The Best Design Projects Happen When Clients Collaborate
Every great graphic design or branding project is a partnership. When clients stay engaged and collaborate with their creative team, the results speak for themselves—stronger ideas, better use of budget, accurate timelines, and a final product that truly hits the mark. The timely exchange of ideas and feedback keep the creative fires burning and help the work achieve its full potential.
But when communication stalls or clients go quiet for long stretches, it’s difficult to recreate the energy and inspiration that fueled the project at the start. When there are long stretches between ideating sessions, it can be a challenge to maintain the creative threads—the designer or writer has to refresh themselves on the project details before they can get to work again, and it eats into the budget and project timeline.
As a client, there are some common reasons why your engagement might fall off during a project:
The project may benefit your business in the future, but your desk is on fire now
You’re unfamiliar with the process and what’s expected of you
You find it difficult to describe exactly what you want
Too many people are involved in your feedback process
Fortunately, we’ve developed some solutions to these common problems over the years, and found ways to make collaboration easy, even if you’re busy.
The project may benefit your business in the future, but your desk is on fire now
Problem: We know that for many of our clients, marketing and branding projects are on the side of their desks while they attend to their core business. Even if the project is one that will help their business or organization in the long run—whether it’s a new brand, a recruiting campaign, or a refreshed, user-friendly website—their day-to-day work constantly calls to them.
Solution: We understand. Our team is highly collaborative and we do as much as we can to keep the ball rolling, gently nudging clients by email and offering to hold conversations by phone or video if it’s an easier way for you to engage.
At the same time, especially if the project is going to be a game-changer for your business, or relieve some of the stresses you’re currently experiencing, we encourage you to see the bigger picture and either block out time to participate, or designate a project champion and allot them time to engage. Once you begin participating in the process, you may find it takes less time than you thought. Our creative team is very good at asking the right questions and moving things along.
You’re unfamiliar with the process and what’s expected of you
Problem: Client engagement and feedback is an integral part of the creative process, but not every client understands what’s expected of them. When you hire a creative team, you’re not just making a purchase, ideally, you’re signing up to participate.
Solution: It’s important for your creative team to lay out clear expectations at the start of a project, including the scope, review cycle, timelines, and budget. That’s the job of our Marketing Coordinator and our Project Manager, and they’re very good at setting clients up for success.
It’s equally important for clients to pay attention to those details and make themselves available to answer questions, brainstorm, and give feedback in a timely fashion. Some of our best ideas come from conversations with clients—their stories, insights, and feedback fuel our creativity and help us deliver work that resonates with their audience.
You find it difficult to describe exactly what you want
Problem: It’s easy to give feedback when a solution is a fit, but harder when it needs refining. Sometimes clients don’t know what they want, or how to describe it. They want something “modern and sleek” or “exciting”, but are unable to describe what that means for their brand. Occasionally, it isn’t until they see a mock-up that they know what they really want. The most difficult situation is when a client says, “I don’t like it”, but is unable to give any actionable feedback.
Solution: We don’t expect design language to be in our client’s toolbox. You know your business and, if you approach our business with an open mind and are willing to share your thoughts, we’ll be able to meet in the middle to create a successful solution.
Our creative team is skilled at leading clients through the process to get from “I don’t know” to “That’s it!” That’s why, at the start of a project, we might ask you to bring examples of designs you like, or describe styles similar to the vibe you’re looking for. For some projects, we create a moodboard before we get down to creating the actual design, so that we can narrow down the shapes, font, colours, and patterns you like.
Refinements are an expected part of the creative process. There are many reasons why a solution might not feel quite right. Maybe it’s something you’ve never seen in your industry and it feels uncomfortable, or maybe you interpret the meaning of elements in the work—the shapes, colours, and imagery—differently from our team. Sometimes, it comes down to a personal preference—you might not like a particular colour.
Regardless, it’s all part of the process and your designer will help you through it. You don’t have to know why something doesn’t feel right, you just have to be willing to jump into discussions with the creative team and explore. We’ll lead the process, explain our thinking, listen to yours, and work together towards a solution.
Too many people are involved in your feedback process
Problem: In large organizations, it can be tempting to try and gather feedback from, well, everyone. But you know the saying: try to please everyone, and you end up pleasing no one.
The larger the feedback group, the greater the range of opinions. And, the further away people are from the core project group, the less likely they are to be informed by the project goals and scope. You may get a lot of feedback that isn’t particularly relevant, and feel overwhelmed as you try to sort it all into a cohesive viewpoint to bring to your creative team.
Solution: We always ask for a strong project champion on the client side when we’re creating for a group that’s answerable to large numbers of stakeholders. And, we try to define a limited number of stakeholders who will have input during the process.
The project champion knows the project goals and the rationale for the proposed solution, and can explain it to their group. We help them out by including a creative brief with any work that will be widely circulated for comment, so that it can be considered within the context of its goals—helping to cut down on non-relevant feedback. A structured feedback process, with the project champion as the key point of contact on the client side, ensures that feedback is collected in an organized way and is easier to act upon.
Engagement pays off in results
Design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about solving problems and moving your business forward. When you stay engaged throughout the creative process, you ensure your voice is heard, and we ensure the outcome achieves your goals. The work evolves at a steady rate, which helps to maintain the project budget and timeline. The open conversations and steady exchange of ideas build trust, spark inspiration, and push the work to its full potential.
Engagement also builds relationships—so that the next time you come to your design team for a project, we know many of your preferences and how you like to work best. Whether it’s your first project with us or your tenth, collaboration is the key to getting the best possible results from your team.