Monday, July 11, 2011

Designer Quandry, Update!

Earlier this month one of my students found herself in a familiar design quandry...how to please a client who already had a design from a previous designer...discussed in this post.
Here's the update:

When I met up with my client, I addressed my concerns about using the poster design [the previous design, done by another designer] as a webpage layout, and he said it was fine to do that and that the poster designer is someone who works in the same place (that's a relief!) As for the decision of whether to go with my design or the poster design, it seems like the client definitely wants to stick with the poster design. My supervisor decided if that's what the client wants, then we'll just have to go with it.

Well, I guess that's the gist of it for my first client! I was definitely paranoid about whether it was okay to just copy another design, but I'm relieved to hear that the poster design belongs to the workplace.

Thank you for posting my question on your blog. It was very helpful to read comments from people who have experienced this many times.

1 comment:

Beth Tondreau said...

Good to hear the update—and good to know the poster designer works in the same company on the same account.

A key point of graphic design is to help a client get out a message clearly and consistently. Clarity and consistency more often than not requires poster, site, ancillary materials etc. etc. to work together. Lines get blurred. Homage? Complementary material? Rip off? It's tricky, especially if a client wants a consistent look and a fellow designer thinks you've ripped her off .

The best thing is that the student asked the question. Asking questions is the most important role of a designer—or any collaborator.

Graphic design used to be called "commercial art"—which sells stuff for a client. The balancing act is to be commercial, artful, true to fellow designers, and true to yourself. It's not easy.

Cheers for the student and the question!