Are You a Naive Designer? Top 10 Client Lies
Here’s a handy little tip for all you freelancers out there. I ran across this article from a link on Performancing.com and had a good laugh, since most of these I’ve heard before in my freelancing days. NEVER believe them… they may literally have good expectations when they tell these lies, but it’s not worth the risk.
Painter Creativity who came up with the original list says, “You are GOING to be dealing with people who are unlike yourself. Their motivations are their own and their attitudes are probably different than yours. There are going to be demands, problems, issues and all the hassles that go with practically ANY work/job/money situation. Too many times I see the sad example of someone walking in to a situation with noble intentions and then getting royally screwed, because what they see as an opportunity and a labor of love, the other party sees as something else entirely, not at all romantic or idealized, but raw and simple.”
So as freelance graphic designers we all want good, challenging DESIGN problems. Graphic designers are communicators, passionate problem solvers - we delight in doing good design. But sometimes along the way this passion for good design overcomes our business-minded self (left beats out the right brain). Whether or not we get an “award winning” piece with every project, we desserve to be rewarded with the satisfaction of a job well-done AND get paid. So ALWAYS get the contract, commit to budgets, assign payment deadlines, and never sell yourself short hoping on the promise of more work.