Archived post. Originally published 5.30.2010.
Every marketer will, at one time or another, engage with several different types of designers throughout the course of their campaigns. Like any other relationship, designers require special care and feeding by a marketer in order to produce and develop beautiful pieces that fit in-line with expectations and goals.
So how do you work with a designer without losing your brand, or better, your mind? Here's a few tips:
Understand that you both will speak a different language
This especially refers to web designers. If you've never been through a design project, your designer will refer to items and objects in different ways. Don't pretend that you understand what they're talking about if you don't - embrace this challenge as a learning opportunity, and ask your designer to explain what they're talking about. If they're good, they will take the time to teach you. Because like you, a better-educated client is a better relationship.
Be Clear
If you're like me, you often describe objects as 'that blue/green/red thingy'. That language doesn't fly in this type of a relationship. Be clear and concise in your descriptions, and better yet, use examples. If you find a website or an ad campaign, send it to your designer, and tell them exactly what you like about it and why. Do the same with pieces that you don't like. This activity will help your designer understand your preferences enormously, saving you time and money.
Be thorough
Quite frankly, the early stages of the design process can be exhausting. You will constantly be asked for thorough and detailed feedback on initial layouts, and trust me, the more descriptive and detailed you are in your response, the faster you'll move the process along. Do not take a shortcut and give one-line emails or 5-minute phone calls back to your designer - invest the time to share your thoughts, and they'll invest the time and energy to build you a design that you'll be proud of.
Know their capabilities
Sometimes, you'll find a designer who says that they can create something, but can't, and are using your project as a test bed to teach themselves something new. If you have the patience, embrace the opportunity to help develop a young star. If not, move on.
For example, I once asked a designer I worked with to build a flash graphic for me that I could run on a monitor at a trade show booth. What I got instead was an animated gif file that looked choppy and sub-par. We worked for weeks on the graphic, until I couldn't take it anymore. It was a horrible piece, and there was no way that I could showcase the design anywhere. I finally called the designer and had an open discussion of their capabilities, and lo and behold, they not proficient building a flash design.
I had one week until the show, and therefore, had to move on. If I had the patience and time, or if the designer was more honest about their capabilities earlier in the process, the project might have ended differently. Take the time to layout each technical step in the design you're looking for in the beginning, and ask them up-front if they are capable of creating it.
Understand that design is subjective
Embrace the fact that what you consider beautiful, another will think to be garbage. Design is subjective, and you'll never make everyone happy. Your main objective should always be to keep the design in step with your branding. As much as you (or someone else in your organization) might want to, do not deviate. This will keep you in the clear with your executive team, your board, and most importantly, the customers who have come to recognize your branding and design.
What to do if:
Your designer turns into a diva:
Ah, the diva designer. These are usually either the young ones who don't have a lot of client management experience under their belt, or are the ones who just don't have good listening skills. You'll know you have a diva if they start refusing to make certain changes (like changing a font color in a small bit of text) because it would compromise the integrity of the piece.
First, take a step back and evaluate your request. Are you asking them to revise the entire design? Are your demands too demanding? If it's something simple and small, and fits well in line with your branding, it's time to have a chat with the diva. Schedule some time on their calendar that you know is the best time for them to chat, and hold an open, supportive conversation. Reaffirm your recognition of their design skills, and clearly explain the goals and objectives of your work together. Ask for their feedback and their vision for your piece, and make sure that you both are working toward the same goal. In the end, you'll both come away with a better understanding of your design vision and goals, which will only lead to an improved piece.
If you're unhappy with the end product
I recently had coffee with a friend who just launched a newly-designed website that she's so unhappy with that she doesn't want to direct anyone to it. She's that unhappy with the design. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of a redesign, right?
This happens most often when you design by committee, meaning your executive team, your board, and even the receptionist, have a say in the design process. Preferences often get so granular that the entire piece, quite frankly, goes to hell.
What do you do? First, breath deep. A bad design will not take down the company in one foul swoop, especially if you're smart enough not to publish anything live yet. Sit down and review your feedback and requests of the designer, from beginning to end. What did they give you as examples in the beginning, and how far off did you go in the end? How granular were you in your requests for edits, and most importantly, did one party within your company dominate the design process? How well did youmanage the give and take of the creative process?
The next step is to talk to your designer. Once again, ask them for a time that's convenient for them, and be honest and concise. Tell them exactly what you're unhappy with, and most importantly, ask them if this is a design that they stand behind. Nine times out of ten, they hate it as much as you do. They were simply giving you exactly what you said you wanted. If this is the case, explore your options to go back and try again. Not only will you both be equal in your goals and objectives, but you'll have a much stronger case to balance your team's feedback with your designer.
Your final invoice is a far cry from the original budget
Usually, this is all you. This happens when you ask your designer to go above and beyond their original scope of work to include a few extra pieces, or you ask for so many revisions that they invest more time than they originally budgeted for.
This can and should be headed off early in the process by sticking to the original agreement. If your scope of work starts to creep off course with additional projects, ask your designer to quote you for a separate project, and then keep it separate. If you find that you are delivering constant revisions, do your best to consolidate (see 'being thorough' above). If the feedback from your team gets out of control, it's up to you to manage your team to best communicate with your designer.
Every marketer will, at one time or another, engage with several different types of designers throughout the course of their campaigns. Like any other relationship, designers require special care and feeding by a marketer in order to produce and develop beautiful pieces that fit in-line with expectations and goals.
So how do you work with a designer without losing your brand, or better, your mind? Here's a few tips:
Understand that you both will speak a different language
This especially refers to web designers. If you've never been through a design project, your designer will refer to items and objects in different ways. Don't pretend that you understand what they're talking about if you don't - embrace this challenge as a learning opportunity, and ask your designer to explain what they're talking about. If they're good, they will take the time to teach you. Because like you, a better-educated client is a better relationship.
Be Clear
If you're like me, you often describe objects as 'that blue/green/red thingy'. That language doesn't fly in this type of a relationship. Be clear and concise in your descriptions, and better yet, use examples. If you find a website or an ad campaign, send it to your designer, and tell them exactly what you like about it and why. Do the same with pieces that you don't like. This activity will help your designer understand your preferences enormously, saving you time and money.
Be thorough
Quite frankly, the early stages of the design process can be exhausting. You will constantly be asked for thorough and detailed feedback on initial layouts, and trust me, the more descriptive and detailed you are in your response, the faster you'll move the process along. Do not take a shortcut and give one-line emails or 5-minute phone calls back to your designer - invest the time to share your thoughts, and they'll invest the time and energy to build you a design that you'll be proud of.
Know their capabilities
Sometimes, you'll find a designer who says that they can create something, but can't, and are using your project as a test bed to teach themselves something new. If you have the patience, embrace the opportunity to help develop a young star. If not, move on.
For example, I once asked a designer I worked with to build a flash graphic for me that I could run on a monitor at a trade show booth. What I got instead was an animated gif file that looked choppy and sub-par. We worked for weeks on the graphic, until I couldn't take it anymore. It was a horrible piece, and there was no way that I could showcase the design anywhere. I finally called the designer and had an open discussion of their capabilities, and lo and behold, they not proficient building a flash design.
I had one week until the show, and therefore, had to move on. If I had the patience and time, or if the designer was more honest about their capabilities earlier in the process, the project might have ended differently. Take the time to layout each technical step in the design you're looking for in the beginning, and ask them up-front if they are capable of creating it.
Understand that design is subjective
Embrace the fact that what you consider beautiful, another will think to be garbage. Design is subjective, and you'll never make everyone happy. Your main objective should always be to keep the design in step with your branding. As much as you (or someone else in your organization) might want to, do not deviate. This will keep you in the clear with your executive team, your board, and most importantly, the customers who have come to recognize your branding and design.
What to do if:
Your designer turns into a diva:
Ah, the diva designer. These are usually either the young ones who don't have a lot of client management experience under their belt, or are the ones who just don't have good listening skills. You'll know you have a diva if they start refusing to make certain changes (like changing a font color in a small bit of text) because it would compromise the integrity of the piece.
First, take a step back and evaluate your request. Are you asking them to revise the entire design? Are your demands too demanding? If it's something simple and small, and fits well in line with your branding, it's time to have a chat with the diva. Schedule some time on their calendar that you know is the best time for them to chat, and hold an open, supportive conversation. Reaffirm your recognition of their design skills, and clearly explain the goals and objectives of your work together. Ask for their feedback and their vision for your piece, and make sure that you both are working toward the same goal. In the end, you'll both come away with a better understanding of your design vision and goals, which will only lead to an improved piece.
If you're unhappy with the end product
I recently had coffee with a friend who just launched a newly-designed website that she's so unhappy with that she doesn't want to direct anyone to it. She's that unhappy with the design. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of a redesign, right?
This happens most often when you design by committee, meaning your executive team, your board, and even the receptionist, have a say in the design process. Preferences often get so granular that the entire piece, quite frankly, goes to hell.
What do you do? First, breath deep. A bad design will not take down the company in one foul swoop, especially if you're smart enough not to publish anything live yet. Sit down and review your feedback and requests of the designer, from beginning to end. What did they give you as examples in the beginning, and how far off did you go in the end? How granular were you in your requests for edits, and most importantly, did one party within your company dominate the design process? How well did youmanage the give and take of the creative process?
The next step is to talk to your designer. Once again, ask them for a time that's convenient for them, and be honest and concise. Tell them exactly what you're unhappy with, and most importantly, ask them if this is a design that they stand behind. Nine times out of ten, they hate it as much as you do. They were simply giving you exactly what you said you wanted. If this is the case, explore your options to go back and try again. Not only will you both be equal in your goals and objectives, but you'll have a much stronger case to balance your team's feedback with your designer.
Your final invoice is a far cry from the original budget
Usually, this is all you. This happens when you ask your designer to go above and beyond their original scope of work to include a few extra pieces, or you ask for so many revisions that they invest more time than they originally budgeted for.
This can and should be headed off early in the process by sticking to the original agreement. If your scope of work starts to creep off course with additional projects, ask your designer to quote you for a separate project, and then keep it separate. If you find that you are delivering constant revisions, do your best to consolidate (see 'being thorough' above). If the feedback from your team gets out of control, it's up to you to manage your team to best communicate with your designer.
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