To be fair, a lot of things clients sometimes say are really, really silly — a simple Google search for that phrase will lead you to them. This set of posters by Sharp Suits recently gained viral popularity, shared on buzzfeed and the like — and they’re mostly hilarious and worthy of ridicule. I’ve written about similar things before myself.

But I think it’s bad practice to think of clients as antagonists; they’re people I’m working in tandem with to achieve a common goal. They want good design (whether they seem to or not, and admittedly some can make the process taxing on the soul). I want to make good design. So while it’s true that clients sometimes (often, in some cases) say things that warrant ire, doesn’t it seem more constructive to figure out what they’re really trying to get at?

Here’s the rub: clients use certain phrases because they want to express something to you and don’t know design jargon.

They didn’t go to design school. They don’t hang out on /r/Design or Behance or Dribbble or RedTube. They don’t doodle logos all day and think about beautiful fi ligatures. They don’t fawn over the latest Olly Moss movie posters. They don’t get mad about Comic Sans or Papyrus or drop shadows or bevels. They don’t know what skeuomorphism or flat design means.

This is precisely why they’ve hired a designer. They may not realize it’s for those reasons, but they probably know “I don’t know how to design things, I should hire someone.” And that is exactly the attitude a designer can take into the process. The designer is the expert. You’re there to make good work and to explain why it’s good work. Yes, some clients make it nearly impossible to get good work past them; but I suspect they are much lower in number than those design communities might have you believe. And a little hand-holding and explanation of work would likely dwindle their numbers yet still.

They might sometimes respond with things that sound strange to your “I read clients from hell and am constantly on the lookout for weird phrases” ears, but often they probably don’t mean harm. Here are a few of these phrases, why they’re not so bad, and what you can do about them.

“Make it Pop!”

“Make it pop” has long been champion of that contest I mentioned. There are other contenders, sure, but none that can quite match the medley of cringe, ire, and fury a designer will feel when it enters their brain.

It’s not hard to understand what a client might be trying to say with the phrase. “Use more vibrant colors”, “make this graphic stand out more”, “highlight this phrase”, etc. But designers have a tendency to hate the phrase because it’s common, it’s (in and of itself) a bit vague, and they’ve been told to by the designosphere echo-chamber.

Maybe those things are mistakes for their brand. Or maybe they don’t matter as much as you might think. If they’re heavy mistakes, to the point that it really would be a detriment to the brand, explain why. But also consider whether they really do matter. Don’t plant your flag and be ready to die on every hill.

It’s fair to want clients to be specific, i.e. actually tell you exactly what they want to stand out. It’s also fair to point out that there are some clients who seem to have a shield that protects them from any reasonable discourse — that is to say, with whom asking questions will get you nowhere. But it seems wrongheaded for the phrase that has become the face of “reasons designers are nonplussed toward clients” to be one that actually does have simple recourse — asking follow up questions and communicating with the client.

Ask the client if there something in particular they’d like to see highlighted. Ask if they have other design examples that display the thing they’re trying to get at. Have a conversation about the overall style/tone they want to achieve.

“I trust you. Feel free to just be creative.”

Again, the point here isn’t that the phrase itself isn’t annoying; it’s just not worth the amount of headache it seems to create. It has the same caveat of being understandable why designers hate the phrase (and I certainly don’t like it myself, though more because it’s meaningless than any other reason) but, as with any of these other phrases, it has an obvious translation and an obvious solution.

Bear in mind: it’s use actually probably comes from a good place: a client who says this likely thinks they’re doing something good for you by giving you creative freedom. “Designers will love me! I’ll just let them do what they want!”

It seems they don’t understand that the design process is not magic and that a designer requires direction that can only come from them.  They’re also probably not considering the fact that if you do attempt to make something with no direction, they’re likely to reject it and be confused as to how you could have thought the thing you made was anything like what they wanted. They don’t realize they actually do have constraints/preferences/direction, but just have trouble conceptualizing those things without first seeing something to give them an idea of what they (don’t) want.

Sometimes it might help to actually do a bit of work just to gauge their response. Remember physics: static friction > kinetic friction. It’s easier to move forward on something once it’s already moving. You can often pull the direction out of a client by testing for what they (don’t) like.

Again: this is something that can literally be solved with a simple conversation.

Ask for some direction. Have a conversation about what the client is trying to achieve. Make it clear that being completely open ended isn’t conducive to good work.

“I like this thing. Copy it.”

It should go without saying why you shouldn’t literally copy someone else’s work directly. There’s the obvious copyright/trademark issues (and a side of legal ramifications to boot), but really it’s a point of ethics. No designer should copy another’s work, and a client shouldn’t expect that.

But I’ve found the real reason a client is saying something like this is because they know they like something they’ve seen and are wary about “risking” any changes. They’re sure they like it, why modify? It’s not that they’re adamantly married to the thing they’ve seen because they’re 100% sure it’s perfect for them, it’s just simpler to go with what you know you already like.

Look at the bright side: the client is giving you essentially as clear direction as possible.

Have the client explain specifically what they like about the design, and work within the framework they create; use your own style, but be inspired by that work. Maybe point out the legal/ethical thing if they seem adamant.

“Our Audience is Everyone.”

Part of making good design is knowing who you’re designing for. This is one of those things that can separate “people who make pretty things” from “people who do actual good work”. Being able to narrow to a smaller set than “every human on earth” is definitely helpful; it’s one piece of many that can inform the style and tone you aim for.

The point here is that clients generally don’t mean this literally. They mean something like “Our  potential clientele is very wide ranging.” Or, they really haven’t considered the ways their audience might be limited. It’s a matter of really considering who a client is vying for and understanding that “target audience” doesn’t mean “only this group”, it means “mostly this group”. It’s about building a general picture of what a likely client is like.

Ask about some categorical ways you might narrow an audience: gender, economic class, age range, etc. Make it clear that having a target audience doesn’t mean ignoring those who don’t fit under that umbrella; it’s just about playing to strengths. Very few businesses would be helped by marketing toward babies. That’s a place to start, at least.

Conclusion

The constant should be painfully obvious at this point: a lot of things clients say that seem annoying, are actually things they’re saying because they don’t know exactly how to say the thing they want to say. Have a conversation. Ask relevant questions. Stop making fun of your clients and start talking to them.

A lot of this requires you to have/develop skills that you may not have ever thought you needed. You’d need to be able to remain clear-headed in the face of (sometimes silly and/or cringe-worthy) criticism; you’d need to be confident and strongly-opinionated without being prickly. Essentially, you need to seem like someone who knows what they’re talking about, in addition to actually knowing. And you also need to be willing to lose certain jobs, on the rare occasions that a client just really, really wants that lens flare.

And a final caveat: I know some clients are genuinely annoying. To hell with them.

1. Get it in writing.

Get project scopes explained fully and make sure both sides understand exactly what’s being done (specific constraints, milestones, revisions, changes, pricing, timeframe, etc.). Use a contract if possible, or at least get it all in email.

Contract samples:
Smashing Magazine Contract Samples
Contract Killer 3, open source contract by Stuff & Nonsense

2. No spec work.

If you ever see something like “We’re asking for examples from different firms/people” or “We’d like to see what ideas you have first,” politely explain to the client that you don’t work for free. You’ll run the risk of not getting paid and — worse — the possibility that the client uses your work anyway. You don’t get to sample the steak before you eat it.

Check out NO!SPEC for more.

A caveat: There are certainly situations where you might choose to do Pro bono work or have a genuine need to build a portfolio (e.g. you’re a student), but tread carefully.

3. Upfront payments.

Those who argue won’t pay after anyway. ½ upfront / ½ at end (or ⅓ / ⅓ / ⅓) is standard practice; anyone who doesn’t think that’s fair (i.e. they’re against anything upfront) is going to treat you poorly with money. This rule and the next are the 2 most important in protecting yourself from being screwed over. If you do work before receiving any payment, you hold none of the negotiating chips; the person can simply walk away (with your work, if they like) and you will have no recourse (short of taking them to court, but that’s not really the goal and it will wind up costing you more time/money anyway).

4. Never send final work before final money.

“End of project” means “once the client gives the OK, but before final work is sent”. Don’t send a website live before you have the money, and don’t send vector/hi-res graphics files for print. Use your own hosting (mywebsite.com/projects/project_name), and send low-res/raster files that are suitable for viewing but not for printing. See above re: negotiating power. I found out the hard way that clients are much more likely to have an “I’ll get around to it” attitude about paying when the final artwork had already been sent.

5. Look for red flags. Be prepared to politely decline.

Look out for warning signals. A client who tells you they have design skills/experience/“eye” can be trouble because they will likely not respect your ideas. Design by committee (i.e. a group of people must approve your work, rather than a single point person) is trouble because it invites the “too many cooks” problem. Watch out for things like “this will look great in your portfolio” — it means “we don’t want to pay you”. Also, for job listings, “Code ninja”, “Design warrior”, or other meaningless phrases tend to signal the person who wrote the listing doesn’t understand much about the topic and wants the reader to feel like their firm is hip/trendy.

Other notable phrases you might hear, and their translations:

This will lead to paid work.

I don’t want to pay you, and I will have an excuse later as to why it didn’t lead to paid work.

It won’t take long.

I have no idea how long it should take, nor do I care; I just know that I want to pay for 10 minutes of work.

Feel free to just be creative.
I’m not sure what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it.
Let your creative juices flow.

I have no direction for you and want to see a billion styles for the price of 1.

Think outside the box.

I’m under the illusion that “different” automatically means “better”. Also, I was born in 1937 and haven’t updated my idioms.

Frankly, there are a huge number of things that could fall under the “red flag” heading, and an entire list could be dedicated solely to it. Case in point: be aware. Don’t have an itchy trigger finger or you’ll turn away clients, but be cognizant of things that will cause you headaches and be more trouble than they’re worth.

6. Avoid working for friends/family.

Money is a touchy subject with some people, and work isn’t worth ruining a relationship. If you’re going to do this, make the constraints all the more clear. If you give someone a great price because you know them, it might bite you in the ass later. If you offer free work, consider that the person might ask more of you than you expected.

7. Pick your battles.

Something you’ll face a lot is the large disparity in clients with regard to creative control; some will give you too much (open ended, no direction), some not nearly enough (telling you exactly what they want designed). Don’t argue every time someone doesn’t like what you make (err toward folding to their wishes, but explaining your design decisions).

8. Sometimes, swing for the fences with pricing.

Some people want something for nothing. Don’t work for them. Be fair with your pricing, but understand that in design, clients are not paying for labor/time, but for skill/end-product. Try to glean what a client can pay, and make that part of your decision. You’re often going to be careful with pricing to make sure you don’t lose a job, but sometimes it couldn’t hurt to test the waters. Maybe you get a brief for a project that you don’t totally love — instead of just turning it down, try doubling (or tripling) what you’d normally charge. If they say no, you’re where you’d have been anyway.

9. Learn all the things.

Don’t be nervous about taking on things that you aren’t sure you can do, because you’ll figure it out — necessity is the mother of invention. Try to imagine a giant web of every skill/profession and their interconnections. From your master skill — design — you should at least know a bit about all the skills that touch it. It will make your work better.

10. Reputation is everything.

Get good clients as heralds of your work early, and you can choose your work down the road. Think of the kind of designer/worker you want people to think of you as — be that.

Conclusion

There are inevitably going to be times that you’ll feel stuck between two bad choices: the appearance of a good opportunity, and not being paid (or being paid something that isn’t worth the cost). Learning to make the hard decision of sticking to your guns and swallowing the loss of potential work is an invaluable trait to carry, especially when you’re in business for yourself.

The Problem With One Concept

Design is not math – there’s not a single solution for every “problem”. In developing a brand, a designer’s task is to create something that visually represents the tone of the organization. As clear and distinct as that tone might be, to say there’s only one possible “best” representation of that brand is erroneous by the very nature of design – simply put, it’s subjective. Moreover, the tone is typically not so singularly interpretive and the client inevitably knows their brand better than the designer.

Consider this scenario: you take a thorough design brief and hand it out to 100 different (good) designers. You ask for a single logo from each of them. You’re likely to get many designs that share elements in one way or another. But here’s a guarantee: you will not see 2 of the exact same logo (barring any of them copying another). You might have a personal preference for one, but can you really say one is objectively the best solution?

If you believe that a professional designs a logo purely for the client’s customer – that is to say, the designer can ignore the client – you are mistaken. Although the ultimate purpose of the logo/brand is to appeal to the customer, it’s a simple fact that it can’t ever get to that point if the client doesn’t like it. The truth is that the task is treading a balance between “pleasing the audience (the client’s customer)” and “pleasing the client”. To ignore the latter, though it would make our lives simpler, is a fool’s errand and a waste of time.

Designers put ideas and feelings into visual form. They’re not doctors or mechanics, for whom there often is one correct solution; in design, that’s essentially never the case.

Having said that: it is possible and sometimes efficacious to come to a conclusion with just one concept – but to say it’s the only/right/best method is arrogant at best (and entirely wrong at worst).

Why Do Clients Want Options?

Clients want multiple concepts because they want to be a part of the process of defining their brand. While that can sometimes create problems – namely, when “good design” and “what the client likes” are at odds – it’s up to the designer to find harmony between the two (admittedly sometimes a nigh impossible burden). There is a simple way to escape the issue of leaving a client with a bad design: don’t present them with any.

Presenting multiple concepts doesn’t mean presenting a truckload of them (Hick’s Law is always relevant), nor does it mean producing bad work. It simply recognizes the subjectivity and wiggle room in brand design, and deals with it in the rational, reasonable way. Where there are clear distinctions that will affect a client’s brand, they should be explained and catered to. Where there is open-endedness – a designer has options. If there are multiple “good” solutions for a brand, and a client has a preference, it does not matter which they choose (provided, of course, all the options a designer has presented are good).

Process & Work

The process is relatively simple, and is the same for many designers. Start with a lot, finish with a little. You research the organization, the industry, competitors, etc. You create as many ideas as you have. You cull and refine. You cull and refine. You cull and refine.

In the end, you only present the best work to the client, and you explain the purpose of every decision. No one can understand the purpose/mission better than the client, so any variation between them can be a question for them to answer. Inevitably, the feeling of one logo will differ from every other; explain those differences and what they mean.

That “best work” might be just one concept; it also might be more. If you have, for example, 4 solid, usable logos after all your culling – and they are unique to the point that they cannot be consolidated – and you show the client only 1, you are depriving that client of 3 other good options.

One Final Point

I’ve deliberately avoided quoting and point-by-point disputing the cited article’s claims, but one thing needs to be said about this sort of stuff:

If a designer cannot determine which of two remaining concepts most effectively serves the project goals, then they are not to the point where they should be taking on clients

You must possess the design competence to be able to determine [the most effective logo] based on the project criteria else you have no business taking on clients.

This spills over into ignorant and condescending. “If you don’t do things the way I do things, you’re wrong and shouldn’t make money.” While the issue of whether a “professional” presents a single concept or multiple might be a case for debate – their being mature and unconceited (to clients and peers alike) is not.