Malleck Design :: Blog

Killing the Artist

Friday, May 28th, 2010

One of the hardest things to learn, when venturing out on your own in the design world, is that you shouldn’t be too attached emotionally to your work. Clients come to you for a creative solution to their problem, and they trust that you are going to provide them that solution. Some clients give you all the freedom in the world and let you have your way with their website, brochure or whatever. These projects are always a pleasure to work on because it feeds the artist that is in most of us. For the most part, however, clients have their own idea of what the end result should look like, generally. Sometimes they have preconceived idea, or they simply do not like what you have done after they see your first iteration. There are times when it doesn’t matter how detailed a brief you get or how many interviews you do, sometimes you just miss the mark. They don’t like your design for some reason or another, valid, or invalid—dosen’t really matter. This is where you have to kill the artist in yourself and think like a business person.

What’s so bad about the artist?

An artist creates works of art that are expressions of his thoughts and feelings. He is attached to his work emotionally as it is essentially part of him. While most designers are artists at some level, and artistic sensibilities play a huge role in crafting effective design, the artist must not be (more…)

Tags: Client Relations, Creativity, Web Design
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