For as long as I have been in graphic design, I often see designers complaining about clients. Designers scream about how bad clients are — they prepare terrible terms of reference, ask for whiter white, or, oh, the horror, send a logo in a Word document.

I’ve seen articles in which clients are assigned types. For example, a designer client, an aesthete, an invisible man, a friend or an enslaver... All these types are not described in the best way, and underneath the articles, understandable comments from designers. In my world, this attitude is unacceptable. I think those designers should change their approach to working with people or their work.

There are two sides to the coin — it’s hard for clients too!

• The designer disappears. He works and works and suddenly stops responding to all contacts. Advance is paid, but work is not finished.
• The designer siphons off the budget. A project comes, the client gives out a list of wishes, and then the designer says: “There are only two changes. The rest are for an extra charge”. The client pays more or stays with the result, which does not suit him 100%.
• The designer drags deadlines. Project launch in a month. The designer seems to be working, but the deadline is approaching, and the end of the project is not visible. It happens if the designer has not calculated his efforts and properly allocated time. If interest in the project has faded, something does not work. The result is one — the deadline is broken, and the client loses.
• The designer does not solve the problem. There is a task, but the designer does something different because “he sees so”. The budget is spent, but the task is not solved.
• The designer pretends to be a professional. The client sees beautiful pictures in the portfolio and trusts the project with the designer but gets a low level of work.

How do you not fall for such a designer? There is always a chance that something will go wrong. I recommend looking at the publicity of the designer and the processes of creating the work. I want to believe that there are more conscious designers. Well, clients can be different, and yes, they can ask for whiter white because it’s not about colour at all. Our task, as designers, is to understand our client and solve his problem.