The best designers overuse the “C” word

The best designers overuse the “C” word

Joe Smith | 9/02/2012

Most designers recognise at least one level of Client: the person who issued the brief or writes the cheque or has final approval. The best designers see “Clients” everywhere.

If you’re a designer working in a pre-sales or sales channel then view those Account Directors and Account Executives as clients. If you strive to understand their needs and create work makes them happy then you’ve got a motivated client who’ll hit the market with confidence and sell more.

Those designers who can view their Project Managers and Producers as “Clients” are building themselves a human shield. Solid Project Managers work on the front line of client relationships and by acting as the conduit between client and creative allow designers the luxury of remaining, longer, in a creative headspace. The designer that treats his/her PM like a client: seeks to understand their goals; works to appreciate their motivations; actively listens and shows that they are listening via their responses; and vocally appreciates the often unsung role they perform demonstrates he/she views them as a “Client” and everyone benefits.

Designers that can imagine Front and Backend Developers as “Clients” build crucial relationship bridges. The designer that appreciates they are, at times, working FOR their developers will worry that they are handing over clean files; documented designs; work that is easier to build; creative that shows, clearly, that it has been created with sensitivity to the fact that someone’s gonna have to build it.

There’ll be some creative who wince at the idea of MORE clients. The best, and this includes all the creatives I work with at Wiliam, will delight at the increased number of occasions when they can impress and delight their “Clients”. 

tags: Web Design