For a designer, the focus of your endeavors is your ‘Client’. Let’s face it folks, everyone has to make ends meet. One simply cannot live merely on passion for their work. A customer is where your primary source of income comes from as a designer. Hence, they are crucial to the stability of your professional design career.
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However, you shouldn’t be desperately dependent on clients. I say this because there are several clients who prove detrimental for designers. These kinds of design clients are intolerable as they demand things that are not within the realistic boundaries. Since the cornerstone of a successful client-designer liaison is cooperation, one cannot expect designers to work with wrong kinds of clients.
But how do designers determine which clients are feasible to work with and which ones are out of the question? In this post, you will learn about the 5 wrong kinds of clients that designers should stay away from:
Uninterested Clients
If you come across a client that doesn’t pay heed to the project, then rest assure that he/she isn’t worth the trouble. Some clients are unresponsive to designer’s calls. No matter how much you call them for a meet-up or a brief discussion, they will answer “This isn’t my headache buddy. Work out the brief yourself!” But the truth is, if the client isn’t willing to help the designer in understanding his needs, then the designer cannot fulfill them. In almost every stage of a design venture, customer engagement is essential. But if a client is indifferent to the project, then you should avoid working for them in order to avoid criticism at the end.
Choosy Clients
There are some cunning clients who ask for free design samples even before the start of the project. If you ever stumble upon this kind of client, then rest assure that he will be a real troublemaker during the whole venture. Clients who solicit a demonstration and run off with your concepts are essential to stay away from. Even if they hand you the design project, they will be so choosy that even if you create umpteen design concepts for them, they still won’t be satisfied. Even though it is normal to do some changes as indicated by the client, but you simply cannot let one client take up your time and efforts for other prospective projects.
Rushing Clients
Ever worked for a client who demands you for a design as if he is ordering a Pizza? These are the ‘rushing clients’ who approach with a design project and ask you to submit it the same day. Meeting deadlines is every professional’s job, but you simply cannot meet a cut-off date that is unrealistic. Designing involves a meticulous process of mental and physical efforts that cannot be rushed. Even though you might complete the task within the outrageous deadline, you might end up blemishing your portfolio with a hasty design.
Miserly Clients
Last but not least, there are the clients who look for a bargain every time they approach a graphic designer. Even though you define your fee as a fixed sum, these clients would assume that it is just a starting point for further negotiations. Not only do they haggle over your hard earned money, they undermine your worth as a graphic designer. So instead of lowering your standards for cheapskates, it is better to avoid such clients who don’t value your work.
Nobody can tolerate the clients who bargain on your fee as if they were negotiating for a grocery item. These are the miserly clients who will skin you off for every penny. Not only do they undervalue your value as a designer, they can rob you of your hard earned money by underpaying you. I’ve faced clients who have come up with arguments like “Hey all your doing is drawing a symbol, why should I pay you so much for that?” I would suggest rather than decreasing your fee for such miserly clients, it is prudent to prevent working for them.
Interfering Clients
My first point was regarding clients who act indifferent to the design project. In contrast to that are the ‘interfering clients’ who act over-smart with you and try to impose themselves onto you. Even though client is the boss, but one cannot expect designers to work if their work is constantly challenged. These clients will meddle in every decision you make for their design work as if they are the professionals. Instead of providing opinions and suggestion, they tend to be excessively imposing which hampers a designer’s work.
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