Web Design Forums

designfreak · 18-12-2007, 17:54

I am a designer after all! Dont you hate dealing with people that pay you to design but then they do all the designing and it ends up looking like shit! I just finished up the website. My client (and I am not joking) wanted all the content on the site to be this bold cursive huge font all the content size 18pt. She gave me this image for the site, I placed the image on and added a quote under it in this really pretty bold cursive font. My client comes back and wants all the content on the site in this same exact font and she wants it all like 18pt. I told her its not a standard font and basically if I did that the whole site would be made of a shit load of images (only way to make sure everyone could read it in this particular font). I managed to get her to settle on times roman bold italic (look, I know it aint no fucking better, but you dont know who I am dealing with here, a know it all fucking client)! She has this row of links running down the side of the page. I told her (because the links are in times bold italic sz 18, we need to keep the link names short). You know what she sends me this long ASS link like "Runway Model Tips On Beautiful Hair and Great Eyelashes". then she says can we add "Click Here to View" in front of it? I email back and say what about just add the word "View" in front. She says no, I want them to know it is a clicking link! WTF? Anyways the site looks like shit, and you know I aint putting it in my portfolio.

Herr Kurm · 18-12-2007, 18:02

fire the client.

stealthcow · 18-12-2007, 18:03

do what she asks, take her money, dont put it on your portfolio and never work for her again

proc355 · 18-12-2007, 19:25

make her a cup of tea.

polonium tea.

pgo · 18-12-2007, 22:01

argh paragraphs!

illvibe · 18-12-2007, 22:10

^ what he said. I can't read that mess.

JDK1 · 19-12-2007, 05:05

I spent a whole year working on a brochure on and off for a big company. Did a really nice initial design and over the year they just destroyed it. Just had to bite my tongue everytime they made a suggestion.

It cost them over £20k in total including print, so I wasn't too bothered when it was billed

stealthcow · 19-12-2007, 05:35

it is always important to guide a client in the right direction, but if theyre not listening this is when you can just throw in the towel and do what it takes to get the job done

pgo · 19-12-2007, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDK1

I spent a whole year working on a brochure on and off for a big company. Did a really nice initial design and over the year they just destroyed it. Just had to bite my tongue everytime they made a suggestion.

It cost them over £20k in total including print, so I wasn't too bothered when it was billed

Hahaha, a $40,000 brochure. That's great.

JDK1 · 24-12-2007, 06:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by pgo

Hahaha, a $40,000 brochure. That's great.

£40,000! Yep it was all singing all dancing at the print end too, spots and varnishes. Looked a treat at the end, but still wished I could have had more freedom on the design.

Chris_Crew · 24-12-2007, 08:32

i know this problem all to well, had a cleint want a simple 4 page html page in whcih he drew excatly wat he wanted on 4 A4 sheets of paper.

He wanted 3d rotating logo, flashing banners and animated background was able to get it "dulled" down abit but still had no input so just finished site and never work for him again.

venturewise · 13-02-2008, 15:11

Designfreak - what part of the country are you from? Or should I say - what part of the country are your clients from?

My worst web client, believe it or not, is a top ad agency in my area. They did the design, asked me to turn into a web site. Seemed easy enough until they called me, screaming bloody murder, WHY did I use ARIAL for their site's text (copy, not logo), when their PSD obviously used AVANT-GARDE???
I explained that you don't have a lot of choices when writing on the web, do they want to be spidered on search engines, etc....

Ok so then they were OK with my generic "sans serif" designation, but HORRORS! why is the leading so bad - why does the line break at this particular word, etc..... I said "go look at the site on 2 more computers, and I guarantee it will be slightly different" and the owner just about fainted.

I ended up doing 2 sites - one that is all jpgs in flash (couldn't get the leading just right by using the font in flash, *sigh*), and the site's code determines if you have flash installed or not. If not, it gives you the "sans serif", static site, which is what the search engines see.

I hope they never call me again :-)

MoyKong · 26-02-2008, 10:48

Everyone's a designer, and everyone thinks that their design is the best one. Sometimes you just have to let them speak their mind, and do what you know is right, even if its not what they think.

Just do a good enough job of selling your recommendations and the client will be happy.

Coops · 26-02-2008, 10:51

Old thread. Please move along.

woodss · 26-02-2008, 11:00

Er, it's not that old - it's not like he resurrected a thread from 2004 or something...

Renderz · 19-03-2008, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by stealthcow

do what she asks, take her money, dont put it on your portfolio and never work for her again

I second that. There's business and then there's art (in the broadest term). Some clients will never appreciate our craft but they are willing to pay for you to be, as I call it, web monkey... they grind the organ and we do the dancing. But if we're smart monkeys, we remember their music and never dance anywhere near them again.

I've been doing this for 15 years, they'll never change but we get better at adapting.

niggle · 20-03-2008, 05:18

Just don't work for crap clients.

If you do, you deserve what you get I'm afraid. If you're good enough you'll be able to be selective about who you work for. If you're not good enough and have to take on shit work, that's your fault and you need to get better.

H3LLRA1Z3R · 22-03-2008, 23:05

Hey niggle is back!

To me, part of the job as a designer is to inform client of what works and what doesn't. If I tell a client thay cant use Flemish Script for everything and they want to argue and wont budge FUCK THEM, move on or bill them for work done and gof to somebody else.

You are a designer not a mac monkey, if they think they are the designer give them a brochure for photoshop.

There are exceptions of course but still nothing worse than toss pot clients.

18-12-2007, 17:54	#1 (permalink)
designfreak Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: USA Posts: 8	Can I Please Freaken Design? I am a designer after all! Dont you hate dealing with people that pay you to design but then they do all the designing and it ends up looking like shit! I just finished up the website. My client (and I am not joking) wanted all the content on the site to be this bold cursive huge font all the content size 18pt. She gave me this image for the site, I placed the image on and added a quote under it in this really pretty bold cursive font. My client comes back and wants all the content on the site in this same exact font and she wants it all like 18pt. I told her its not a standard font and basically if I did that the whole site would be made of a shit load of images (only way to make sure everyone could read it in this particular font). I managed to get her to settle on times roman bold italic (look, I know it aint no fucking better, but you dont know who I am dealing with here, a know it all fucking client)! She has this row of links running down the side of the page. I told her (because the links are in times bold italic sz 18, we need to keep the link names short). You know what she sends me this long ASS link like "Runway Model Tips On Beautiful Hair and Great Eyelashes". then she says can we add "Click Here to View" in front of it? I email back and say what about just add the word "View" in front. She says no, I want them to know it is a clicking link! WTF? Anyways the site looks like shit, and you know I aint putting it in my portfolio.

18-12-2007, 18:02	#2 (permalink)
Herr Kurm bloody peasant Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Tallinn, Estonia Posts: 2,649	fire the client. __________________ refreshed portfolio

18-12-2007, 19:25	#4 (permalink)
proc355 Trailer Trash™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 851	make her a cup of tea. polonium tea. __________________ meh.

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18-12-2007, 18:03	#3 (permalink)
stealthcow knocking heads Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,890	do what she asks, take her money, dont put it on your portfolio and never work for her again

18-12-2007, 22:01	#5 (permalink)
pgo i'm done, son Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 12,262	argh paragraphs!

18-12-2007, 22:10	#6 (permalink)
illvibe say werd. Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Japan Posts: 1,259	^ what he said. I can't read that mess.

19-12-2007, 05:05	#7 (permalink)
JDK1 Multimedia Guru Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Halifax, UK Posts: 36	I spent a whole year working on a brochure on and off for a big company. Did a really nice initial design and over the year they just destroyed it. Just had to bite my tongue everytime they made a suggestion. It cost them over £20k in total including print, so I wasn't too bothered when it was billed

19-12-2007, 05:35	#8 (permalink)
stealthcow knocking heads Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,890	it is always important to guide a client in the right direction, but if theyre not listening this is when you can just throw in the towel and do what it takes to get the job done

24-12-2007, 08:32	#11 (permalink)
Chris_Crew me Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Runcorn Posts: 47	i know this problem all to well, had a cleint want a simple 4 page html page in whcih he drew excatly wat he wanted on 4 A4 sheets of paper. He wanted 3d rotating logo, flashing banners and animated background was able to get it "dulled" down abit but still had no input so just finished site and never work for him again.

13-02-2008, 15:11	#12 (permalink)
venturewise Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 52	Designfreak - what part of the country are you from? Or should I say - what part of the country are your clients from? My worst web client, believe it or not, is a top ad agency in my area. They did the design, asked me to turn into a web site. Seemed easy enough until they called me, screaming bloody murder, WHY did I use ARIAL for their site's text (copy, not logo), when their PSD obviously used AVANT-GARDE??? I explained that you don't have a lot of choices when writing on the web, do they want to be spidered on search engines, etc.... Ok so then they were OK with my generic "sans serif" designation, but HORRORS! why is the leading so bad - why does the line break at this particular word, etc..... I said "go look at the site on 2 more computers, and I guarantee it will be slightly different" and the owner just about fainted. I ended up doing 2 sites - one that is all jpgs in flash (couldn't get the leading just right by using the font in flash, sigh), and the site's code determines if you have flash installed or not. If not, it gives you the "sans serif", static site, which is what the search engines see. I hope they never call me again :-)

26-02-2008, 10:48	#13 (permalink)
MoyKong Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 15	Everyone's a designer, and everyone thinks that their design is the best one. Sometimes you just have to let them speak their mind, and do what you know is right, even if its not what they think. Just do a good enough job of selling your recommendations and the client will be happy.

26-02-2008, 10:51	#14 (permalink)
Coops Pops. Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,860	Old thread. Please move along.

26-02-2008, 11:00	#15 (permalink)
woodss Just another web monkey Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Newcastle, UK Posts: 216	Er, it's not that old - it's not like he resurrected a thread from 2004 or something...

20-03-2008, 05:18	#17 (permalink)
niggle Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 428	Just don't work for crap clients. If you do, you deserve what you get I'm afraid. If you're good enough you'll be able to be selective about who you work for. If you're not good enough and have to take on shit work, that's your fault and you need to get better.

22-03-2008, 23:05	#18 (permalink)
H3LLRA1Z3R whiney little bitch... Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 330	Hey niggle is back! To me, part of the job as a designer is to inform client of what works and what doesn't. If I tell a client thay cant use Flemish Script for everything and they want to argue and wont budge FUCK THEM, move on or bill them for work done and gof to somebody else. You are a designer not a mac monkey, if they think they are the designer give them a brochure for photoshop. There are exceptions of course but still nothing worse than toss pot clients.

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