Thoughts from the Dirty City

Even as a student I was told that when you show a client multiple designs they are almost always going to choose the design you like the least. It was a lesson they taught us early to prevent us from even showing a design we weren’t happy or at least comfortable with. It’s like magic, no matter what you say or do the design you prefer the least will always end up being the final layout. Knowing this I stuck to the plan of never passing a design draft I wasn’t okay with. However, that means that I am almost always passing up designs I preferred to go with the one the client chose.

It got to the point that I started having long discussions trying to persuade clients to choose the design I preferred. It was during one of these conversations I realized there was an easier way around all of this. Stop showing clients anything other than the design I feel works best for the current project.  It isn’t like most clients request several rough drafts or concepts. It is just something I have always offered. It seemed like the best way to ensure the client was getting exactly what they were looking for. But the truth is, most of the time they aren’t exactly sure what they are looking for. That is why they hired a designer in the first place.

Part of being a designer is opening up dialog and figuring out what would work best for the clients situation. With good communication early on there should be no need for multiple design concepts to be passed to the client initially.

With this in mind I have been trying out a little experiment. I have only been sending what I view as the most successful concept initially. Since I have started doing this I haven’t gotten any complaints. Nor have any of the folks I am working with asked that I completely rework the design. Minor changes, especially in regards to copy are made, but for the most part almost all the concepts I have sent out have remained (for the most part) visually unchanged.

I would like to clarify that in no way does this mean I am only creating one layout and sending it off, fingers crossed that is gets approved. The only change I have made in the approach I have with each project is the initial drafting process. Where once I would send two or three initial concepts, now I only send the one I think works the best.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it has been. The clients are happy and so am I. The truth is, if you have a clear idea of what the client is looking for there is no need for multiple drafts. They just slow down the process and muddy things up. I am sure there are situations that require lost of concepts being shared (logos come to mind),  but for the most part I have found it isn’t necessary.