What NOT to say to your Graphic Designer

In addition to our IT Support services our company also creates websites; sometimes plain, functional and business-like and sometimes just plain brilliant. Working in the creative department I get to see the ups and downs the team deal with.  A client has the power to either raise the collective creative spirit or make you want to pull a blanket over your head and wait for the Zombie Apocalypse to end your misery.

I had a chat with our rock star (he drums on his desk incessantly to get the creative juices flowing) graphic designer, Juan Arenz, to find out what his pet peeves are when discussing a design brief with a client. 

Here’s a list of 5 things that clients say that drives their designer up the wall:

1.  “I don’t really know what I want, but I’ll know when I see it. You’re the designer so come up with something and WOW me!”  -  The problem here is that if you don’t provide me with a clear brief and details about your company, how will I know what you’re all about, what your colour scheme is and what your corporate identity is? It also affects our team's turnaround time - a project that could’ve been completed within a reasonable time-frame now becomes an infinite loop of ‘present the design’ – ‘client doesn't “feel” it’ – ‘design another’.

2.  “I just want a simple, professional looking business card with my logo, but don’t charge me for it, it will only take you 5 minutes.”  -  5 minutes? What is this 5 minutes you speak of? No design project takes 5 minutes – even little cousin Timmy with his wax crayons and a sheet of paper needs more than 5 minutes to draw a lopsided butterfly. Business cards, logos etc. take a little more time and they are more complex than you would think. No designer likes presenting a client with his half-baked efforts resulting from an unrealistic request.

3.  “I don’t want to you to design 6 different things, I just want one awesome design like a brochure that I can use across the board, i.e.: as my flyer, on my website, social media marketing, banner ads and newspaper ads.”  -  No. This is unprofessional. The answer is NO.

4.  “Why didn't you put a pink border around it? Didn't I say I want it in the beginning?”  -  No, no you didn't. This is why we stress the importance of detailed briefs so we know exactly what’s cooking and what the client wants.  We all have to be on the same page.

5.  “Why does it look so bland? Why is there so much open white space? It will make people not want to look at my ad or spend time on my site.”  -  Actually the use of white space is one of the most effective techniques to make your information or logo stand out and grab attention.  It takes a skilled designer to make use of white space effectively.  A busy and cluttered site is NOT reader or user friendly.

To get the best use out of your graphic designer:  

• do not disturb before morning coffee,
• do not change mind 700 times, and
• do give detailed briefs of what you envision for your business's identity.

Written by: Christine Kleyn

Copywriter at The Computer Guyz Cape Town and Centurion