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clients are crazy

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Your Text: Insert Slimies » Insert UBB Code » Close Last Tag \| All Tags UBB Help	[quote]i think ive come across a bit of people doing aestheticlook of the page etc based on what they like, not what the client likes.[/quote] I hear ya, and I know some people who develop a really bad raport with their clients, because they absolutely refuse to bend on the design. I'm pretty open to client suggestions. My main issue is that this client wants a lot of cute web tricks on his page. You know, the flashy stuff that tends to impress you when you first learn web design, but that you later realize is crap. I don't mind the client's input on the general look of the site, and I don't mind if the client says "I don't like that" to some of my sketches. That's the business. I DO mind when the client wants a site that looks like it was done by someone who is not a professional. If it comes down to me not making my money, I'll do it, after making lots of really good arguments against the client's ideas. However, I would never EVER put a site that I don't think is professional looking in my portfolio. And when I say that it's not professional, I'm referring to design that is inappropriate for the client's business/target audience, and design that makes use of bad web elements such as ridiculous looking logos or busy background images, and/or a disregard for the basic principals of design. I was hired to redo his site, because his old site looks really cheesy. And now he's trying his hardest to make the new one look cheesy. There are, essentially, two different schools of web design that I see in most discussions by designers. One is the "give 'em what they want" school, and the other is the "give 'em what you want" school. My approach leans a bit to the more selfish end, but I like to call it the "give 'em the tools to get what they want" approach. Most clients are paying you because they expect to make money off of a site. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts, I can tell them that people tend to take a professional-looking site more seriously, and if the site is poorly designed and built, the reflection on the client is that his business does a poor job. That's harsh, but true. I don't know about you guys, but I won't buy anything from a web site that looks like it was thrown together by an amateur. Now, if a client still wants to make a ridiculous site, I'll follow through. But I agree with Petskull; I'll do one or the other, not both. That's what I meant with the lobster story. Because some clients do come in asking you for lobster at a McDonald's, you know? And some of these folks are coming into a 4 star restaurant asking you for a McDonald's burger (that's pretty much what my client is doing. And for you ego-watchers out there, I'm not calling myself 4 star. I am saying, however, that I'm a professional, not a fry-cook). I can get the dude a hamburger, but I can also advise him that there are better things on the menu. As for the lobster/McDonalds fable, I'm not quite sure where you're headed with that warmed over burger story. Are you saying that if he doesn't like your design, you should make a new design? Because I agree with that, and I went through 3 sketches before we agreed on the layout. You should agree on a layout before you start work on anything else. But that was long, long ago. It's not the major layout that is the problem. The demon is the details right now. I've made him a nice, professional layout, and that is not being disputed. The problem is he keeps wanting to add all those nifty web elements to the pages. That's my big problem; he wants professional and cheesy at the same time. Frankly, that looks worse than just cheesy. But oh well. I've decided that I will do his additional updates for him, but it will be $65 an hour, and he must first pay us for the initial agreed upon fee (we are still owed for half of the site). After that is paid, I agree to work at $65 an hour, but I expect to be paid weekly for the updates. You wouldn't believe how this guy is stringing us along, and he continued sending us updates for the site after the deadline, without so much as a nod to the fact that the deadline had passed! My project manager said that this is the worst client he's ever had, and that alone makes me feel better. I'd hate to think that they're all like this. [This message has been edited by Odd Cat (edited 10-30-2002).] Loading...
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