THE QUALITY of DESIGN SERVICE

Attached you will find the finished logo artwork...

One would think that these words are the conclusion to a wonderful client and creative interaction. However, that doesn't seem to always be the case. Recently I met a client who is a young trendsetting entrepreneur in her own right. It's always a thrill to work for someone who has a great vision as well as a notable passionate love for what they do. In great length she articulated what she had in mind for what would become her company's logo.

Often I find clients who have seen my work, and trust me to come up with a cross between, what I am able to produce and what I think they need in a logo.In this case she is a client who knows exactly what she wants, and is relying on my abilities to bring it to fruition.Then came the surprise...among the great references she provided (saving me tons of time in the art of researching) was the current rendition of her logo. She went on further to say that she hated this version of her logo. This peaked my interest, because I usually like to get a feel for not only what a client loves, but a good understanding of what a client hates.

It puzzled me how a client of this caliber had interactions with a designer, including the drafting process, project reviews, revisions, and countless discussions yet the end result was a logo that she paid for in full and that she ultimately..."hated".

Upon further discussion, it became apparent that none of this good business practices took place with her previous designer. This is unfortunate because, it is a reflection on our industry as a whole. There should be standards understood by all that urge the designer to want to know exactly what a client is after. The designer should understand that even though it is the client's logo, the end result represents the designers ability to create as well as effectively meet the need of the customer by offering a wonderful design solution that completes the task and makes the client happy.

I understand that self promotion is an effective tool for creating a client base, but let's not forget that client testimony can make or break your design business. Designers and Creatives of all denominations please don't let clients leave your shop dissatisfied. I know there are some (not so rare) cases when some clients are just never satisfied but as a general rule "Aim to please"