8 ms·

Secret Code Phrases to Get What You Want from Your Graphic Designer

65 points by icey 16y ago

scott_s 16y ago
Before you start your project, it’s important to know how your graphic designer prefers to communicate, and then do your best to accommodate it. Really? You want your customers to accommodate you? If a company is at the point where they're hiring a graphic designer, then they probably have many outside parties they need to communicate with. Assuming that the graphic designer is of such importance that they should accommodate you is presumptuous. The ideal, of course, is for both parties to explain how they prefer to communicate and figure out a compromise.
- sprout 16y ago
  I fail to see how what you just said is substantively different from the advice prevented in the article. The article was about how to best keep a graphic designer happy. If you prefer compromise, just bear in mind that you could make things easier for your designer, and the easier you make things for your designer the more likely you are to get something good.
  - scott_s 16y ago
    The article's author seems to invert the relationship the designer has with their customer.
    - sprout 16y ago
      Especially if your business is web-based, you should probably be thinking of your designer as a team member, not a vendor that sells something called 'design.' It's really not that simple.
snorkel 16y ago
"Here, I made a layout for you." On the other hand, we don’t want you to do our work for us. Too bad. Here's a layout. Make it work. asking for a “ballpark figure” before giving details just makes you look like a beginner Boo hoo. Now give me ballpark figure. How much time do you need? It takes a lot of thought, back-and-forth, and revisions, all of which take time. Yes, it's a common practice in Fantasyland to afford content creators all the time they desire to go off into the forest and think about fonts and palettes ... no, please take all the time you need, and tell me what it costs after you're done taking three weeks to decide what the exact border radius for my site should be to convey just the right sense of whimsical Gestalt but not too pretensious, and don't even bother giving me an estimate, and please tell me how to run my business while you're at it too.
- jrwoodruff 16y ago
  Or I guess you could just do it yourself and save all that time, money and frustration... And make your designer that much happier.
  - nnash 16y ago
    Since I can't down-vote snorkel I'll up-vote you instead. Here's hoping he forgot his '/s'.
feverishaaron 16y ago
Here's a few more phrases: "Here's 50% up front." "I'll pay upon delivery." "Let's set up a retainer." These phrases get ya top priority. Fast.
Silhouette 16y ago
So, basically, you want participation and guidance from your client because vague guidance is not enough (#1), except that you want them to not tell you how to do your job and to trust that your judgement will automatically result in acceptable work (#2, #6, #7, #10). Moreover, you want to work with an open-ended budget (#5) and timescales (#8) and communicating on your terms (#9). Here's another theory: If I'm outsourcing part of a project, I will provide a specification for the work including any constraints I require, you will submit a proposal including estimates of how much it will cost and how long it will take, and I will consider your proposal and decide whether to accept it. You will be available at reasonable times for me to communicate with you, you will provide regular updates as the project progresses, and you will inform me immediately if your estimates are going to be incorrect, or I will not pay you. This is what is known in the business world as "how things actually work if you're the one providing the service and the other guy is the one paying the bills". Final hint: if you don't like being asked for a ballpark figure because it's hard for you to give one, then you were right about one of us being a beginner, but you have misjudged which of us it is. (Edit: I would agree that co-operative discussions and effective communication are the best way forward in most business relationships. I just think the ideas in this particular article are so obviously one-sided in favour of the designer that no serious client is likely to employ the designer's services on that basis, so they aren't really very useful at all.)
- mcritz 16y ago
  I am a designer, and I agree. The article is a childish wish list that portrays designers as pampered prima donnas. It shames hardworking designers that believe in honest work, open communication, and finding creativity in constraints.
  - solost 16y ago
    I work with designers every day and I can tell you I had to share this around and their reaction along with my own is summed up perfectly in your comments. What a terrible way to portray the expectations of the design profession.
- chc 16y ago
photon_off 16y ago
500 -- Internal Server Error? I wish that would get graphic designers working...
- mseebach 16y ago
  It's a secret code to tell blog readers that you don't know exactly how to run a webserver...
gaius 16y ago
Apparently the secret code phrase is "500 Internal Server Error"
delano 16y ago
When delegating any work, it's more productive to focus on the problems you want to address rather than the solutions you had in mind. Solving problems is fun. Don't steal their thunder.
city41 16y ago
Not to be overly critical, but the phrases to use start out at #7, as if they are a continuation of phrases to avoid. When really they are a separate idea. As a designer, make sure you address details like that, as critical clients will see them and judge accordingly.
mishmash 16y ago
Recently had a local politician use this beauty, right after he asked my rates: "Well I have this guy who will do it pro bono, but he's got a pretty busy family..." Like a) the rest of don't have families and b) it's going to make me want to compete with free. :)
imajes 16y ago
These come across as ridiculously elitist- of course those are useful tips, but if i have a client who's going to say those code words, he's going to sound like a chump. Definitely lean toward that side of the fence, but honestly, for any designer/developer, the most important thing you can have as a client is a clear idea of the direction you want to take. Have your idea prepared, write notes, know your competition - write it down. do your research!! once that's done, it's easy then to go ahead and deliver. before then, you are stuck in the loop of domain discovery which is just a time sink with no easy-way-out.
ThomPete 16y ago
And from the designers perspective http://000fff.org/design-discussion-principles-how-to-get-your-client-to-love-your-design/ http://000fff.org/design-discussion-principles-how-to-get-yo...
thorax 16y ago
> I want to show this to my <spouse/friend/child>. I've never accepted a graphic design proposal that I didn't run by someone outside of the company to be sure, from a usability standpoint, we weren't taking a step backwards using symbolism, layouts, etc, that someone outside of the project would be confused by. Or where their initial reaction would be "that site reminds me of a spammer/virus/porn site". Such a "spammer" comment killed one design right away because until then I didn't realize it, but they were very much right. Edit: I wanted to note that this applies to designs my teams make, the design that I make, or designs we get outside designers to make. I'm confident that it helped us make better products by getting external sanity checks on designs before rolling them out.
- ThomPete 16y ago
  Why would you feel that someone from the outside would be a better judge?
  - i80and 16y ago
    Because graphics designers usually are not the target audience. Usability testing outside of a clique isn't always a bad idea.
    - ThomPete 16y ago
      Usability testing on anything that is just design and not done yes is always a bad idea. Designers are trained for designing for other people. So unless you are only hiring shitty designers then I would say usability testing isn't bringing you any value what so ever. You are welcome to prove me wrong, but you will be hard pressed to find any evidence.
      - feverishaaron 16y ago
        Designers also are typically not around to feel the repercussions of their designs, so they may think they are designing for other people when they are really going off of their own intuition. And let's face it, even those with the best design/marketing/usability/branding etc. intuition are often wrong (eg Steve Jobs/The Cube). I tell my clients that results-oriented design is the way to go. Interfaces are never "done," and it pays to pay a designer to stick around and iterate after real-world testing is completed. Casual focus groups are a great way to start this process, often ensuring that you don't launch with a poor design out of the gate.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

65 points by icey 16y ago

Before you start your project, it’s important to know how your graphic designer prefers to communicate, and then do your best to accommodate it. Really? You want your customers to accommodate you? If a company is at the point where they're hiring a graphic designer, then they probably have many outside parties they need to communicate with. Assuming that the graphic designer is of such importance that they should accommodate you is presumptuous. The ideal, of course, is for both parties to explain how they prefer to communicate and figure out a compromise.

sprout 16y ago
I fail to see how what you just said is substantively different from the advice prevented in the article. The article was about how to best keep a graphic designer happy. If you prefer compromise, just bear in mind that you could make things easier for your designer, and the easier you make things for your designer the more likely you are to get something good.
- scott_s 16y ago
  The article's author seems to invert the relationship the designer has with their customer.
  - sprout 16y ago
    Especially if your business is web-based, you should probably be thinking of your designer as a team member, not a vendor that sells something called 'design.' It's really not that simple.

snorkel 16y ago

"Here, I made a layout for you." On the other hand, we don’t want you to do our work for us. Too bad. Here's a layout. Make it work. asking for a “ballpark figure” before giving details just makes you look like a beginner Boo hoo. Now give me ballpark figure. How much time do you need? It takes a lot of thought, back-and-forth, and revisions, all of which take time. Yes, it's a common practice in Fantasyland to afford content creators all the time they desire to go off into the forest and think about fonts and palettes ... no, please take all the time you need, and tell me what it costs after you're done taking three weeks to decide what the exact border radius for my site should be to convey just the right sense of whimsical Gestalt but not too pretensious, and don't even bother giving me an estimate, and please tell me how to run my business while you're at it too.

jrwoodruff 16y ago
Or I guess you could just do it yourself and save all that time, money and frustration... And make your designer that much happier.
- nnash 16y ago
  Since I can't down-vote snorkel I'll up-vote you instead. Here's hoping he forgot his '/s'.

feverishaaron 16y ago

Here's a few more phrases: "Here's 50% up front." "I'll pay upon delivery." "Let's set up a retainer." These phrases get ya top priority. Fast.

Silhouette 16y ago

So, basically, you want participation and guidance from your client because vague guidance is not enough (#1), except that you want them to not tell you how to do your job and to trust that your judgement will automatically result in acceptable work (#2, #6, #7, #10). Moreover, you want to work with an open-ended budget (#5) and timescales (#8) and communicating on your terms (#9). Here's another theory: If I'm outsourcing part of a project, I will provide a specification for the work including any constraints I require, you will submit a proposal including estimates of how much it will cost and how long it will take, and I will consider your proposal and decide whether to accept it. You will be available at reasonable times for me to communicate with you, you will provide regular updates as the project progresses, and you will inform me immediately if your estimates are going to be incorrect, or I will not pay you. This is what is known in the business world as "how things actually work if you're the one providing the service and the other guy is the one paying the bills". Final hint: if you don't like being asked for a ballpark figure because it's hard for you to give one, then you were right about one of us being a beginner, but you have misjudged which of us it is. (Edit: I would agree that co-operative discussions and effective communication are the best way forward in most business relationships. I just think the ideas in this particular article are so obviously one-sided in favour of the designer that no serious client is likely to employ the designer's services on that basis, so they aren't really very useful at all.)

mcritz 16y ago
I am a designer, and I agree. The article is a childish wish list that portrays designers as pampered prima donnas. It shames hardworking designers that believe in honest work, open communication, and finding creativity in constraints.
- solost 16y ago
  I work with designers every day and I can tell you I had to share this around and their reaction along with my own is summed up perfectly in your comments. What a terrible way to portray the expectations of the design profession.
chc 16y ago

photon_off 16y ago

500 -- Internal Server Error? I wish that would get graphic designers working...

mseebach 16y ago
It's a secret code to tell blog readers that you don't know exactly how to run a webserver...

gaius 16y ago

Apparently the secret code phrase is "500 Internal Server Error"

delano 16y ago

When delegating any work, it's more productive to focus on the problems you want to address rather than the solutions you had in mind. Solving problems is fun. Don't steal their thunder.

city41 16y ago

Not to be overly critical, but the phrases to use start out at #7, as if they are a continuation of phrases to avoid. When really they are a separate idea. As a designer, make sure you address details like that, as critical clients will see them and judge accordingly.

mishmash 16y ago

Recently had a local politician use this beauty, right after he asked my rates: "Well I have this guy who will do it pro bono, but he's got a pretty busy family..." Like a) the rest of don't have families and b) it's going to make me want to compete with free. :)

imajes 16y ago

These come across as ridiculously elitist- of course those are useful tips, but if i have a client who's going to say those code words, he's going to sound like a chump. Definitely lean toward that side of the fence, but honestly, for any designer/developer, the most important thing you can have as a client is a clear idea of the direction you want to take. Have your idea prepared, write notes, know your competition - write it down. do your research!! once that's done, it's easy then to go ahead and deliver. before then, you are stuck in the loop of domain discovery which is just a time sink with no easy-way-out.

ThomPete 16y ago

And from the designers perspective http://000fff.org/design-discussion-principles-how-to-get-your-client-to-love-your-design/ http://000fff.org/design-discussion-principles-how-to-get-yo...

thorax 16y ago

> I want to show this to my <spouse/friend/child>. I've never accepted a graphic design proposal that I didn't run by someone outside of the company to be sure, from a usability standpoint, we weren't taking a step backwards using symbolism, layouts, etc, that someone outside of the project would be confused by. Or where their initial reaction would be "that site reminds me of a spammer/virus/porn site". Such a "spammer" comment killed one design right away because until then I didn't realize it, but they were very much right. Edit: I wanted to note that this applies to designs my teams make, the design that I make, or designs we get outside designers to make. I'm confident that it helped us make better products by getting external sanity checks on designs before rolling them out.

ThomPete 16y ago
Why would you feel that someone from the outside would be a better judge?
- i80and 16y ago
  Because graphics designers usually are not the target audience. Usability testing outside of a clique isn't always a bad idea.
  - ThomPete 16y ago
    Usability testing on anything that is just design and not done yes is always a bad idea. Designers are trained for designing for other people. So unless you are only hiring shitty designers then I would say usability testing isn't bringing you any value what so ever. You are welcome to prove me wrong, but you will be hard pressed to find any evidence.
    - feverishaaron 16y ago
      Designers also are typically not around to feel the repercussions of their designs, so they may think they are designing for other people when they are really going off of their own intuition. And let's face it, even those with the best design/marketing/usability/branding etc. intuition are often wrong (eg Steve Jobs/The Cube). I tell my clients that results-oriented design is the way to go. Interfaces are never "done," and it pays to pay a designer to stick around and iterate after real-world testing is completed. Casual focus groups are a great way to start this process, often ensuring that you don't launch with a poor design out of the gate.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]