Have you ever hired a designer, only to have them challenging your requests?
As designers, a large part of our job is defending our ideas and rationale, and sometimes that means disagreeing with our clients.
As a client, you may be wondering why your designer is pushing back or disagreeing with you. After all, aren’t they hired to deliver exactly what it is you’re asking for?
Yes and no. Anyone can deliver a client exactly what they request. But a skilled designer delivers what their client NEEDS.
There are often two categories of client requests: those where the client has a clear idea of their desired result, and those where the client has no idea what they want, only what deliverable they need (a website, a menu, etc).
The latter usually results in more open-mindedness when seeing preliminary concepts and mockups of design work. The former, however, is the one we’ll be tackling today.
Clients working with designers, this one’s for you.
Your designers are (or at least SHOULD be) trained professionals with a deep understanding of art, design principles, and psychology to deliver the best results for your business. We are well versed in taking creative briefs and translating them into visuals that are effective in sending a specific message to your customers.
If you have a clear idea in your head of what your request should look like and then receive something that doesn’t match that precisely, it can be frustrating. “I would do this myself if I had the software/technical skill/etc.” or “Why didn’t they do what I asked? I spelled it out for them exactly.”
But before you reject the newly presented ideas your designer submitted; I urge you to consider these common reasons your designer is pushing back or delivering something else to you:
– We’ve Already Tried That
– Budget Restrictions
– Time Constraints
– Load Time
– Legibility/Readability
– Not Resonating With Your Customers
WE’VE ALREADY TRIED THAT
Designers go through dozens of ideas and design executions before selecting the strongest options to present to you. If your first thought relates to a technical aspect of the design, including scale of elements, spatial choices, and element placements, such as, “What if we put the logo here” or “Can we fill out this space with…”, be prepared for some pushback.
We’ve most likely worked through your suggestion already and may immediately let you know why that doesn’t (or didn’t) work. It’s not that we aren’t willing to give it a try; it’s that we already have!
I’ve seen this happen most often regarding “white space”, or the blank areas of a design. This is so common that it has become a cliché in the design world, where clients want to fill every inch of “free” space with content. I get it. You paid for x amount of space, and you expect it to be filled. Designers factor in something called visual hierarchy (arranging elements in a designated space so that the eye flows naturally to the most important details first) and how much content can be received by your customers at one time. This is part of the reason I disagree so strongly with Canva’s and other template-based software’s declaration that “anyone can be a designer”. There are fundamental skills we have acquired through training and experience that set strong designs apart. (Have a Canva logo you made yourself? See why that is only a temporary fix and other reasons your business may be ready for a rebrand.)
Of course, if we HAVEN’T tried what you’re asking and see the potential for another successful outcome, we’re happy to give it a go.
BUDGET RESTRICTIONS
Your designer reviews the creative brief before starting and determines where to spend and where to save to create something within your allocated budget. When you modify your request mid-project, it can affect the total cost, and your designer may push back to keep you within your budget. The other suggestion from us will involve discarding something else you asked for in order to give meet your request and stay within budget. If you encounter this scenario and find that you can increase your budget, let us know and we will gladly accommodate. Our priority will always be to stay within your parameters and not exceed your budget.
TIME CONSTRAINTS
Similar to budget restrictions, if you have a tight deadline on rolling out new design work, your designer will push back on new requests along the way that can impact the final deadline. Although a change might appear simple and straightforward to you, in reality it may take longer than a same day turnaround (especially with back end technical restructuring, such as website design), and when time has been carefully accounted for, your designer will let you know why last-minute edits can’t happen (without affecting your deadline). Eleventh hour changes don’t always affect your timeline, but if they do, it’s your designer’s responsibility to inform you. If you find you have more flexibility in your timeline, let your designer know. This can help avoid deadline pushback when we know we have more “wiggle room”.
LOAD TIME
If your designer is handling your company’s website, they are accounting for every element on the page and how it affects your site’s load time. Load time is critical to keeping your customers on your website. If a site is too slow (beyond the ideal load time), your customers will click off your site. You may see other websites with effects and animations you’d like to incorporate for your own business, but if you have a shared host, or budget or time constraints, your designer may not be able to recreate that for you without impacting your load time and will push back for this reason.
LEGIBILITY/READABILITY
Skilled designers know how small or large elements should be on your printed and digital materials for your customers to be able to read or understand the information. If you are trying to add too much information by scaling down the text/point size past what is legible, your designer will push back. What’s the point of having information/images/icons/logos/etc. that your customer cannot take in? Make sure you know what the biggest takeaway should be on all your designed pieces, in case you have to sacrifice some of it to maintain legibility/readability. This will help your designer know what is crucial to keep on the design and what is “nice to have”, that can be included if space allows for it, or discarded if space/legibility does not.
NOT RESONATING WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
Here’s a big one that encompasses many instances of pushback because it’s so open-ended. Strong designers understand marketing and how to craft your message for your customers effectively and in line with your business’s visual branding. If your suggestions include things that will take away from your customers resonating with your business, your designer will push back. Maybe it’s too many elements on a page. Maybe it’s verbiage/colors/image styles/etc that doesn’t align with your branding. Whatever the case may be, if it causes your message to be lost or diluted, expect some pushback from your designer.
REFER TO YOUR PROJECT GOAL(S)
While you and your designer most likely have valid reasoning behind pushback, when in doubt, it’s best to refer back to your project goals. How does the suggestion affect the overall project goal? Does it help improve it or hurt it? Reviewing what’s most important for the project can help it stay on track
No matter the reason for pushback, your designer should be able to discuss it with you clearly, and you have every right to ask. Remember, designers know that explaining their rationale behind decisions is part of their job. You never have to quietly accept a “no” without question. It IS your business, after all.
Strong designers look out for the best interest of their clients. It does not mean they are always correct or unwilling to cooperate and accommodate your requests and suggestions. There are endless solutions for design requests. Sometimes a few minor adjustments and new perspective can result in an even better solution! Working alongside a designer involves some give and take from both parties. Knowing why they push back in the first place can help you understand their point of view, as well as more effectively communicate your own to collaborate and create something that meets your business and brand’s goals and connects with your customers.
Looking for a skilled designer to help you build your business into a powerful brand? We can help. Contact us today to get started.