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How do you deal with clients with bad taste?

Thread title: How do you deal with clients with bad taste?
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04-04-2012, 01:06 AM
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BoyWonder is offline BoyWonder
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  Old  How do you deal with clients with bad taste?

This hasn't occurred to me yet, but I am just wondering.

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04-04-2012, 02:03 AM
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Village Genius is offline Village Genius
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They are paying you, do what they say. If the design turns out to be crap just don't put it on your portfolio.

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04-05-2012, 12:41 PM
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derek lapp is offline derek lapp
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depends on what their bad taste is about.

if they have a flat-up tacky idea, i'll probably just turn the project down. i know i won't want to do it, i'll push off working on it whenever i have something else to do, and eventually i'll fall behind and drop it anyways, might as well keep a good rep.

if they want some tacky/dated art direction that i personally disagree with, i'll do what i can to talk them out of it. if it'll look dated, i'll explain why, if i just don't like the style i'll explain why - usually it'll be because i get a disconnect from the stylistic attributes and the brand's actual message. in this case, i'm with village genius: do it, compromise on the design enough to get the job done, then file it under "paid the bills".

04-06-2012, 06:23 PM
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derek lapp is offline derek lapp
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to elaborate on my point above: the key to being a good designer is being able to disconnect yourself from the project. by that i mean, put your personality aside, and begin thinking like the brand you're working with.

example: at work we were building a blackberry event microsite. i was working on some initial concepts for interior pages, and the "design lead" caught a glimpse and decided to tell me how to design it. i was working with a photo from the same series to make it look similar to this treatment: http://ca.blackberry.com/business/in...ca:bb:Business

now, she personally doesn't like "gradients" and "fading" as she called it. she's got a boring personality, so she likes boring, stale design and insisted we simply crop the picture and give it no treatment whatsoever. we ended up with http://www.blackberryinnovation.com/ca/details.php, which just looks and feels lazy.

personally, i don't really like the colourized/realistic combo happening on rim's page - not when it's that obvious - but that's what the master brand has established as it's look, so i was attempting to follow it. because our lead creative couldn't separate her own personal preferences from the brand, we ended up with a shotty product.

so if you have to compromise, do it to get the job done, but put up a fight and at least explain your reasons for doing what you did - and also, do your best to separate your own preferences from the job. most times that will eliminate a sense of "bad taste".

04-07-2012, 12:57 AM
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  Old

Originally Posted by Village Genius View Post
They are paying you, do what they say. If the design turns out to be crap just don't put it on your portfolio.
Unfortunately I had to do this to one of my BIGGEST clients. I did the original site design, which was super sexy. Then little by little he kept wanting changes. I couldn't say no. I even tried twisting what he said so it would come out looking good. Now I just say f*** it I'm getting paid to do what he wants and it's exactly as he describes so he's happy.

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04-22-2012, 12:32 AM
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Originally Posted by jasonm56 View Post
Unfortunately I had to do this to one of my BIGGEST clients. I did the original site design, which was super sexy. Then little by little he kept wanting changes. I couldn't say no. I even tried twisting what he said so it would come out looking good. Now I just say f*** it I'm getting paid to do what he wants and it's exactly as he describes so he's happy.
Yeah, no reason to turn down projects either. If someone is paying you for something, it should be what and how they like it. Maybe to them it isn't crap, and maybe they are looking for a certain style that isn't exactly your own.

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04-26-2012, 08:41 AM
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Dealing with clients with a relatively bad taste is quite a challenge for you as a designer. As a designer, all you want for your client in exchange to your pay is to give him or her quality work. So, professionally and nicely, explain what a good design is to him or her. The cliche that goes, "The customer is always right," does not always apply. However, if your client insists, try to appear to follow your client but just meet him or her somewhere in the middle. That is real service.

06-13-2012, 02:06 AM
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Dealing with client with bad taste, In my experience I always suggest my client about my feel in design but if they don't like it and make design looks bad, I just try follow them and make it finish

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06-14-2012, 11:58 AM
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I don't. I had some on 99designs - they have just chosen bad designs. I lose.

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06-15-2012, 11:07 AM
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Clients are always right. Period.

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