Please, Don’t Be a Dick — A client’s handbook to working with a designer
In 2014 we wrote a book titled “Please, Don’t Be a Dick — A client’s handbook to working with a designer”. The exact reason for this is somewhat lost on me now, but at the time it felt like the best way to win over new clients.
The contents of the book were not as harsh as the cover would suggest. In fact, we never touched on bad experiences with clients. The idea behind the book was to give clients information that designers might, foolishly, expect them to already have, regardless on whether they already had experience working with a designer.
The book was received with drastically different opinions. I believe that this was due to the “controversial” title and the fact that most people hadn’t read it yet. On the one hand we had designers giving praise and on the other we had many people feeling as though this was an attack. Although it was written with a tongue-in-cheek tone, the value of the book weighed more heavily towards the client than the designer, which made the praise from the designers feel unmerited.
Now that a few years have passed and the company has shifted its focus from design to software development we feel the need to update certain parts of the book. Even though the majority of the book still holds true to our beliefs, it is important for us that it doesn’t stagnate. Posts will follows with updated chapters of the book. The original version of the ebook can be freely* downloaded from here.
Jump to a chapter
- Preface and introduction
- First, let’s synchronise our watches
- What is graphic design?
- What is a graphic designer?
- The many hats of graphic design
- The many homes of graphic design - The idea factory
- The myths
- The reality
- The research part
- The evolution of an idea
- Presentation of the ideas
- Client feedback
- The development of the idea
- Getting it ready - Choosing a designer
- So where could you find them?
- Setting your goals
- Pitches and tenders
- A better alternative
- The estimate - Working with a designer
- The final briefing
- The contract
- The schedule
- Eeny, meeny, miny, moe - Design projects
- Logo and corporate identity
- Advertising campaign
- Packaging
- Print materials
- Website
- Digital presentation
* In exchange for a post
