An Interview with anonymous designer

So, I made a list of questions to further my understanding of how a designer negotiates with a certain client, and I finally set the interview up. The man didn't want his name revealed, sorry guys. While I was getting his questions prepared, I realized that I forgot my pen. He offered me one, and I agreed. The first question I asked was how he uses objective criteria is his negotiations. He didn't quite understand, so I explained it to him. After face-palming himself, he basically said that sort normally applies when he states facts about what and what isn't possible, design-wise and whether or not a design could work, by citing examples. I then asked him a hypothetical question: What happens when a client thinks the design stinks whichever way you look at it? How do you separate the the people from the problem? He said, "Well first of all, if someone acted that way, then I will simply say 'thanks and bye.'" It's great to have clients and all, but if someone is going to be stubborn and mutual benefit simply isn't possible, why drag out the relationship? I agreed wholeheartedly with him. I myself have had clients who demanded that I do certain things like add clip art and lens flare when the result just wasn't going to be portfolio-worthy. The mutual benefit that he looked for was that the client gets his business promoted properly, while he gets to build his portfolio with yet another gem. I got ready for my next and final question. I asked, "Which of the 5 core concerns do you personally believe to be the most important?" He was now getting a drink. He then answered, "None of them are more important than the other, not overall, anyway. Sometimes one can be more important, but most of the time you cannot just generalize on all of them.". I agreed with him, once again. I wish my meeting was longer but he was really busy that day.

Posted in: