I agree, it made me smile but also sad. It is litterally what I am dealing with on a daily basis at this point and I am starting to run out of diplomatic answers to some of these absurd requests.
At the very end when the client asks the chef to show him how he made it so they could do it in-house next time, I almost lost it. That seems to be the story of life as an independent graphic designer these days. Can I have that template? Oh and the fonts? Thanks.
Pretty sad, but not far from the truth. She should have told the hairdresser she would give him lots of free publicity so it would more than make up for him losing money and working for free.
Wow. This is incredibly spot-on. Next time a client is acting like that, I’ll make sure to show him/her the video. I wonder if they’ll get offended, realize how silly they’re acting or just ignore it.
This also happens a lot in programming. I wonder why people just aren’t formal with design/programming business.
loved this. this happens in magazines too when they assign you a long story, then cut it way down because their pages got cut, and then pay you by the printed word!
Same thing in kitchens. After the proposal, I get “well then, how much is it per linear foot?” I’m thinking: take my price, and a tape measure and figure it out!
This isn’t just design. This is anything. Software, law, you name it. Anything where one person designs/creates/consults for another and gets stiffed on the back end.
I think if clients knew what separated cheap design from expensive design, would be more willing to pay for better design. It’s easy to determine what separates the Taco Stand from the Steakhouse, but what about good design from bad design? Does the average client even know what “Good Design” is?
Most of those designers who are whining about either the lack of value in design or having negotiators as clients should consider selling tacos anyway.
“we need some photography done for a high end brand. our managers son is a keen photographer and he gave it shot but his photos looked too cheap.
we know you deliver professional results so we through we might be able to get the shot for about half of what we would pay for if we would buy it from a stock agency. We already looked there but they don’t really have anything we like.”
The real problem in my opinion are the big agencies that act as intermediates. The generally rip off their clients (big corroborates) and then price gouge with the little studios and freelancers that actually build the stuff.
When a small studio then actually gets a job with a large corporate they scrutinize every line item because they thing they are being ripped off because the price is so different to that of the big agency there must be something wrong (even if the price is actually cheaper).
This happens both to myself and other studios in my field almost on a weekly basis.
Listening to the comments it is clearly the customer’s fault in your minds. The thing all you people need to understand is that your job is not design, it is customer management. You have to understand your customers. YOu have to see things from their perspective. YOu need to understand the customer pays money for their needs not yours. I also wonder how often you do the same things when you are a customer as the customer’s you despise?
When you have carried out an assignment do you have a lessons learned review? Preferably with the customer? Do you learn from it? Do you apply your leaning to subsequent assignments. Over time you should be able to prevent many of these issues by understanding their worries and addressing them early and if necessary often.
If great restaurant staff (paid a pittance compared to you) can understand this then so can you. Or maybe you should be employees not freelancers?
Most problems (not all) are caused by suppliers not understanding and adapting to their customer’s needs. To many designers behave like temperamental artists instead of professional business people. As a freelancer you are a business person first and designer second. if you cannot handle that you need to join a larger setup and work for a good project manager.
Most of the comments I have seen here are arrogant and foolish and most of you need to grow up.
Getting to La Fortuna is fairly easy, but it’s
always a good idea to brush up on basic Spanish (and bring along an English-Spanish dictionary) just in case.
A word to the wise, it is also essential to remember some
important points when visiting Costa Rica. I am not a picky customer,
but I’ve been in sales most of my adult life, and the training I received is that the customer is
king.
Swissmiss is an online garden Tina Roth Eisenberg started in 2005 and has lovingly tended to ever since.
Besides swissmiss, Tina founded and runs TeuxDeux, CreativeMornings and her Brooklyn based co-working community Friends Work Here. (She also started Tattly which was recently adopted by BIC)
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damn, this is the naked truth. One should show this clip to all potential customers…
May 28th, 2009 / 10:36 am
this is tagged “made me smile” but I almost cried.
great find though :)
May 28th, 2009 / 11:36 am
I agree, it made me smile but also sad. It is litterally what I am dealing with on a daily basis at this point and I am starting to run out of diplomatic answers to some of these absurd requests.
May 28th, 2009 / 11:38 am
At the very end when the client asks the chef to show him how he made it so they could do it in-house next time, I almost lost it. That seems to be the story of life as an independent graphic designer these days. Can I have that template? Oh and the fonts? Thanks.
May 28th, 2009 / 11:43 am
this is why I quit design. I must be dumb because the same thing happens in medicine.
May 28th, 2009 / 11:44 am
Grant, seriously? This is happening in Medicine as well? How?
May 28th, 2009 / 12:09 pm
Pretty sad, but not far from the truth. She should have told the hairdresser she would give him lots of free publicity so it would more than make up for him losing money and working for free.
May 28th, 2009 / 12:28 pm
Ugh. That made me very uncomfortable. Been there and how.
May 28th, 2009 / 12:36 pm
Wow. This is incredibly spot-on. Next time a client is acting like that, I’ll make sure to show him/her the video. I wonder if they’ll get offended, realize how silly they’re acting or just ignore it.
This also happens a lot in programming. I wonder why people just aren’t formal with design/programming business.
May 28th, 2009 / 1:19 pm
loved this. this happens in magazines too when they assign you a long story, then cut it way down because their pages got cut, and then pay you by the printed word!
May 28th, 2009 / 1:24 pm
this reminds me of all the times i’ve worked for friends and family for free, and then they keep coming back for more.
May 28th, 2009 / 2:18 pm
It’s so funny, so true — it hurts.
May 28th, 2009 / 3:46 pm
this is so painfully accurate and honest it’s hard to watch. thx for sharing.
May 28th, 2009 / 4:39 pm
who made this? i feel like crying.
May 28th, 2009 / 8:35 pm
It’s like looking in a mirror, a really huge mirror that I got for the price of a compact.
May 28th, 2009 / 9:43 pm
Wow, this is amazing. Who did this wonderful thing?
May 29th, 2009 / 2:38 am
Yes, when people try to “negotiate” that’s exactly what it sounds like.
May 29th, 2009 / 10:28 am
I love the bit about “line-items” and the in-house part at the end.
May 29th, 2009 / 3:37 pm
Same thing in kitchens. After the proposal, I get “well then, how much is it per linear foot?” I’m thinking: take my price, and a tape measure and figure it out!
May 29th, 2009 / 4:49 pm
This isn’t just design. This is anything. Software, law, you name it. Anything where one person designs/creates/consults for another and gets stiffed on the back end.
May 29th, 2009 / 5:01 pm
I think if clients knew what separated cheap design from expensive design, would be more willing to pay for better design. It’s easy to determine what separates the Taco Stand from the Steakhouse, but what about good design from bad design? Does the average client even know what “Good Design” is?
May 31st, 2009 / 12:14 am
Hilarious!
Most of those designers who are whining about either the lack of value in design or having negotiators as clients should consider selling tacos anyway.
Jun 1st, 2009 / 3:18 pm
Bargaining before hand is perfectly okay. That’s what contracts are for. After the product is delivered – eh, not so much.
Jun 2nd, 2009 / 12:51 am
Painful. See my take on this:
http://pm2pm.blogspot.com/2009/05/pricing-wars-agencyclient-dialog.html
Jun 9th, 2009 / 4:20 pm
Funny… but it hurts because its so true!
– Kevin W: I get that ALL the time. “I know so and so and have connections to this and that.”
– Sand: Great point. The truth is most clients aren’t looking for great design, they just want something that can get them by.
Jun 9th, 2009 / 6:02 pm
just got of the phone talking to a client:
“we need some photography done for a high end brand. our managers son is a keen photographer and he gave it shot but his photos looked too cheap.
we know you deliver professional results so we through we might be able to get the shot for about half of what we would pay for if we would buy it from a stock agency. We already looked there but they don’t really have anything we like.”
Jun 10th, 2009 / 1:41 am
on a different note…
The real problem in my opinion are the big agencies that act as intermediates. The generally rip off their clients (big corroborates) and then price gouge with the little studios and freelancers that actually build the stuff.
When a small studio then actually gets a job with a large corporate they scrutinize every line item because they thing they are being ripped off because the price is so different to that of the big agency there must be something wrong (even if the price is actually cheaper).
This happens both to myself and other studios in my field almost on a weekly basis.
Jun 10th, 2009 / 1:48 am
Steve –
re: photos. check out the COST section in the below post for a POV on the cost of “free” photos:
http://pm2pm.blogspot.com/2009/03/penny-wise-pound-foolish-assetart.html
Jun 10th, 2009 / 2:00 pm
@thegraphicdesigner – when I can identify a client that wants a design just to “get them by.” I quickly refer them to stock design/template sites.
I’ve refused more client work than accepted. It keeps me sane, but forces me to supplement my income through part-time retail work :(
More professionals need to refuse work from bad clients in order to save this industry – there was an ad on CL for a design contract at 8$/hr :|
Jun 10th, 2009 / 2:14 pm
Listening to the comments it is clearly the customer’s fault in your minds. The thing all you people need to understand is that your job is not design, it is customer management. You have to understand your customers. YOu have to see things from their perspective. YOu need to understand the customer pays money for their needs not yours. I also wonder how often you do the same things when you are a customer as the customer’s you despise?
When you have carried out an assignment do you have a lessons learned review? Preferably with the customer? Do you learn from it? Do you apply your leaning to subsequent assignments. Over time you should be able to prevent many of these issues by understanding their worries and addressing them early and if necessary often.
If great restaurant staff (paid a pittance compared to you) can understand this then so can you. Or maybe you should be employees not freelancers?
Most problems (not all) are caused by suppliers not understanding and adapting to their customer’s needs. To many designers behave like temperamental artists instead of professional business people. As a freelancer you are a business person first and designer second. if you cannot handle that you need to join a larger setup and work for a good project manager.
Most of the comments I have seen here are arrogant and foolish and most of you need to grow up.
Dec 9th, 2011 / 2:24 am
Getting to La Fortuna is fairly easy, but it’s
always a good idea to brush up on basic Spanish (and bring along an English-Spanish dictionary) just in case.
A word to the wise, it is also essential to remember some
important points when visiting Costa Rica. I am not a picky customer,
but I’ve been in sales most of my adult life, and the training I received is that the customer is
king.
Jan 18th, 2014 / 5:02 pm