I have done this a few times (years ago), and ultimately all I ended up with was work I do not want in my portfolio. Sometimes it’s hard though when the client is adamant they want that image in the background behind the text and the titles on the side fading in and out…
You raise an excellent point: the integrity of the portfolio is hand. That’s not something you want to compromise, so it’s worth finding a mutually-acceptable solution for yourself and the sponsor.
I just have to remind myself, “No one said it would be easy!”
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Stephanie Liboiron
Boy I wish I had read this article before starting a design project with my client. I am a rookie designer (although I have been designing for 8+ years for personal/volunteer projects) and dealing with my first ever client. She was very adamant on the specifics of the design and micromanaged everything from font face to graphics. Although I appreciate that she was going for a specific look, I still feel that the original designs I came up with were light years more attractive. In the end she was happy with the design that we decided on, however I’m feeling less than happy with the project (not something I would be proud to display in my portfolio).
Any advice on how I can avoid this in the future?
While we were meeting, I worked on making modifications to the design right before her eyes so she could see how things looked like right away. Was this a bad thing to do, or it is better practice just to take notes and work on the design independently? What should I do about age politics? I am still very young with little professional experience, so I felt that the client’s older age gave her an advantage.
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Julie Olson
I had a client who micromanaged me as well. I am including that site in my portfolio, but now I’m wondering if it’s appropriate, when describing the project, to say something like “this site was built to the exact specifications of the client” or “this client allowed me a great deal of creative license.”
Any thoughts?
Also, I’m another one who works best up against a deadline. Unfortunately, it’s my own portfolio site that’s suffering from my current creative block.
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Stephanie Liboiron
I like Julie’s suggestion (“this site was built to the exact specifications of the client”?). Would it be appropriate to include something like this in my portfolio write-up? At least then I would feel a lot better about displaying it in my portfolio.
I find its wise in some cases to keep original designs for your folio before they were changed by the client, likewise any work which was cancelled for whatever reason. I admit this is easier when presenting a printed folio as opposed to a site but static page mocks can also work.
I completely understand the urge to include not-so-strong pieces into your portfolio if you’re starting out. You want to show some quantity and breadth to your work, and I agree it’s at least worth trying the line “this is an example of a site I built to the client specifications”—that’s a can be a great tactic, see if it works for you.
I would only caution against becoming too comfortable with caveats such as these; in other words make sure they don’t become a design cruch. Not everything in your slide deck has to be a piece of unquestionable perfection, but try to define and maintain a certain ratio of high- to mid-quality work. I feel comfortable with a 70/30 mix, what works for you?
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Justice Guyberg
I’ve found it beneficial, especially in dealing with freelance clients, to sometimes demostrate the entire entire creative process on a particular project. There have been a few times where a potential client enjoyed one particular solution or treatment of a particular something & wondered how I arrived where I did. Since I essentially keep all of the particulars of a project in one bundle, I can go back & trace the steps it took to arrive at that point.
So while the finished project might not be that thrilling & something that you don’t feel acsentuates your strength as a designer, maybe there is another angle to that project that you can emphasize over the design like managing the overall project? Sometimes, and there are those times where selling your elite concepts might be a little a too much for certain clients to wrap their heads around, which is why I think it’s important to demonstrate range from the simple to the extraordinary.
I also think it’s important to not shy away from the micromanaged projects but rather use the parameters your fed to help fuel your creativity. Don’t get caught up in the my ideas are far better than the clients’, but they can’t see it… the true test of your ability will be to produce the best possible work under scrutinty & within sometimes heavy boundaries…
Just my couple of pennies…
Also I find that when the creative lightbulb fades out, I try to lend some energy to doing something that either I’ve never done to get the excitement built up again or trying to look at something mundane through the eyes of someone else & try to figure out how they see it, might lead to something interesting?
I find some of my best times to really get creatives things done is on the train on the way to and from work. I live in Tokyo and the trains have tons of ads, funny passengers and other points of inspiration. I’ve found it works for design, copywriting, even IA work. My lesson learned here was that often the least obvious places to work can really help get those juices flowing; away from coworkers, deadlines and other reminders that this is a job that has to get done. It’s ironic that sometimes the work place itself is the worst place to get work done.
I’m a student of design and I have observed that my peers and I are constantly mobile when we are working. Personally, I jump between coffee shops and campus lounges, using them as hot-spots for creativity.
It’s probable that laptops and Wi-Fi have made the next wave of designers dependent mobility. As artists, we seek a current of inspiration – an idyllic environment for exploration and expression. What could be more freeing than changing your location on a whim in the middle of a work day?
I enjoyed reading this article because it shows that there are many other habits and practices that can recharge and refresh one’s creativity. Soon I’ll have to leave behind some of the luxuries a college lifestyle offers the design process – but now I can replace them with tips from experienced professionals.
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Tony Carbone
Walter mentions keeping notes handy as a sanity check and to keep in sync with the original brief – thats certainly something I’ll be trying to teach myself….
When I’m not working for “the man”, I spend a lot of time creating interactive PHP-driven sites (games, utilities etc) to amuse friends and family….and of course myself! Anyhoo, I have a tendency to get massively caught up in the excitement of the project, and as my mind wanders in fifteen different directions – solving all my IA issues at once – I often find myself neglecting/re-inventing the clever piece of presentational content I applied to another page the week prior! My shins are black&blue; from the amount of times I’ve kicked myself recently ;D
I worked for an incredibly mean-spirited business owner who treated web design (and designers) like an assembly line (with near cookie-cutter design principles) while treating clients like cattle. For the nearly 7 years that I survived within this company, I learned how to design quickly but not creatively (and rarely to the customer’s total satisfaction). I’ve sinced moved on and now I feel trapped in the ‘hurry up and get it done’ mode that I’ve become so familiar with and suffer from design sterility.
Many of your responses have been an eye-opener to me – thank you all for your perspicacity. I now feel that there’s a balance between the ‘step back and survey the situation’ and ‘get it done now’ paradigms we face as service providers. But is it possible that being in an environment that crushes creativity for such a long time make breaking free from such boring design principles an impossibility? If not, how would I approach this dilemma. I yearn to expand my creativity but find myself repeating familiar habits over and over again.
I have to admit, the design ‘crisis’ was something I thought was just me. I find it really hard to design at my best when I am being nagged, pressured or I simply don’t have enough time – but that is often the way it is. It is great to get some advice about what to do to keep the process going
I have done the ‘I told you so’ design, and sure enough, that was the one the client liked. I should have known!
I was reassured to hear about the best design happening first and then having them progressively deteriorate afterwards. I find that so often, but then get nervous thinking that I must be ‘cheating’ if I manage to turn out something in double quick time.
“But is it possible that being in an environment that crushes creativity for such a long time makes breaking free from such boring design principles an impossibility?”
I was tempted to answer this question directly, but I found “a great link about breaking bad habits on another web site”:http://depression.about.com/cs/selfhelp/a/breakbadhabits.htm that you may find helpful. All the same rules apply and I think the author lays out some simple, helpful steps.
I’m a one-woman web design AND web programming shop. The key frustration there being the AND. It’s tough to switch between debugging hundreds of lines of PHP code and creative design work.
A break of some sort is absolutely essential to make the switch. Sometimes, I have to admit, a weekend is just the thing!
As for creative brainstorming, when I have trouble with the creative process, before or after feedback, I do just start playing with things: color, brushes, shapes, whole layouts. If nothing else works, that seems to do the trick.
Copy & paste the code below to embed this comment.
Justice Guyberg
I was stuck in a similar rut with a former employer & found a great deal of life in doing pro-bono work for non-profits. More often than not, it was just the outlet & spark I needed to keep forging ahead. They enjoyed the creative process, they enjoyed being part of the development process & we both learned a little something. They learned some interesting ways to draw up solutions & I learned that there is always something, somewhere that will spark you’re creativity; sometimes free reign is that breath of fresh air.
Different client’s have different expectations of a designer, and that is something that I address before hand.
If they are expecting you to simply be a Photoshop monkey at their disposal then the relationship will be tested during the design process.
But if you let the client know exactly what the design process involves beforehand, then you could avoid potential confrontations further down the track.
The most important thing I make clear with all my clients is this simple fact: Their personal tastes have nothing to do with how the design should look. Although this might seem shocking, it usually always gains immediate respect points in my favour.
And if they want to direct the design process from start to finish, then they do need a Photoshop monkey — not a professional designer. Because anyone can point and click where they are told, but a professional designer puts serious thought into where those points and clicks go and what their output will be.
One of the most common misconceptions a designer faces (even I fight this on a daily basis) is that our job is nothing more than to make something look pretty. When you hire the services of a professional designer, they will produce something that is in the best interest of the client’s company and target demographic — regardless of what the CEO’s favourite colour is.
As a side note, and this might make an a interesting case study, last year 3 of my web sites were nominated for West Australian Design Awards, and this year one design was nominated for the same award.
Call this coincidence if you want, but those very 4 designs were the only ones where the client has said “go nuts”? and not interfered with the design process at all.
I don’t like to think that is a coincidence. But it does validate my theory that as a designer I must be getting it right and it is the client who is wrong.
“The most important thing I make clear with all my clients is this simple fact: Their personal tastes have nothing to do with how the design should look. Although this might seem shocking, it usually always gains immediate respect points in my favour.”
I agree wholeheartedly – The first thing i do with my clients is send them an estimate proposal along with a document explicitly stating what they should expect from me and what i expect from them.
Guess what it says I expect…
“Design freedom, I am the professional designer not them ”
- if they don’t like it they can kiss my ass. My name is on the line and i’m not going to let another client piss on my painting.
Hi all, since I think this is valuable reading (thanks for sharing your insights), I published a German translation at:
http://mediengestalter.gleichjetzt.de/de/node/63
39 Reader Comments
Back to the ArticleRichard Parker
I have done this a few times (years ago), and ultimately all I ended up with was work I do not want in my portfolio. Sometimes it’s hard though when the client is adamant they want that image in the background behind the text and the titles on the side fading in and out…
Walter Stevenson
You raise an excellent point: the integrity of the portfolio is hand. That’s not something you want to compromise, so it’s worth finding a mutually-acceptable solution for yourself and the sponsor.
I just have to remind myself, “No one said it would be easy!”
Stephanie Liboiron
Boy I wish I had read this article before starting a design project with my client. I am a rookie designer (although I have been designing for 8+ years for personal/volunteer projects) and dealing with my first ever client. She was very adamant on the specifics of the design and micromanaged everything from font face to graphics. Although I appreciate that she was going for a specific look, I still feel that the original designs I came up with were light years more attractive. In the end she was happy with the design that we decided on, however I’m feeling less than happy with the project (not something I would be proud to display in my portfolio).
Any advice on how I can avoid this in the future?
While we were meeting, I worked on making modifications to the design right before her eyes so she could see how things looked like right away. Was this a bad thing to do, or it is better practice just to take notes and work on the design independently? What should I do about age politics? I am still very young with little professional experience, so I felt that the client’s older age gave her an advantage.
Julie Olson
I had a client who micromanaged me as well. I am including that site in my portfolio, but now I’m wondering if it’s appropriate, when describing the project, to say something like “this site was built to the exact specifications of the client” or “this client allowed me a great deal of creative license.”
Any thoughts?
Also, I’m another one who works best up against a deadline. Unfortunately, it’s my own portfolio site that’s suffering from my current creative block.
Stephanie Liboiron
I like Julie’s suggestion (“this site was built to the exact specifications of the client”?). Would it be appropriate to include something like this in my portfolio write-up? At least then I would feel a lot better about displaying it in my portfolio.
Tony Goff
I find its wise in some cases to keep original designs for your folio before they were changed by the client, likewise any work which was cancelled for whatever reason. I admit this is easier when presenting a printed folio as opposed to a site but static page mocks can also work.
Walter Stevenson
I completely understand the urge to include not-so-strong pieces into your portfolio if you’re starting out. You want to show some quantity and breadth to your work, and I agree it’s at least worth trying the line “this is an example of a site I built to the client specifications”—that’s a can be a great tactic, see if it works for you.
I would only caution against becoming too comfortable with caveats such as these; in other words make sure they don’t become a design cruch. Not everything in your slide deck has to be a piece of unquestionable perfection, but try to define and maintain a certain ratio of high- to mid-quality work. I feel comfortable with a 70/30 mix, what works for you?
Justice Guyberg
I’ve found it beneficial, especially in dealing with freelance clients, to sometimes demostrate the entire entire creative process on a particular project. There have been a few times where a potential client enjoyed one particular solution or treatment of a particular something & wondered how I arrived where I did. Since I essentially keep all of the particulars of a project in one bundle, I can go back & trace the steps it took to arrive at that point.
So while the finished project might not be that thrilling & something that you don’t feel acsentuates your strength as a designer, maybe there is another angle to that project that you can emphasize over the design like managing the overall project? Sometimes, and there are those times where selling your elite concepts might be a little a too much for certain clients to wrap their heads around, which is why I think it’s important to demonstrate range from the simple to the extraordinary.
I also think it’s important to not shy away from the micromanaged projects but rather use the parameters your fed to help fuel your creativity. Don’t get caught up in the my ideas are far better than the clients’, but they can’t see it… the true test of your ability will be to produce the best possible work under scrutinty & within sometimes heavy boundaries…
Just my couple of pennies…
Also I find that when the creative lightbulb fades out, I try to lend some energy to doing something that either I’ve never done to get the excitement built up again or trying to look at something mundane through the eyes of someone else & try to figure out how they see it, might lead to something interesting?
Lance Shields
I find some of my best times to really get creatives things done is on the train on the way to and from work. I live in Tokyo and the trains have tons of ads, funny passengers and other points of inspiration. I’ve found it works for design, copywriting, even IA work. My lesson learned here was that often the least obvious places to work can really help get those juices flowing; away from coworkers, deadlines and other reminders that this is a job that has to get done. It’s ironic that sometimes the work place itself is the worst place to get work done.
Antonio Castillo
I’m a student of design and I have observed that my peers and I are constantly mobile when we are working. Personally, I jump between coffee shops and campus lounges, using them as hot-spots for creativity.
It’s probable that laptops and Wi-Fi have made the next wave of designers dependent mobility. As artists, we seek a current of inspiration – an idyllic environment for exploration and expression. What could be more freeing than changing your location on a whim in the middle of a work day?
I enjoyed reading this article because it shows that there are many other habits and practices that can recharge and refresh one’s creativity. Soon I’ll have to leave behind some of the luxuries a college lifestyle offers the design process – but now I can replace them with tips from experienced professionals.
Tony Carbone
Walter mentions keeping notes handy as a sanity check and to keep in sync with the original brief – thats certainly something I’ll be trying to teach myself….
When I’m not working for “the man”, I spend a lot of time creating interactive PHP-driven sites (games, utilities etc) to amuse friends and family….and of course myself! Anyhoo, I have a tendency to get massively caught up in the excitement of the project, and as my mind wanders in fifteen different directions – solving all my IA issues at once – I often find myself neglecting/re-inventing the clever piece of presentational content I applied to another page the week prior! My shins are black&blue; from the amount of times I’ve kicked myself recently ;D
Kevin Smith
I worked for an incredibly mean-spirited business owner who treated web design (and designers) like an assembly line (with near cookie-cutter design principles) while treating clients like cattle. For the nearly 7 years that I survived within this company, I learned how to design quickly but not creatively (and rarely to the customer’s total satisfaction). I’ve sinced moved on and now I feel trapped in the ‘hurry up and get it done’ mode that I’ve become so familiar with and suffer from design sterility.
Many of your responses have been an eye-opener to me – thank you all for your perspicacity. I now feel that there’s a balance between the ‘step back and survey the situation’ and ‘get it done now’ paradigms we face as service providers. But is it possible that being in an environment that crushes creativity for such a long time make breaking free from such boring design principles an impossibility? If not, how would I approach this dilemma. I yearn to expand my creativity but find myself repeating familiar habits over and over again.
Nancy Williams
I have to admit, the design ‘crisis’ was something I thought was just me. I find it really hard to design at my best when I am being nagged, pressured or I simply don’t have enough time – but that is often the way it is. It is great to get some advice about what to do to keep the process going
I have done the ‘I told you so’ design, and sure enough, that was the one the client liked. I should have known!
I was reassured to hear about the best design happening first and then having them progressively deteriorate afterwards. I find that so often, but then get nervous thinking that I must be ‘cheating’ if I manage to turn out something in double quick time.
Walter Stevenson
Hi Kevin. To your question:
“But is it possible that being in an environment that crushes creativity for such a long time makes breaking free from such boring design principles an impossibility?”
I was tempted to answer this question directly, but I found “a great link about breaking bad habits on another web site”:http://depression.about.com/cs/selfhelp/a/breakbadhabits.htm that you may find helpful. All the same rules apply and I think the author lays out some simple, helpful steps.
Cindy Dykstra
I’m a one-woman web design AND web programming shop. The key frustration there being the AND. It’s tough to switch between debugging hundreds of lines of PHP code and creative design work.
A break of some sort is absolutely essential to make the switch. Sometimes, I have to admit, a weekend is just the thing!
As for creative brainstorming, when I have trouble with the creative process, before or after feedback, I do just start playing with things: color, brushes, shapes, whole layouts. If nothing else works, that seems to do the trick.
Justice Guyberg
I was stuck in a similar rut with a former employer & found a great deal of life in doing pro-bono work for non-profits. More often than not, it was just the outlet & spark I needed to keep forging ahead. They enjoyed the creative process, they enjoyed being part of the development process & we both learned a little something. They learned some interesting ways to draw up solutions & I learned that there is always something, somewhere that will spark you’re creativity; sometimes free reign is that breath of fresh air.
Michael Ott
Different client’s have different expectations of a designer, and that is something that I address before hand.
If they are expecting you to simply be a Photoshop monkey at their disposal then the relationship will be tested during the design process.
But if you let the client know exactly what the design process involves beforehand, then you could avoid potential confrontations further down the track.
The most important thing I make clear with all my clients is this simple fact: Their personal tastes have nothing to do with how the design should look. Although this might seem shocking, it usually always gains immediate respect points in my favour.
And if they want to direct the design process from start to finish, then they do need a Photoshop monkey — not a professional designer. Because anyone can point and click where they are told, but a professional designer puts serious thought into where those points and clicks go and what their output will be.
One of the most common misconceptions a designer faces (even I fight this on a daily basis) is that our job is nothing more than to make something look pretty. When you hire the services of a professional designer, they will produce something that is in the best interest of the client’s company and target demographic — regardless of what the CEO’s favourite colour is.
As a side note, and this might make an a interesting case study, last year 3 of my web sites were nominated for West Australian Design Awards, and this year one design was nominated for the same award.
Call this coincidence if you want, but those very 4 designs were the only ones where the client has said “go nuts”? and not interfered with the design process at all.
I don’t like to think that is a coincidence. But it does validate my theory that as a designer I must be getting it right and it is the client who is wrong.
franklin lyons
@ Michael Ott
“The most important thing I make clear with all my clients is this simple fact: Their personal tastes have nothing to do with how the design should look. Although this might seem shocking, it usually always gains immediate respect points in my favour.”
I agree wholeheartedly – The first thing i do with my clients is send them an estimate proposal along with a document explicitly stating what they should expect from me and what i expect from them.
Guess what it says I expect…
“Design freedom, I am the professional designer not them ”
- if they don’t like it they can kiss my ass. My name is on the line and i’m not going to let another client piss on my painting.
hehe – what a rant
Axel Christ
Hi all, since I think this is valuable reading (thanks for sharing your insights), I published a German translation at:
http://mediengestalter.gleichjetzt.de/de/node/63