5 Ways To Screw Up Working With a Designer
When most people start a business, develop a brand, or come up with an awesome new invention, the first thing they think is “OMG I NEED A LOGO!” Which makes total sense! All the real deal big wig companies and products have an awesome logo that defines their brand. So what do you do? You doodle a couple of ideas on some computer paper, maybe try it yourself on Canva or something, but when that fails you hire yourself a graphic designer.
Graphic designers are an interesting breed. Trust me, I’m one of them and have been for most of my life. We’re fantastic beasts with the soul of an artist and the brain of a scientist. We have all this knowledge stored up in our brain just for the chance to let it all explode into an awesome logo, t-shirt, skateboard, or whatever it is you want us to do.
Okay back to our story. You’re sitting there with this graphic designer having a real meeting about your soon-to-be-real logo and everything seems awesome. You start your project, and things start getting weirdly tense. You get the first proofs of your logo and they’re kinda like meh. The designer is obviously frustrated and you’re sitting there like “Yeah me too buddy! Get it together!” At the end of the day, you get an invoice that makes your stomach drop and you begrudgingly sign that metaphorical check and think “I paid all that money for this meh logo?”
Well, as someone who’s been a designer most of his life, let me tell you where you went wrong. There are loads of simple things that a LOT of clients do that make the process not only annoying and frustrating for the designer, but also make it a nightmare for the client themselves! I’m gonna talk about 5 things I’ve encountered working with clients that make projects a huge bummer so that you’ll know what not to do when working with a designer. Here we go!
1. Give Them Full Creative Freedom
I know this one seems counterintuitive. You’re thinking “This guy is great! Such an artist! Let’s unleash him and see what he can do!” It’s a nice sentiment for sure. But what your designer is thinking is “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY WANT FROM MEEEEE” and that can be a paralyzing feeling. When you give your designer FULL creative freedom, they have no direction for the project. So what do they do? They rely on their expertise and research they do about your company and industry. And you already know that YOU are the expert in your industry! You can give them valuable information that, when paired with their expertise, can help them make you a design that you’re gonna LOVE! We’ll talk more about their expertise in a minute.
“So what do I do about this?” Well, there’s lots you can do. I would start by using websites like designspiration.net, Pinterest, and yes even Google Images and looking for logos you think look good. NOT LOGOS YOU WANT TO COPY OUTRIGHT, but logos that have the right look to them and would work well for your company. Just collect as many of those as you can. Put them on a Pinterest board, a word doc, or even just an email and send that stuff to your designer. Tell them what you like about each logo. Look at that board together and come up with some ideas for your logo. This ideation process is gonna help your designer know exactly what you want, and therefore get you the best possible final product.
2. Hire Them At The Last Minute
This is far too often the case when people approach me about designing them all kinds of graphics. I think it’s because people don’t often realize they need design help until it’s already too late. You find yourself a week out from the launch of whatever you're working on, and realize that you need some design thing done right now!
Well, let me tell you about a little secret. I'll use this helpful little Venn diagram to help you understand the concept of good/fast/cheap.
You see, your designer can be a combination of these three things: good, fast, and cheap. We also have a name for designers that show all three of these characteristics. We call them UNICORNS. Because THEY DO NOT EXIST. Sorry to crush your dreams, but that's just not gonna happen. If your designer is good and fast, that means they know what they're doing and they are NOT gonna be cheap. You get what you pay for. If your designer is cheap and fast, that means they're just doing this to make a quick buck and they don't care about your project. You're just a means to an end. If your designer is good and cheap, that means what they're the most interested in is taking the time to make your product the best that it can be. IMO, these are the ones to look for.
Think about this stuff in advance! Make your budget and deadline reasonable, fair, and realistic, and I promise you'll end up with an awesome final product.
OOH! That brings me to the next big mistake...
3. Lowball them
You may or may not know this, but I'm also a musician. I play the guitar and sing at events like church services, concerts, and weddings. Many years ago I was playing at a wedding of a friend I met traveling around the world. We had talked a little bit about how much it would cost and I ended up saying "You know what?! I'm just happy to be a part of your big day, so why don't you just go ahead and pay me whatever you want!" Listen, I was young and didn't know any better, alright?! So the day of the wedding came, my wife and I drove four hours, got a room at a hotel, and bought some gear that I needed to play the wedding. I was sitting in a hallway tuning my guitar and going over the songs when the bride came out. She was in this big stunning dress, her makeup was flawless, her hair looked like actual gold, and she came to talk to me. She said "OMG I'm so happy you're here! Thank you so much for playing my wedding and for doing it for freeeeee..." My heart sank. To save face, I said "No problem" and continued tuning my guitar. With that one awkwardly extended word, she gave me an exact metric of how valuable my work was to her. ZERO.
Your designer spent years and years and, sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars to be able to do the job you're hiring them for. At the end of the day, THAT is what you're paying them for. Not just the building of your logo on a computer, but the knowledge and skill they worked hard to get to be ABLE to create that logo for you and make it look awesome.
Invest in a GOOD designer. Pay them what they're worth. NO ONE likes being undervalued, and being undervalued will make your designer not care about you or your project. Make room in the budget; I promise you the money is somewhere. That bride could have spent a little less on catering, makeup, her perfect golden hair, etc., and paid me what I was worth. It's basic business stuff, right? Investment is different from expense. When you INVEST in quality design work, it should help you make that money back. If you just hire a designer to do a one-off random thing for you for the least amount of money possible, that's money you'll never see again.
This also moves us right along to the next big mistake...
4. Start Your Project Without A Plan
Okay, back to the story where you start some awesome company and have that brilliant thought of "I NEED A LOGO!" Well, that might not be the only thing you need. Unless you have a clear plan for your brand and visual identity, you're just gonna be shooting in the dark. You'll waste your time attacking little problems one at a time, and never end up conquering the big picture problem you're trying to solve.
When you create an overall plan on how to make your brand look, feel, and sound freaking awesome, you turn that expensive design bill into an investment. Not only that but you'll give your designer MUCH more direction and vision to work with which, as I said before, will get you a much better final product.
That's why I create custom plans for all of my clients. I want your brand to be successful. I don't want you spending money on stupid little problems over and over again and never making that money back. I want you to thrive. So, when you work with me, we'll plan out and work on everything you need to succeed, and nothing you don't. When you follow a plan and process to creating your dream brand and work on the big picture of your project, you'll end up with a final product that will blow you away!
5. Don’t Trust Their Expertise
Freddie Mercury was a freaking genius. In all his genius he decided to leave Queen and make music on his own with musicians that would do whatever he told them to. He HATED it. Later he sat in a seriously uncomfortable meeting with the rest of Queen and begged them to take him back. Why did he hate working with people who did whatever he wanted? Because the pushback and feedback he got from his bandmates are what made Queen QUEEN.
The only reason you hire any designer is that they know what they're doing, and you don't. They know how to solve a problem that you just do not. Like I said before, most designers spend many years and lots of money getting good at what they do. So when they tell you something is a bad idea, LISTEN TO THEM.
If you just want to sit over someone's shoulders and tell them exactly what you want them to do, I have a great alternative for you. The full Adobe Creative Suite costs about $600. Go to their website, buy that, download the apps you need, and DO IT YOURSELF. I promise you the result will not work for your brand.
Any designer worth their salt will give you advice and feedback on what's going to serve your brand the best. Take it. If they just do everything you tell them to do to your design, then they're not the designer. You are.
Make sure you're letting the designer do their job. Work WITH them to achieve a final product that you LOVE, but let them do what they're good at and make you something awesome. Don't forget, that's why you hired them!
Okay, so I hope you don’t see this as a cry baby designer telling you about all the silly things that hurt his feelings. I want you to be aware of these mistakes so that you can get the most out of your work with whatever designers you hire. Avoiding these pitfalls will not only help you have a better experience but will also help your brand and visual identity be the best that they can be!
If you want to work with someone who can help you create a brand, website, and overall marketing strategy that works, and that you can manage yourself, I would love to work with you. Hit that big button to start your project today!