5 of the Most Frustrating Statements Ever If you work in the field of Graphic Design

We know that us working in the field of graphic design are not the easiest to communicate with. Some call us creative nerds, some call us computer geeks, we drink fonts, we eat graphics, we are married to our deadlines and our life partner is Photoshop. I agree to some extent that we have our own language that we speak in so it’s understandable that our client asks us different questions that will help the project move in the right direction. But along the way, we all comes across clients that will say things so vague, so unexplainable and so frustrating that we can do nothing but throw our hands up in the air with exasperation.

So if you work in the field of graphic design or you are an upcoming graphic designer or even a client that works with graphic designers, you’d relate to this article. Below is the rundown of 5 most frustrating statements ever spoken in the field of Graphic Design.

1. Can you just do this one little thing? It will only take a minute?

Graphic Designers are working for you. They won’t mind making a change here and there according to your liking but don’t expect it to be done immediately. Unless you have formal graphic design knowledge, you don’t know how much time your requested change will take so a little consideration will be appreciated by the designer here.

2. I’m not sure right now but make several designs. I’m sure I’ll know what I want when I see it.

This one is just unethical. You need to respect the designer and also the time and effort he is putting into your project. You can’t ask for seven different versions, each design takes time. It’s better if the client and the graphic designer go through specifications and project brief’s at the very start of the project so both will have a better understanding of what the other wants

3. I won’t pay you but my business is excellent for your portfolio.

Graphic designers are always looking to add work that would look good on their portfolio; however, doing something for absolutely free won’t cut it. The publicity won’t pay the bills and graphic design is not an easy task, a lot of effort, time and creativity goes into it and graphic designers would like to be compensated for that.

4. Vague Revisions like “Make it Pop”!

There will be days when your client will come up to you and give you the vaguest feedback possible. Those will be the days you will stare out into the dark sky contemplating why did you ever choose to work in the field of graphic design? Statements like “Make the design pop a bit”, “It lacks that extra oomph factor”, “It doesn’t wow me”, “It lacks that magic”, “The design should make me gasp” are said to the designers all the time which frustrates them to no bounds. Well, quite frankly graphic designers are not wizards that would know what would make you gasp so maybe communicate better because vague requests will lead to vague revisions.

5. I found a designer online who’d do this for much less. Can you match up to their price?

Well if you found someone better for much cheaper, kindly go with them. Every designer gives a quote according to his expertise, experience, the complexity of the project so telling the designer to bring their price down to match up with someone they found online is just disrespectful. Kindly avoid that.

These are only 5 out of the countless frustrating things graphic designers hear every day. If you are a client and you find yourself saying any of these, kindly be more considerate and refrain from the above-mentioned statements.