3 Types of Clients You'll Meet While Freelancing Graphic Design

It's been fun, and therapeutic, making more posts about my graphic design day job, and while working on a few projects for clients, this list popped into my head. This is by no means the ONLY types of clients you'll run into, but these are three I get a LOT and how I handle them.

The "And Then"

They want it all, and they want it NOW. 

This client knows what they want. You meet up for a consultation, get the information you need to make their invite, poster, ad, whatever the product may be, you deliver a proof, and they get back to you with changes, but really, it's more additions. Then they keep on adding...and adding. You warn them that things are getting too busy, their clients/recipients will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of (useless) information on this product, but every single word must stay as-is.

Before you know it, your carefully constructed design that was clear cut and to the point is now a jumbled sea of text. It's overwhelming, but it's what the client wants even if their recipients won't know what hit them. 

Ever see the movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?" If you haven't, then there's a scene where they try to order food from a drive through and the person on the speaker box keeps the order going and adding to it by asking "and then?" Until the person placing the order snaps. That's going to be you. 

My best advice on how to deal with the And Then is to show them very simple examples alongside their own hectic and jumbled one. Explain how the simplicity makes the necessary information (when, where and what) POP and allows their audience to know what they need to know without searching for it, because most people really won't search for it. Especially if this is an advertisement.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Clients want what they want, and in the end you'll create what they've asked for and approved, but actual physical comparisons and visuals tend to help the most. Verbal warnings and emails will definitely be ignored. 

Designer Tip Tuesday: Borders & Commercial Printing- Don't Do It!

I've been working in commercial design and print for a few years, so I thought it'd be fun to do something like a #tiptuesday where I can share a bit of graphic design advice and kind of vent about the frustrations of my day job.

A lot of colleges and art programs will reward you for pushing print capabilities to their limits, which is awesome, but when you send that file off to print, it might not come back looking like you had expected.

For my first ever topic, something simple, borders!