A Designer’s Street Cred
Why is it that people don’t tell lawyers, mechanics, doctors, construction workers, professional athletes how to do their job? Whereas people have no problem telling a designer, “Make that smaller. Move that there. Use this font.”
I suppose we just don’t have enough street cred or people think since it’s “simple” they can ask to see it. The ever infamous, “Can I see something? It shouldn’t take long.” taunts us. I think the next time we hear this taunt, we should just swing back with a tone tougher than Tyson, “I’m the designer. You’re not. Let me earn that buck you’re giving me.”
Now don’t get me wrong. I understand the need to listen, make revisions, and the power of collaboration. I agree that’s important, but clients seem to forget that. They don’t understand that what we do is driven by an objective — and neither taste nor aesthetics. Those tactics are simply weapons of trade. It’s not about red vs. purple. It’s not even about circle versus square. It’s about what we are trying to communicate through the design. We are not simply making something look pretty. We are professionals that make design driven decisions while understanding your design goals and challenges.
Take a peek inside my world for a spell. I spend more time conversing with clients, reading anything relevant, absorbing anything that inspires me, learning about my clients’ businesses, scribbling ideas, and exchanging concepts with colleagues than actually “designing”. The truth is that all the stuff in the beginning is indeed my design method. You know, I’ve been designing your logo since the day I became a designer. Remember that.
The computer. The color chips. The sketching. The artsy stuff. The things people imagine design to be, is a speck of my time. And I can do that because I’m that good. That is why you pay me. (I would add “the big bucks” at the end, but we both know the truth on that one. Don’t we?) That is why you’ve taken the risk in coming to me for an idea.
If the idea I come up with doesn’t please you. It’s ok. I won’t cry. I won’t even flinch. Let me know and tell me why it’s not successful. It’s real important though that you don’t mix that up with why you don’t like it. Second, let me know what parts of it did work and why. Even if it’s a tiny little detail. Because you know what? That extra space or lack thereof was intentional.
Whatever you do, do not start designing in my place. It makes you look ugly and desperate. And frankly, it bores me. I know you’re picking colors and nitpicking because you’re lost and anxious. That is why you are not a designer.
I hope people realize, that showing off their knowledge of what a Pantone color is, or how to use the paintbrush tool in Photoshop is very useless. We are not taking out a pimple from that prom photo back in high school, nor are we are redoing your room because you saw this OMFG great episode of Trading Spaces.
Even though your business is your baby, don’t treat it like one. Otherwise you’ll be wiping shit off its ass forever. You hired an accountant, a lawyer, and other professionals to help you raise your baby. Let me, the designer, do my part to provide you my expertise. This way you can focus more on spending quality time with your baby, instead of a tub of baby wipes wiping off that Jackson Pollack.
