Topic: the hardest thing about doing graphic design for clients
squeegee started this discussion 12 years ago#38,521
is that they can't even explain to you what they don't like about a concept, they just say "can you make that like thus?" and hand you a home made magazine collage.
sure, i say. i'll just scan it and you'll be happy i guess.
Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 18 minutes later[^][v]#514,588
So its like being a hair stylist, but your customers have no idea what is stylish or not?
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 37 minutes later, 56 minutes after the original post[^][v]#514,595
> and hand you a home made magazine collage.
And then you scan it, clean it up a little, and hand it back. And then they want to keep switching things around or adding new elements or changing the color of some element and then changing it back or removing some little part and replacing it with some other little part or endlessly rotating some element to get it at just the right angle or insisting that a novel's worth of text can be crammed into the half inch of space between this and that. And then you realize you are in hell and not about to wake up from this.
DasSheeple joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 58 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#514,600
I thought the hardest part of doing graphics design was coming out to your parents? Huh...
Anonymous C replied with this 12 years ago, 15 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#514,601
squeegee joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 2 hours later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#514,611
@514,595 (C)
pretty much. My mistake was thinking that their super specific design requirements would translate into accomplishing the task in a single pass and so i went in with only 1 concept (their concept) which got picked apart and rejected and then they hand me their "new" concept and ask me to make that one.
So they hinder me with super specific requirements and then when i present it to them they tell me they went home and REDESIGNED what they had submitted, which would guarantee that their old concept would get rejected. So they had me go off and do this work knowing they were going to ask for the whole thing to be redone. It's like going and buying a car, financing it and signing the title, and the next day continuing to shop for new cars, finding another one they like better, and then ask for the cars to be exchanged. it's like... why the fuck did you keep shopping after committing to one?
So now i'm being hamstrung again with even more specific requirements and they are probably on a conference call right now designing a layout that will render this second one obsolete. So there's a chance i'll do this work tomorrow only to go in monday and have them say, "stop the presses!"
So what i'm going to do is make their concept art quick and dirty and make 5 additional variations so they have 6 to choose from so at least they can pick and choose elements they like/don't like which is what i should have done in the first place. They are starting to run real close to their budget on this already so unless i want to be working free "overtime" on this i need to be killing it really soon.
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 2 hours later, 7 hours after the original post[^][v]#514,619
use clip art
squeegee replied with this 12 years ago, 41 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^][v]#514,623
@previous (F)
believe it or not i'm converting some bitmaps into vector images for them. so all the artwork is actually theirs.
i'm basically just doing formatting and laying it out for them so it can be used for multiple purposes.
Anonymous C replied with this 12 years ago, 1 hour later, 9 hours after the original post[^][v]#514,626
@514,611 (squeegee)
I hear web design is similar. Relevant Oatmeal comic Getting stuck in situations like that is why I was never tempted to learn more than the basics of web design.