The Google Zeitgeist conference addresses issues concerning the overall intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of our generation. These insights are based on millions of queries received daily through Google’s search engine.
The most talked about presentation this year came from Isreali conductor Itay Talgam. Itay uses the metaphor of conducting a symphony to touch upon the topic of leadership and collaboration, the importance of interpretation within a structure, and what he calls “doing by not doing”. A fascinating video and well worth 30 minutes of your weekend.
Let’s face the facts! Not all clients you work with will turn out to be open, design-minded people with unlimited budgets; some clients will cause way more stress and sleepless nights than they’re worth! If you’ve already committed to the job then you’ll just have to suck it up and maintain a high level of professionalism, but it’s best if you’re able to recognize a potentially trouble client upfront and try to avoid them altogether. How do you spot them? Here are 6 types of nightmare clients that you’re bound to encounter through your freelancing adventures:
1. The Frustrated Artist
The Frustrated Artist thinks he is creative and will attempt the initial design himself. After realizing his skills fall a bit short he will turn to you, the design professional, to salvage the project. The problem with this client is that he already has an idea of the outcome in mind and his ego won’t allow for anything else, which means very little room for creative exploration. You’ll end up doing what the client wants in order to please him, but you won’t feel satisfied with the final product as you had no control over it.
So you’re an art director at a big name creative agency, but you’ve grown tired of climbing the corporate ladder and decided to explore opportunities as a freelance designer. The idea sounds sweet as your mind runs through a check list of self-employment benefits:
Freedom to express your own unique style and aesthetic
Choose your own clients in industries that you like
Work to your own schedule
No longer need to deal with technically inept creative directors
And yes, you finally won’t need to argue with the account team aka “suits” anymore…
But, are you really ready to take on the role of a suit and manage clients, negotiate costs, sell your work convincingly, and take criticism without going on a tirade about how the logo is already frickin’ big enough? Well, if you’re not then here’s a list to get you started of the 5 things every freelance designers should know about managing clients.
