So you hire a designer. You pay a deposit and tell her what you want. Then you wait. You busy yourself with other work, but secretly you’re checking your email every ten minutes for a week, hoping to see something come through. Anticipay-yay-tion, it’s making me wait.
Finally! An email from your designer with an attachment. She said some stuff in the email but screw that – let’s look at this sucker first! C’mon, c’mon…open. open… OPEN!
Huh.
Hmmm.
Err… is that…?
Huh.
Well darn. That wasn’t quite what you were expecting. So. Now what?
But we did everything right! Didn’t we?
Very recently, I was helping a client create her brand-new-from-scratch logo for her brand-new-from-scratch business. She had been referred by another client of mine, so we were able to break the ice early on and jump into discussing what she needed. We hit it off pretty well in our initial conversation. We weren’t planning a joint family vacation to Bali, but we communicated well. We understood each other.
The best logos I create have a strong illustrative element to them. In this case, my client was looking for an image of a woman with her finger to her lips as if to say, “Shhh.. it’s a secret.” She told me a lot about what she wanted her business to be and what kind of customers she wanted to attract with her logo. We also talked about style and decided on a simple brush-stroke in black with just a hint of color.
With that, I was off to the races. After a few days researching and doodling in my sketchbook, I started creating the final art. I also spent a few hours in the “lab,” experimenting with a real brush and ink to see how those brush strokes might look when I made them in the computer.
When the actual design was done, I sent a PDF to my client and waited for her to admire the finely crafted art that would soon grace her screen.
A little less Stepford Wives, please.
As a designer, it’s good to have a thick skin. It’s also helpful to maintain a vast library of pop-culture references in your noodle. That way, when a client tells you the logo you sent is a little too “Stepford Wives,” you know what she means without resorting to Wikipedia.
For our purposes here, let’s just say that I missed the mark. It happens. Sometimes I create something a client loves on the first try. That’s pretty cool for both of us. Mostly, it’s a longer process: No. No. Kind of. Almost… Maybe if you tweak… Hey, looking good. Wow, I really like that. Can it be red? Awesome! I love it!
In this case, I nailed a few elements and had to rework more. Thankfully, I knew exactly what she meant and where I needed to go from there. My client was looking for something sexier, rougher… more aggressive. Check. We even shared a few jokes about the whole thing.
You suck! I quit!
There’s something hugely important to understand about this. After seeing my initial take on her logo, she didn’t see it as a failure. She didn’t fire me, or tell me “Nice try. I’ll find someone else.” And I didn’t send profuse apologies about making it suck. I didn’t put my tail between my legs and give up.
It’s because way back when we started, we decided we would be working on the project together. We clicked. Rather than see this project as an I-pay-you-make-it transaction, my client invested in our relationship. I invested myself in her business and making it look good.
I’ll have another round
The second version I created was spot on. She loved it. Then we got to talking. What if…? We talked about her customers some more. We decided to make some changes that would push the thing into another level of awesome.
This is also why I charge a flat rate. You get better results when creative decisions aren’t being directed by a clock.
At the end of the third round, we were done. We were both happy with the final logo and having worked together. Since then, I’ve checked in on her progress and she’s actually referred people to me. When she opens up shop, I’ll be sending business her way, too.
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
Except when it doesn’t work
The scenario I just described is fairly common. The design process can be a lot of give-and-take. So if you’ve hired someone based on the quality of their work or even a referral, have a little faith in the process. It can start out messy and end a masterpiece.
I make it all sound so easy, right? Faith. Trust. Pixie dust? You might be wondering:
How many rounds do I go through before I decide it’s never going to work?
I wish I could snap up a top ten list on this one. I don’t really want to, because there’s no formula to follow here. It’s a lot of intuition.
Ideally, you want to have a relationship with your designer that allows you to communicate what you need and what’s best for the project. That way, when what you see isn’t quite what you’d hoped for, it’s a discussion-starter rather than a relationship-ender.
Sometimes the communication isn’t happening. For whatever reason, you’re just not connecting. It doesn’t matter why. You could be ultra conservative and not appreciating a laid-back approach. Or vice versa. Maybe you’re having trouble articulating what you mean in a language the designer speaks.
When you’re there, you’ll feel it. And you’re justified in ending the contract and finding another designer. Even if the quality of the work is top-notch, you need to be heard and understood. Otherwise, you could wind up with a gorgeous design that’s totally wrong for your project. That’s why it pays to spend time finding a designer you really connect with.
Incidentally, this has happened to me… once in three years. Sometimes you go through all the “right” steps and still doesn’t work out. That’s life and business. You balance those out with the times it just worked like magic. You do the best you can.
Hey, wouldn’t it be great if there were guarantees on everything? Then again, that sounds like a recipe for boring.
Hey! If only there were a guide to all this working-with-designer-stuff
Next week, I’ll be making available a guide just for small business people who need help finding and working with designers.
It’s called Get Great Design. It will be a resource you’ll be able to access any time you need it from your desktop or mobile device. What the heck – I’ll make a print version available, too.
This guide is created to save you tons of time and money on design. In fact, it will be required reading for new clients – that’s how important the information is. I might lose a few projects, but I’ll still be helping people get the right thing for them, which is way more important for both of us. Plus, some designers are gonna hate me for giving out a few secrets about working with us. That’s cool. I’ve got my life preserver on so I can rock the boat a little.
I’m going to offer the digital version of the guide at the ridiculously low price of $9. $27
As soon as it’s live, you can get the guide here. You can also sign up on my advance notice list below. So you’ll be among the first to hear when the guide is live. You’ll also be invited to an exclusive, invitation-only, free private call where you can ask me anything you want about working with a designer. Really.
Sign up now
Update 07-18-10: The list is now closed to the public. Future discounts on guide-related workshops and teleclasses are available for people who purchase it. Do that here.
