yell at them. (NOTE TO NO. 17 EMPLOYEES: JUST KIDDING!)
7. Respect creates good feelings all around, which in turn makes the work better. Conversely, disrespect creates bad feelings that, subconsciously, might give one pause before going the extra mile to make a job truly spectacular.
8. If you call a meeting at lunchtime, serve lunch.
9. Give credit where credit is due. “Thank you,” or “good job” or “we appreciate your efforts” works wonders.
10. Pay invoices on time. And if you can’t, tell us why, and just let us know when to expect the check. “The check is in the mail” really does not fool anyone.
11. Be sober in meetings. If you have to drink, at least share.
12. If you’ve bothered to hire us, don’t have anyone else secretly working on the project. When the truth comes out, it’s demoralizing for all of us. Open relationships are fine only if all the parties are in on it.
13. Next time you come to our office, please bring back our bathroom key. It’s such a drag to get a new one.
14. Know what you want. The clearer you are, the stronger our solution will be.
15. We need a contract to protect ourselves. It’s not personal, just business. And you should read it before you sign it, because “but I didn’t read it” doesn’t hold up in court. (Clients have really said that. A surprising number of times.)
16. And as our employees once advised us, we too advise you, dear client: TRUST US.

Labels: clients, design