I would say that great designers can easily push back, and I've seen some are realizing this. I am not even saying experienced designers because experience shou

I would say that great designers can easily push back, and I've seen some are realizing this. I am not even saying experienced designers because experience should've prevent you from doing the right thing. I've seen some very young freelancers (Designers, in our case), who do an outstanding job at picking the right clients. If you can produce work that people love, it's absolutely imperative that you work with the best clients because not only will you get 10x pay, but those clients will propel you forward by virtue of supplying you with better quality projects, and the cycle continues. That said, while great guys and gals can call the shots, those who aren't confident in their work (often, due to the mediocre quality of the work), end up settling for the average or below client. However, even then, if a freelancer is truly serious about improving her work, then she ought to seek out the best client, for the reasons stated above. IMHO