I was recently sitting down with a pro bono client who is preparing to run for public office in the state senate. We discussed some design pieces he would like created, a general theme to his upcoming campaign, and what he’d like to see as an end-product. I sketched out a few ideas and even had some time to show some designs I had worked up. As I showed him my ideas for what one of his yard signs would look like he said to me:

 As a designer, this isn’t new. In almost every project there is always a difference in how you see a design unfolding and how your client sees it. What really struck me in this case was a reminder that design has to work for more than just me personally. The design has to have the “legs” that can support other interpretations and viewpoints.

Upon further reflection, I think it is easy for us designers to become too comfortable with our work. We wall ourselves behind a certain style of design, building layers of safe guidelines that we feel work and then rarely venture beyond those barriers. I, for example, have come to feel as though I know what good design looks like. I have a style of my own; a sense of layout and spacing that works me and I seldom stray away from it. I stick to what I know and, sometimes then end up having to “sell” a design to clients that don’t get what they expected.

Now I’m not saying that as designers we have to bend to every expectation a client throws on us and I’m definitely not saying to design things you’re not proud of. In the end, our clients are expecting us to be the experts. That’s why they’ve come to us in the first place. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard a client say,

What I’ve failed to realize sometimes is what a great responsibility that is. I may have designed a layout that is attractive to both the client and me, but the design I’ve sold them on might not be the best way to get there. We sometimes forget that our main purpose as designers is to serve the client’s needs, not our own artistic needs. The walls that we have built up to keep our designs “safe” have restricted our ability to design for each client individually.

These walls also keep us from seeing other points of view when it comes to our creations. Many times, a suggestion or critique on our work will be met with a curt,

There is a certain amount of pride we have in our design decisions, and, if you’re like me at all, we don’t like to hear that we’ve done it wrong. I like what I’ve designed. It is easier to keep what I’ve designed. I’m the designer after all.  What do you know about it?

This type of arrogance is easy to fall into and is something that many designers, myself included, have to wrestle with. The walls that we’ve built not only keep our designs “safe” but also keep out worthwhile suggestions and perspectives. In essence, it is easier to defend what we have designed than realize that our interpretation might have been wrong in the first place.

So what is my point? Let me summarize: 

1. The rules and guidelines that we believe are creating good design can sometimes lead to us building layouts and web systems that don’t serve the client’s interest in the best possible way.
2. Remember that the client trusts us with their identity on the web. Our expertise is what they are counting on. Creating a layout that pleases you should go hand in hand with creating a design that works for the broadest number of your target audience.
3. As designers, we cannot, should not and must not design on an island. A good designer should always be able to review his or her work with a grain of salt and understand that no design is perfect. Critiques are essentially good, no matter who is lending their advice.