Working with Graphic Design Clients

Working with business clients can be tricky, but graphic designers and other professionals must learn to navigate client relationships. These client tips will help you deal with difficult clients, work within small budgets, and handle other situations that may arise in a design business.

It is often the case that designers are competing for projects, and the client is selecting who to work with based on experience, rates and other factors. At the same time, designers should be deciding if the client is a good fit for them.

When communicating with clients, it is often a good idea to pick up the phone. Relying on email can lead to misinterpretation of your tone and message.

Graphic design clients are often influenced by people close to them, and rightfully so. It’s no surprise that clients may say things such as “my wife wants the background blue,” because most people take advice from their friends and family. For graphic designers, this can become a problem… especially when the advice of these people goes against their design sense.

Tracey Halvorsen is a blogger, painter, author, speaker and Principal and Creative Director at Fastspot, a Baltimore, Maryland-based interactive agency. I had chance to speak with her about many aspects of running a design business, including dealing with client requests, the importance of failure and being a woman in the web design and...

Working with clients is a necessary, and sometimes frustrating, part of being a graphic designer. Without clients, however, designers don’t have much business. Therefore, it is important to learn how to deal with the various requests and comments that you will come across in a design business. One of those situations is when a client thinks a task is easier than it actually is.

When working as a graphic designer, you will inevitably come across clients with limited budgets. In some cases, this may mean you need to decline the job. However, other projects have benefits beyond pay, and you will find yourself looking for ways to work within the client’s budget. There are several reasons you may want to do so, and several ways to make it less likely to regret your decision.

After working out a budget with a client, it’s important to set up a payment schedule. This helps to keep the project on target and makes both parties comfortable with the payments owed and the work being done.

The most simple and straightforward approach to determining a budget is to ask the client what they can spend.

When going into a meeting with a potential graphic design client, negotiating cost will often be the most difficult part of the conversation. In a negotiation, both parties should be looking for a mutually beneficial relationship; the designer gets a price he or she sees as fair for the amount of work, and the client gets quality work within their budget.

When working as a graphic designer, it is common to come across a situation where a client wants something that goes against your better design judgement.

In a perfect world, clients would always pay on time and in full. However, over the course of a graphic design career, it is almost inevitable to come across late-paying clients.

It isn't easy to identify a difficult client before signing on to do a project. However, there are warning signs to look for, and sometimes they can help you turn down a job that would otherwise be a giant headache.