New projects are wonderful!
Full of potential to make lovely designs. Interesting designs! Designs that push the boundaries of your skills and the client’s expectations..
But every now and again you meet a client who just hates everything you make 🤮
Okay, fine, they don’t hate everything, but they don’t like anything either.
They say things like, I don’t know what I want but I’ll know it when I see it..
eugh
I can’t stand these types..
I used to argue with them. Tell them their opinion is wrong. Get frustrated and rant to my designer friends about them.
But then I learned a few things I could do to make working with people like this a little easier..
Go back and redo the client research
You know your process. You know what to expect from your client research and you know the possible flaws.
You get to choose the process the project follows. This is where a lot of your strength lies for these difficult clients.
You get to decide if and when you have enough information to move to the next stage. You also get to choose if or when you need to revisit earlier stages to get more information.
In every creative project there’s a part where you explore what the client wants. When it comes to defining the feeling they’re after from the work, ask the same question in a few different ways..
Renegotiate mid-project
This always focuses a client’s mind.
Recently I was working on a client’s brand. The deadline was tight but totally manageable – if the client did their part and responded quickly to questions and feedback.
I’d followed my process, done my client research, discussed possible directions and created the logo, mocked-up the example branding and sent it to the client.
…
…
…
Silence.
Two weeks later I got the weakest of feedback and a question… could they see something else.
I’ve designed my process so the client has an idea of what’s coming before it lands. It means the client is happy with the idea as we go, so they don’t need two fully fledged brands to choose from.
I do not create multiple options unless I’m being paid for it.
Buuuuut sometimes I miss something or don’t ask the questions in the right way so, in this case I said yes. We’d review the designs together, see what was working and what wasn’t. I got more info about what they had in mind and I went to work.
I created the logo, mocked-up the example branding and sent it to the client.
…
…
…
More silence.
They like it… but… they’re not totally happy, can they see something half way between the two concepts?
The branding process I use is not perfect. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve it. But it doesn’t fail twice in a row for no reason (I trust my process and you should trust yours).
So after accommodating one re-do and with the deadline looming I sent this..
That’s disappointing as we developed the second idea together based on the feedback from the first. Without further discussion I wouldn’t know what to create that would sit between the two.
Each concept I have created takes time to research and develop. Creating a whole new concept at this stage would extend the deadlines we’ve set and impact other projects I have planned. I would be happy to develop one of the two existing concepts but to create a third would need further investment.
Short. Firm. To the point.
Within a day they’d conformed which option they preferred and given minor edits to get it just right..
In my arsenal it’s the last option. If they say no to renegotiation then we end the project and part ways.
Life is too short to be endlessly creating to someone else’s whim with no end in sight. If a client is being difficult, tell them it’ll cost more and usually they come to their senses.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
