I’ve had many of these, which is one reason this whole Independent Design thing still seems worth it. The client who respects what I do. They expect me to do what I do at a very high level. They push me, they challenge me. They want something beautiful, delightful, and inspiring. And they know I’ve been doing this for a long time. They know I’m an expert in this field. They let me make the decisions, expand the idea of what’s possible, and most importantly, they let me think and design, design and think. They don’t want cheap, fast, or mediocre. And they are always sensitive to over stepping the generous nature of some of the scopes I work within.
Needless to say, when all this really great stuff isn’t happening on a project, it can really be a drag. When a client brings with them a lot of opposites to the above benefits, you just have to keep plugging away. Keep getting after it, keep grinding out mockups and ideas, keep trying to be open minded, keep trying to empathize.
In the end, hopefully both sides arrive at the end of the process satisfied with mutual respect in tact. And hopefully you’ve grown as a designer and as a person.
