5 bewildering client conversations on design
We list down the top 5 client quips …from whacky to outright bizarre
Q: “What is your message to smokers?”
A: “Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”
Thankfully this wasn’t something our client said, but a famous Hollywood actress who once dated tennis star Andre Agassi did (sure you’ve guessed the name by now!).
Irrespective of whichever field you’re in, people never cease to amaze with the kind of demands and responses they come up with. And our field of design & innovation is no different!
While selling design, the most common client responses fall under three broad buckets… (1) you’re too expensive (2) so you make things prettier? (3) we know how it’s done, we’ve been in the industry all our lives!
However, sometimes the comments are so awesome…that we feel like giving them a standing ovation…maybe even induct them into the “hall of fame” of legendary reactions!
Here are 5 kickass comments we’ve got from clients…in no particular order
- I want it like the Google Search page, but without the search bar
During a discussion with one of our prospective clients, this gem came up. He wanted to explain how he likes simplicity and said “I want the end product to be like the Google Search page without the Search bar”…which is pretty much just a clean white screen!
2. I want 10 Zuckerberg’s in this design meeting
We were in this meeting with the client where the design strategy was going to be discussed and formulated. The client enters the room and says “we have 10 people here, I want everyone to be Mark Zuckerberg…I want 10 Mark Zuckerbergs in this meeting!”
To which one of our guys replied “Well…if i was Mark Zuckerberg, I wouldn’t be sitting here!”
3. This is too simple, it should look as if i’ve paid for design
After spending considerable time and effort to come up with a clean and minimal design, we proudly showcased it to the client. His response was “This is too simplistic. Please jazz it up. It should look as if i’ve paid for design!”
4. The design should make me want to lick the screen
No, this wasn’t for a restaurant or anything remotely connected to food. While describing how appealing the visualisation for a particular dashboard should be…the client said “It has to be so good that the user should want to lick the screen”
5. The vision statement is the same as last year, needs to be modified
We were presenting a design concept along with our customer to the CEO of the client organisation. As part of the presentation, the client wanted to show the company’s vision and then present how the design aligns with the vision. During the review, when the vision statement was shown on screen, he suddenly said “we need to change the vision statement…it’s the same as last year”.
Now the company wasn’t doing really well…and we think we know the reason why!
What are some of the weird conversations you’ve had with your clients? Would love to know!!
……………………………………………………………………………………….
If you liked what you just read, please click the purple heart button below and follow our publication Moonraft Musings to get notified on future posts…thanks!
