The Single Greatest Mistake Clients Make
Design work and branding in particular is a difficult undertaking – a brand is an abstract creature as it evokes an emotional response that is sometimes unpredictable. Colors, fonts, illustrations, symbols, and combinations thereof are at the mercy of our subjective judgment and so no design concept is bulletproof. While the objective is clear, to create an impactful and appropriate brand identity, clients and designers don’t always agree on the right way to get there.
Sometimes clients push back on a design concept for a very good reason – deep down they don’t feel confident that the delivered artwork is relevant to their brand and often their hunch is justifiable. But sometimes it is the client who succumbs to personal bias and forgets to see the brand as a larger organism that has a life of its own. Clients often unintentionally turn the design assignment into an ego project, not realizing that the logo, packaging, or any other design task at hand is not about them – it is about the target audience and their needs and expectations.
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Let’s say, a powerful and opinionated CEO of an accounting firm decides that the company needs a rebrand for its 10th anniversary. As the rebranding project progresses, the client keeps fixating on a favorite color (hot pink – not very appropriate the industry?) and keeps rejecting initial logo concepts for personal reasons, not listening to the logic and reasoning behind each concept and the long-term vision of how that concept might evolve. The client gets frustrated and starts to come up with the solutions, all the while micro-managing every step of the design process.
By taking on the art-director role, the client is paying a premium for an expert designer only to use them for their technical skills, not tapping into their rich experience and creative skills. Not only are they throwing money on a service they are not fully using, but they are potentially dooming their brand to mediocrity. It is essentially, like paying for the best medical specialist you can afford, only to walk into their office to tell them which medications they should prescribe for your ailment.
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To avoid getting caught up in personal bias, design clients need to let go and realise that:
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a) The true objective is to create a concept that is the most appropriate and effective from a branding perspective, not one that is immediately liked by the client (or designer).
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b) They do not have the expertise to know which direction will be the most relevant and aesthetically sensible. That is why the client needs to give his designer agency and trust their solutions and recommendations.
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For the successful outcome of any design project, both the client and the designer need to set aside their egos and personal preferences and work together to anticipate what creative direction will appeal to the audience the most. The designer needs to be humble and listen to the client’s feedback, both positive AND negative and the client needs to trust the designer’s judgment on what works and what doesn’t.
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