Design, Art, and Pragmatism.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge”.
--Isaac Asimov
The world is spooked. We've finally come to realize just how untenable our economic system can be. We find it difficult to trust those that were once entrusted with safeguarding our funds, and the prospect of another financial collapse has the vast majority of us hoarding our earnings for that almost certain rainy day, and spending only when necessary. But this will not last; it never does. It is only a matter of time before we feel our savings are sufficient to shelter us, or that our jobs are secure enough for us to venture out and indulge a bit. After all, few things raise the spirits of a downtrodden individual like spending money.
One of my biggest frustrations as a creative professional is presenting the client with the one great concept, an idea that just works; that one idea that you fully expect the client to fawn over once you reveal it to them… except they don't. And you silently (or maybe not so silently) curse the client for failing to see the genius of your solution, for letting their expectations blind them to solutions that they didn’t expect. What I’ve come to realize, however, is that the blame doesn’t rest solely with the client’s supposed closed-mindedness. The blame belongs to us, the designers.
As designers, our job is to facilitate clear communication. But that task isn't limited to our visual solutions; it also applies to how we explain our ideas to our clients. The major lesson that I was taught as a design student, and that I continue to learn with every stakeholder interaction, is that the most valuable skill that a designer (or any creative professional) can have is the ability to communicate our ideas and decisions to non-creatives. To get them to understand why we made the choices we did, and why this particular solution is the one they need.
Getting to that point means laying down some groundwork early on in the process. Before any concepting begins, a designer must talk with their client to determine what their needs truly are. Often, what a client says that they want turns out to not be what they truly need. Asking the right questions of a client can reveal a world of factors that contribute to their problem, and this will get you to the heart of their concerns. Those concerns provide the roadmap that will lead us to a proper solution.
Skipping all of the process that leads to our ingenious solution, we need to be equally as attentive in communicating our solution and the value of that solution to the client in terms that they understand. To touch on the constituent steps briefly, this task of getting the client to buy into your solution begins with keeping the client involved and engaged from the giddyup. They need to be actively providing feedback on your ideas and you need to continually ensure them that you are paying attention. This doesn’t need to be the type of interaction where you share your updates to your client and the client in turn tells you that they like it or they don’t, or they start to give you direct instruction on how to perfect your concept. These interactions need to cumulatively prime the client for acceptance of the final solution, and fine-tune your aim on the target as you approach the end of the process. Making sure that your client’s goals and requirements haven’t changed (or if they have changed, updating the project goals and specifications accordingly) is another bonus of maintaining an open and consistent line of communication with your client. One of the worst situations you can find yourself in is pushing a project through to completion only to have your client inform you that it no longer applies to their situation.
Making it easy for your client to maintain communication, being clear on exactly what your client needs, and understanding how your solution addresses your clients needs and concerns makes your client feel as if they are being heard and understood. They get to have some control in the process, as opposed to waiting to be surprised by the big reveal.
