One thing we’re trying to do more this year is use our blog to educate potential clients more about how we operate and what the standards and hot styles are right now. We hope that this will help to get potential clients in the mindset of truly viewing us as the experts we are. Anything we design is of course going to take their vision into consideration, but we’re going to put the spin on it that we think will take their company to the next level. Hopefully knowing this in advance will help to weed out the straight-laced clients or at least help them to come into a project with a more open mind.

We also encourage potential clients to view our portfolio, as it’s the best indication of how we visualize concepts. And we take the time to describe our work and concept designs so that others can get an idea of where we were coming from with certain designs. Again, this might help to solve problems before they come up if our potential clients can get an understanding of how we work before they sign contracts and pay for work.

Of course, there will still be problems that arise because we can’t account for everything. And when that happens, we still need to understand how to proceed professionally to do what’s best for both the client and ourselves. Your article has been a great help to this end! I think the main thing I’ve taken away is that when we get to the point where we no longer care how the project turns out, it’s time to respectfully throw in the towel. Otherwise, the client won’t get work they’ll be truly happy with, and we won’t be proud of what we’ve created because we did so out of haste and without caring.

Great read!

But let us not forget that we are in the business of _commercial_ design: that is to say, we are all prostitutes at some level or another. There are very few of us that can pull the Mad Men style of dictating to the client exactly what they need: clients are much more savvy about marketing than they were in the 60′s and the commercial design industry has lost some (possibly most) of the mystique that it had back then. So as Jason points out, compromise is usually the word of the [insert measurement of time here].

However, as designers, we are supposed to be the experts on what works, visually. We have been educated in basic design principles, and unlike most of our clients, we spend all day, every day, looking at, working on and considering visuals and their impact. It is therefore our responsibility to point out pitfalls, gaffes, mistakes and other blunders that a client might request.

Respectfully. And always remembering that our very expertise can also be a bias. We might think that a lot of whitespace, an open leading, and a sparse design is the most aesthetically pleasing (and can probably back it up with countless examples), but the client potentially has some good business reasons, or some insights into its target audience, their buying cycle, or the competitive space that gives their requests validity.

An approach that we use at Zeitguys is to:
- remind the client that we are the curators of their visual aesthetic
- let the client know that we WILL accommodate every request
- let the client know that we will focus on the SPIRIT of the request rather than the LETTER
- request clarification about the INTENT of a client’s request, in cases where the request is very specific (move that logo over to the right, center this block of text)

With the above points in mind, gently craft a boilerplate paragraph, which you can insert into your written communications, or that you can paraphrase in your phone conversations or meetings. You will have the framework for establishing a respectful relationship with your more opinionated customers.

I will say that most clients I have had do have an understanding and an appreciation for that. Generally speaking anyone who owns or is an important part of a business understands the value of putting their customers first. A lot of times these clients will be pursuing a web site because they feel it is a convenience for their customer base. So we tend to generally be on the same page.