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Over the weekend my boyfriend and I went to a relatives shop to buy some furniture. While we were there they were saying how quiet business was and we started looking at their website which is very basic and old fashioned. They don’t want to sell online which I understand, but I asked why they didn’t have any prices of their products online and they said “WE LIKE it if people phone us if they want more information.” At this point I said that many people, myself included, wouldn’t bother ringing they just want to get an idea of prices to see if it’s within their price range and worth the journey.
It started me thinking, it really doesn’t matter what the client wants or what we want as designers, but it is down to us to try and work out what the end user wants and convince the client. It is hard to design something that goes completely against the grain of your own taste, but it is something, we as designers need to do. I keep a sketchbook which every now and then I cut up bits of design magazines, leaflets etc that I LIKE and paste them in for future reference. Perhaps really what I should be doing is cutting out and keeping things that really make sales. Take for instance those hideous (to me) adverts that you get in the back of Sunday Newspaper magazines sometimes, the ones selling pottery animals or flowery sofa covers, adverts like this must cost a fortune to place and you don’t just see them in one week so they must sell I assume. Perhaps I should be collecting things like this, or at least collecting material suitable for different age groups and types of people.
Who cares what I like or the client likes, it is the target market that really counts and what sells. What do you think?
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16 Comments
I agree but as designers we would want things to look good and clients would have their own comments. Considering these factors as well as the target market, designing something that satisfies all these would be a challenge though. Something to think about. Thanks for sharing
To a greater degree I agree with you, in order for a designer to become truly versatile and sensitive to a wider audience we must often step out of our own comfort zones and explore different approaches to our work. However, In doing this I don’t believe we should compromise our quality of design or integrity as a designer because at the end of the day if you’re not proud of what you’re producing you will eventually lose your enthusiasm and love for what you do.
Hi Tara. Yes, you have a good point there, but I think you feel be very unhappy after designing things you don’t care for after a while. I think it’s also about the clients expectations, more than what the designer or client wants. But yes, the client is actually very important.
Greetings from Amsterdam, Annelies
PS, I like your blog. I did write myself for a while, but am reconsidering right now. But I find your blog very inspiring!
Thanks Annelies for your comment. You are right we need to strike a balance – to still have interest in what we are doing while still creating work that works for the end user.
Hi SiewShuen
I totally agree we should want things too look good, but they should really appeal to the target market and not necessarily us.
Thanks
Tara
Where I grew up Val Pack was a mailer that a lot of people used and profited from. People like to look threw them whether they will use them or not. It can also prompt them to try something new that they had not thought of.
I agree but some clients are really brand conscious and are really obsessive about buying a product of one particular brand again and again. It all depends on how a particular brand has advertised or customized its shop or web page if they offer online shopping. Nice researched article though.
It’s all about communication between clients and designers. It definitely requires good communication skill in order to produce the best outcome. Find out the needs and the improvements that can be made and one can produce a great design.
I’ve noticed that the most of my effective designs are a result of my clients giving me creative freedom on a project. This allows me to concentrate on the end user, viewer, customer, etc. rather than wasting all of my time and energy convincing the client that comic sans is not a wise choice for a logotype. Playing creative tug o war is not fun.
I think it is important not to generalise and think that just because big red flowery sofa covers are selling, they are the only thing that will sell well. There’s probably other ways to do it that will sell just the same or even more, that we just haven’t seen yet or because people simply didn’t bother to create something new. Then, as others have said, finding a balance in what the end user wants and what we like doing.
Good point John We do need to stretch the boundaries in design to move things forward.
Tara, I do understand what your saying and the type of adverts you’re talking about clearly works but there are a still a lot of people out there that get turned off by these and some of the adverts that are created for the masses that we see on television.
What we are all striving for is to achieve exactly the same results but with at least some innovation and a bit of ourselves embedded within, and I think we all need some self satisfaction for achieving not only our customers goals but our own.
What we need is something that appeals on all levels. Something that no matter what age, what ‘intelligence’ level or what walk of life someone comes from they can derive something from the advert which appeals to them and makes them want to keep watching and know more. That applies to whatever we do that a client is after, whether it is a simple advert or a website design or whatever.
Hi Stew
Thanks for your comment. You raise some good points.
It is indeed the target market that really counts. And sells. I’m not a designer – I am more the client, but I assume it must be close to a living hell sometimes to try to follow your clients’ weird & utterly uncommercial ideas. On the other hand: me as a customer find it often hard to find to right designer. Meaning: some of them promise you heaven and earth – and the rest – only to come up with something not even remotely related to what I’ve asked for, most likely because that’s the template they have ready to go on their desktop. Conclusion: if designer & customer equally can appreciate each other, it truly is heaven on earth. All the best with your work & blog, Tara.
Hi Casey
As far as I’m concerned, the designer should always start with a blank sheet, the client expresses his wishes and the ideas flow from there. Of course the designer will automatically have his mind full of ideas of previous work but that doesn’t mean the end result will finish up a mirror of some other work. It could be a hybrid of several things or completely new depending on the brief but at all times it should satisfy the client.
Hope you agree Tara.
Hi Stew
I agree that you should be given free reign (within the brief) but it is useful to see examples of what the client likes and doesn’t like to make sure you are on the same page – from this point the designer can make a case for what he/she believes is right for the target market.