Portland is a city full of designers. Walking down the street, getting a cup of coffee, or even visiting the local bars, you see designers everywhere, and not all of them work as designers.

In fact, many people recognize Portland as a very design oriented city, in everything from the public works which get constructed, to the things which get debated in city hall. The problem with having so many designers is quite simply that it makes an actual designer’s job difficult: Everyone wants to give their own opinion.

This is not to say that the customer’s opinion is worthless. Quite the contrary, every design job can be simplified down to the phrase “creating a visual representation of the client’s vision”. However, often someone coming to a designer, particularly a web designer, recognizes that they don’t possess the knowledge or expertise to get their project done. That’s why they find a designer in the first place.

Often it’s difficult for a designer to explain this gently to customer. Many clients will feel marginalized or attacked if you explain that you’re the one with the design experience, and so we’ve compiled a few general guidelines to help clients, and designers, understand the unique relationship that exists between them, made even more unique by the city we live in.

Your Designer Is Trying To Prevent You From Making Mistakes

If there’s one thing that most clients seem to forget more than anything, it’s that designers make recommendations because they want your site to succeed. When you ask to have a picture of your dog made into the logo, the designer tells you that’s not a good idea because it will probably reduce the quality of the site, and give off the wrong impression, not because they are rejecting your ideas as being your ideas.

Many clients seem to feel that designers will reject any suggestions they make simply because the designer only wants to include their own ideas. This is, for most designers, absolutely not true. Many designers have been working their craft for years, and they know what will grab people’s attention and what will turn them away. The difference between a sale and a click on the back button.

If your designer rejects an idea of yours, ask them why and listen to their reasons. Do not ask why simply so that you can try and argue. Look at it as an opportunity for you to learn something new. By giving you advice the designer is teaching you a small part of what they know about design. Don’t take that for granted.

Clients Want A Design That Works

An opposite mistake sometimes made is when a designer creates something very splashy or elaborate for no reason. Designers, do not do this. Every single thing you place on a website should have a reason to be there. If it doesn’t then it needs to go. How can you justify your work to your client if you can’t even justify it to yourself? What’s the point in making a beautiful site if it results in no sales for the client?

For this reason, you should avoid using flashy elements, like jQuery, unless you have a reason to do so. On this site, we used jQuery for two purposes: to reduce clutter which kept a clean design that we were aiming for, and to enhance the user experience by drawing attention to certain elements. The slideshow on the front page allows us to use several graphics without making the page very long, and the tooltips help us provide a wealth of information without cluttering the sidebar.

If you are a client dealing with a designer, don’t ask them to justify everything they do, it will only frustrate them. But when you see something that you don’t understand, or you don’t see a reason for, tell them that, and then listen to their reasons. If they cannot explain the change to you, but still insist on keeping it, perhaps you need to look for a new designer.

Talk In Goals And Generalities

When discussing the project with your designer, try to talk about your goals, your customers, and the general facts of your site. If possible, avoid speaking in specifics (unless they ask for them).

Instead of telling your designer “I want a website with a logo here, and a sidebar on the left, and then a little information bar on the right”, tell them “My customers will be looking for lots of information and I want it to be well organized.” Instead of telling your designer “I want to use brown, white and red on my site”, tell them “I want it to have a bright, but earthy feel to it.” (You of course should tell your designer about specific colors if you are matching a corporate logo scheme or other, similar requirement.)

The point is that you are paying a designer for their creativity, and you want to restrict that creativity as little as possible. Give them the boundaries of what you want, then let them create something they think meets those requirements. You should know fairly quickly if they are the right designer for you.

Don’t Discuss Development Work With A Designer

Unless the design crosses over very much with the development, (in which case you should be talking to a team or individual that can deliver both), do not present development questions to your designer. Tell them that you want a login box, but don’t ask them how it works, or mention specifics about the back-end. A good rule of thumb is to keep the things you discuss with your developer to data-less presentation. If you are discussing the content of the site, instead of the way the content looks, you are having a development conversation with your designer.

Similarly, designers should avoid, at all costs, discussing development with their clients. It creates several problems, some of which the client will have and some of which the developer will have. Many designers know enough about development to get by, and some are quite proficient, but unfailingly if a designer allows them self to discuss development with a client, they create expectations that the developer must later manage. You don’t want to give your clients bad information, and that’s very easy to do when discussing the portion of a project you are not working on.

Make Sure You Understand What You Are Paying For

No one likes to work for free, but unfortunately many clients expect both developers and designers to do so. Stop expecting it. The people who will work for free are ALWAYS going to give you a product that you become unsatisfied with, and you will end up paying someone to do it correctly in the future.

When discussing with a designer a price point, understand what their quotes mean. Are they quoting you a project price, or an hourly rate? Does this include simply the art assets, or does it also include templating? Does their price include any redesign work, or is it simply for the initial proof?

Many clients become frustrated because they expect to pay one price for an unlimited number of alterations. Many designers will be accommodating, but often will reach a point where they have to tell a client that they must charge additional money for new work. Be aware of what this entails.

This happens because most clients don’t understand what exactly goes into design. For instance, they may expect to receive new button art for free as they discover the need for it from their developer. Many designers will help with this sort of situation, but every time you ask your developer to do something, ask yourself this simple question: “Would this designer be expecting this request from any of our past conversations?”

Be Punctual And Precise

One of the most frustrating things, for both developers and designers, is a client who constantly is late to a meeting or cancels meetings. Imagine if for some reason you were calling in for work then had to wait 30 minutes for your boss to get there, or got a phone call an hour after you came in to notify you that you didn’t need to. Or imagine instead that you were told you’d have to work Saturday evening and canceled a family event only to find out Friday at work that they didn’t need you after all. It’s frustrating, and if it is every avoidable, avoid it.

Along with this comes the notion of being precise. When you give facts, figures, dates and times, make sure they are precise enough that someone can schedule or plan around them. If your budget is exactly $1,500, do not tell the designer (or developer) that it’s $1,000 or $2,000. Often this will make the product you receive less valuable, and likely cause problems that you will be inclined to blame on the designer. Just remember: though it may make you feel better, blaming the designer for bad information you provided is not helpful and does not get you a better product.

Really, dealing with designers and developers comes down to common sense and courtesy. Most are professionals who are looking to provide you with a product they can be proud of, and that is the way that clients should approach them. They should treat clients with respect as well: do not talk down to a client or belittle their ideas.

As with any field where independent contractors are commonly used, communication and acurate correspondence are absolutely vital, and following those simple guides will help you get your project out the door in a form you’re happy with. Make sure you act responsibly, both clients and designers, and you should be building good business relationships in no time.