“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
Kevin: I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit to breaking all these rules on occasion—and with gusto at that. But it’s important when that happens to seriously think about what mistakes were made and what other outcomes could’ve been reached using different tactics. Then you can chalk it up as a useful learning experience.
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
Great article, good to see a generalist design article.
The peer review is so true, but always allow time to be able to make the tweaks from the outcome of the peer review.
On thing that does nag me however. You suggest someone you know will have had dealings with the client’s board etc, being the inside source. But what if you are going in totally cold with just the design based on a client brief. This can happen with smaller firms working for say Govt. What to do then, the only people that may have inside knowledge maybe your opposition.
Gary: Like most multi-pronged approaches, when one prong is missing (or absent altogether) you need to make sure the others are that much stronger. You really can’t go wrong arming yourself with tight, succinct reasoning couched in matter of fact language. It’s all-purpose. Works with tough (not unreasonable) audiences, and serves as a great jumping off point with the more collegial, conversational ones.
@john: I still can’t figure out how to do a blockquote with Textile.
Dealing with clients is always difficult in this business, where everybody has an opinion and an emotional investment. I appreciate seeing articles like this one on ALA. Thanks.
@john: I still can’t figure out how to do a blockquote with Textile.
The non-apparent secret is that you need a space between that “?bq.”? and your quote. Not exactly intuitive. “Markdown”:http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ seems much more intuitive than Textile in using the quote-carat “>” to demarcate blockquotes.
There was no mention of web design in this article and I think sometimes that’s beneficial to us all. I know I sometimes get stuck in my own little world of code and style and sometimes forget that I need to sell to stay afloat. A website is in a lot of cases just a communication medium for the company. One point that has stuck with me form this article is to inform myself about the client – I admit to not doing this enough.
Anthony: Glad you found it useful. Every now and again it’s healthy to step back from the daily routines of the job and remind yourself of first principles.
It’s really difficult to communicate something abstract such as the design of a Website. One thing that I always do is interview the client about what is the goal of their design, what do they want to communicate? How will it affect and reflect their business. By collecting all of this information up front, it often times saves a lot of pain and back and forth in the long run.
25 Reader Comments
Back to the ArticleTomasz Gorski
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
David Sleight
Kevin: I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit to breaking all these rules on occasion—and with gusto at that. But it’s important when that happens to seriously think about what mistakes were made and what other outcomes could’ve been reached using different tactics. Then you can chalk it up as a useful learning experience.
Tomasz Gorski
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
Tomasz Gorski
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
Mark Baker
“Ha! I heard that.” Jeffrey Your not the only one who heard that:)
btw. I really want to thank to author of this great article, David it was a really good time reading Your article.
Kevin I like colors on the site so maybe only You don’t like them:)
btw. I like Your words “Every designer/producer feels something welling up inside when a client rejects that brilliant idea.” I also don’t like to feel it.
Andrew Kamphuis
Thanks for the article, I’m new to designing for people besides myself so it really helped.
John Lascurettes
I believe that was meant tongue-in-cheek per the subject matter. Thus the emoticon.
Gary Barber
Great article, good to see a generalist design article.
The peer review is so true, but always allow time to be able to make the tweaks from the outcome of the peer review.
On thing that does nag me however. You suggest someone you know will have had dealings with the client’s board etc, being the inside source. But what if you are going in totally cold with just the design based on a client brief. This can happen with smaller firms working for say Govt. What to do then, the only people that may have inside knowledge maybe your opposition.
David Sleight
Gary: Like most multi-pronged approaches, when one prong is missing (or absent altogether) you need to make sure the others are that much stronger. You really can’t go wrong arming yourself with tight, succinct reasoning couched in matter of fact language. It’s all-purpose. Works with tough (not unreasonable) audiences, and serves as a great jumping off point with the more collegial, conversational ones.
amber simmons
@john: I still can’t figure out how to do a blockquote with Textile.
Dealing with clients is always difficult in this business, where everybody has an opinion and an emotional investment. I appreciate seeing articles like this one on ALA. Thanks.
John Lascurettes
The non-apparent secret is that you need a space between that “?bq.”? and your quote. Not exactly intuitive. “Markdown”:http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ seems much more intuitive than Textile in using the quote-carat “>” to demarcate blockquotes.
Anthony Brewitt
There was no mention of web design in this article and I think sometimes that’s beneficial to us all. I know I sometimes get stuck in my own little world of code and style and sometimes forget that I need to sell to stay afloat. A website is in a lot of cases just a communication medium for the company. One point that has stuck with me form this article is to inform myself about the client – I admit to not doing this enough.
David Sleight
Anthony: Glad you found it useful. Every now and again it’s healthy to step back from the daily routines of the job and remind yourself of first principles.
Muhammed Cetin
Thanks..This is good
mss
It’s really difficult to communicate something abstract such as the design of a Website. One thing that I always do is interview the client about what is the goal of their design, what do they want to communicate? How will it affect and reflect their business. By collecting all of this information up front, it often times saves a lot of pain and back and forth in the long run.