As a designer I love the website Clients From Hell. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s essentially a collection of the crazy things clients say that make designers want to beat their head against a sharp pointed object.

I will go there sometimes just for comic-relief. It’s therapeutic knowing other designers are hearing things even worse than what I am dealing with.

Here are a few of my favorites …

“Make sure you tell the Googles of the world that the site will be launching soon so it places high in their results.”

“Can you please force our site’s visitors to print out a copy of every page? We want our pages to be more tangible.”

“I don’t care if it loses 90% of visitors, we can’t have a “skip” on our Flash Intro. We paid a lot of money for that and everybody has to see it.”

“I want my website to look exactly like yours. That would be perfect. Except I want my own logo—exactly like this company’s.”

Don’t get me wrong, I think these are hilarious but on the flip side they also make me feel horrible. It’s kinda like picking on the afflicted kid at school – in the end you are just a heartless bully. Although laughing together feels good, it doesn’t help the ultimate problem… which I am sorry to say, is mostly our fault.

Think about Contractor John. Contractor John started his company 8 years ago as a humble handyman and has since grown his business to be so successful that he can afford you. His wife came to him one day and said, “You need a website.” After he figured out how to turn the computer on and 10 minutes of strenuous research he found out that all of his competitors have websites. Yet he feels like a schmuck because he doesn’t understand why his daughter keeps talking about Spacebook and why she needs a $300 MyPhone.

Then along comes you. You are the relevant, award winning designer that prides yourself on being up on all the current trends. You proceed to make a beautiful website for Contractor John that you know is going to make him “boy-band” cash, not to mention win you a Webby. Then he sends you his revisions. “Uh, I think there is too much white space. Can you make it pop more? I am really concerned that my logo is too small…. and on that same note, I can read any of it. It’s in some foreign language. Can we make the words A LOT bigger? Thanks.”

There went the Webby.

But honestly how can we blame him? The most design he has even seen was the one time his wife drug him into Urban Outfitters where he spent the whole time trying to figure out why anyone would need a Bobble-head Jesus.

I regularly encourage my designers with the simple truth that all designers must learn to “sell” and that enthusiasm (even if it’s totally contrived) is contagious. Sometime simply saying “We are thrilled with how this came out!” can help immensely. Often the client just wants to hear what you were thinking when you were designing – it can really be anything. “Well I was thinking about contractors and how they help fix things, and that made me think of wood and nails, and that made me think of the color brown, so I decided to use a brown background.” You have NO IDEA the difference something so simple can help a client get on board with your creation.

The sales Yoda, David Sandler once said, “People buy emotionally. They justify their decisions intellectually.”

Sales isn’t just landing a project and getting the deposit check. We “sell” every time we replace a client’s subconscious idea (often resembling Apple, Ebay or ESPN) with one of our own. Why do you think clients are often borderline militant about something as trivial as a shade of blue. People instinctively resist sacrificing their ideas to embrace yours, even if they can’t verbalize the difference.

That is, unless you get them emotionally attached to your work.

Once you do that, not only do you gain their trust and make them feel more confident, but your relationship transitions from just being another vendor to being a partner.

Win, win, win.

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of my time “doing”.

Sometimes I know what I’m “doing”… however most of the time I am learning as I go with broad conceptual understanding, while at the same time pretending to be an expert. The professional world where most of us live floats primarily in the space between urgency and emergency. I can attest that is especially true in the interactive market where specialities, languages and platforms are constantly changing. As I get older (and maybe wiser), I am continuing to realize that dedicated time set aside for learning is not only few and far between but immensely valuable to progress …

Recently I stumbled upon a great publishing company called Rockable Press who produce amazing resources specifically for designer / developer / interactive types like myself.

As they put it:

“At Rockable Press, we produce simple, straight forward how-to guides and resources for web and creative professionals. We are a small web publishing outfit operated by Envato with authors based around the world.”

I went ahead and purchased a few of their resources and was blown away with the effort they put into their products. No fluff… straight to the meat. It’s like the authors are aware that you are thinking “I need to be working right now… this better be worth it.” and write accordingly.

Each of the books come with all applicable materials – videos, source files, documentation, etc. And, might I say as an added plus, they are designed pretty well too!

As an aspiring author myself, this is the kind of publisher I would LOVE to write for. Rockable realizes, as many still don’t, that creative professionals desperately need timely, relevant resources that optimize learning and more importantly, get us back to what we get paid for – “doing”.

I started using the website Pinterest a few months ago and am, quite frankly, hooked.

The site allows you to create pages of collected items that interest you by simply clicking a bookmark in your browser’s bookmark bar. Upon clicking you can indicate what the item is and what “board” you’d like to add it to. You can also look at other people’s boards and comment on things they think are interesting. I use mine for books and items that I want… deleting them once I purchase or acquire them. However my wife uses hers as a repository for interior design ideas and fashion trends. The design of the site is super clean, extremely scalable and does a great job of visually featuring the products.

Amazing, right? …

Check mine out at http://pinterest.com/jasonjones/pins/

Then I got an email from my mom.

She reminded me that as a child I would annually compose a detailed Christmas / Birthday List starting around summer time (assumably much too early). Of course I didn’t make a simple itemized list like most 11 year old boys and girls… no, I was a compulsive and precocious designer from the womb. I would like to submit for your viewing pleasure my now 20 year old Christmas list.

Here are a few of my take-aways from this archaeological discovery:

Some things don’t change with age. The way that I process and organize information today hasn’t changed from when I was a kid. I still associate pictures w/ items and need to see them formatted accordingly.

Layout makes or breaks good design. Just like I spaced out items on the notebook paper with pen and glue, good dynamic design needs to be able to absorb whatever you throw at it… and display it well. Kudos to the creators of Pinterest for not trying to over-engineer this great site.

You can tell a lot about someone by their interests. It’s awesome that the more I post to this page, the more offline conversations with peers have naturally moved towards mutual obsessions (watches, technology, fashion, etc.) People constantly argue that social media is stripping us of our mortal relationships, but I find it is quite the opposite. When a friend approaches me and says, “I saw your tweet about the Eames Lounge Chair – awwww, I want one TOO!” we have in a moment connected on a level that we may have never discovered without access to each others daily, often trivial, internet musings.

Be sure and check out Pinterest and set up an account – you’ll be glad you did. Oh, and if you feel inclined to get me the Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Kit from my list, I would be forever grateful.

As a designer, I know at times it is real easy to get lazy about file management, organization and asset collection. Early on in my career I learned this the hard way by passive-agressive comments by over-worked, under-rested developers that were forced to work with my unorganized PSD’s. I always thought, “what’s the big deal?!?”

Then I walked a mile in their shoes …

A unorganized PSD literally makes you want to punch a puppy in the face. With all the hands that typically have to touch your design, it is imperative that you clean up after yourself prior to posting your files.

Dan Rose and the brilliant people over at Photoshop Etiquette created this great reminder for all Web Designers:

Photoshop Etiquette Website

My goal is to have the CS Design team look at this regularly to ensure we follow best practices, even down to our PSD’s. As they say, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”… or at least a preventative measure from having your desktop background changed to a naked picture of David Hasselhoff.

Trust me, you don’t want that.

We just went through the process of interviewing for some UI Design positions to join our growing team. We were fortunate to have some really great applicants to choose from and are extremely happy with how things are turning out. Now that we are on the other side, it allows me a moment to reflect. Every time I go through this exciting & exhausting process I feel like I learn more about what a good applicant looks like. That is, until I saw a post by Ryan Carson …

I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan, who owns a self-titled UK agency by the name of Carsonified, at the 2009 .NET Awards in London. Not only is he a class act, but he was a great hang as well! I have closely followed him ever since and recently he posted a blog called “Think Vitamin,”– a case study on one of his resent hires and the process of making the perfect first impression. Without prompting, his applicant went so far as to build a website specifically for the job application – stunning. My words wont do it justice… go read it below:

Think Vitamin

Amazing, right? This girl was hungry to be the best and to work with the best. She didn’t get paid. She wasn’t guaranteed the job. She didn’t have to do this. But because she did, she got Ryan’s attention and began a conversation on the right foot.

Take my friend Staeven as another example. As a total coincidence we had coffee shortly after my interviewing marathon, as just a time to catch-up and talk shop. After we get through pleasantries, he dropped this bomb on me. He told me he is wanting to transition from his current position to a full-time position at Watkins, a local art school, and put together a “little presentation.” My jaw hit the floor – amazing! Staeven, on his own accord, went the extra mile to show that he really cared not only about his career, but about both the organization and position he was being considered for. HUGE! Go take a look (and pat him on the pack):

Staeven Frey – Faculty Portfolio Process

I can’t count how many resumes I have received in my career that were just “dialed in”. Someone opened Word or Pages, grabbed a template, talked about how they were eager to learn and a hard worker… and hit send. The culmination of about 10min worth of copy & pasting work.

What’s the take away here? Impressions are important – no one can represent “you” like you can. If you are a designer, know there are TONS of designers out there that are as good as you, or probably better. If you are looking to differentiate yourself from your colleagues, a little bit of hustle and hunger can go a long way!

For most (okay, maybe all) designers, “revisions” is a dreaded suicide mission that often leads to creative carnage and sub-portfolio worthy work. You just invested all of your creative juices into this award-worthy project, presented to the client and now they are asking for a classier font, a warmer blue and something, you know, swooshing + guttural sound + beep, beeping across the screen. What?!? What are you talking about??? Surely some designers know how to avoid this arbitrary mine field. I mean, amazing, un-compromised websites come out all the time – how do those designers avoid revision quicksand?

Let me offer a few tips …

1) Set a client’s expectations from the beginning.

You have to realize that a client doesn’t look at designs every day – sometimes they have no idea what to even say when they see them. Over the years I have formulated a simple revision email, that I believe, allows a client to respond appropriately and constructively. Please feel free to steal it!

Client,

[Rapport statement - revise as necessary] I am thrilled to present you with the comps for your new website – we are really happy with how it turned out!

http://www.client-site.com

[Insert additional notes here with any / all of the following:

Notes about thought processes, unique aspects, design decisions, etc.
Project specific details (i.e. we added that widget that you requested)
Optional arrangements on setting up an additional in-person / over-the-phone design reveal conversation]
You are now invited to present a compiled list of reasonable design revisions (if any). Once you submit them via email, your included round will be closed, so be sure and include all of your and your team’s thoughts before sending. We will then implement the changes and send you the revised images for your approval.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

- Your Name

2) Raise the Ignorance Flag.

Often times a client doesn’t really know how to put into words what they would like to see. I don’t blame them – sometimes visuals are even hard for me to explain! When those instances occur, it’s okay to ask questions. It doesn’t make you look like less of an expert, in fact, it should convey to the client that you are actively listening and desire to understand the concepts they are trying to convey. Try this next time a client asks for the website to be “clean and simple but with more grunge and texture.”

“Wow, that sounds interesting. However, I’m having trouble visualizing exactly what you mean. Would you mind showing me an example of where you have seen this before? I know it’s a little extra work, but having a good example helps insure we provide a design you are excited about while continuing to honor both your timeline and budget.”

BOOM. … and I would say at least 50 percent of the time, after they go out and look at other sites, they will come back to you saying they really like the work you’ve done and dismiss many of their vague revisions.

3) Ask the right questions … and then ask them again.

Sure, you were hired as a designer, but you also bring a wealth of consulting power to the table. If you feel like the client is blatantly destroying the design you produced for them, say something! Yeah, they might tell you to get back to work and do as your told, but often a client just wants something that looks good. They are just at a loss on how to get there. Try out this strategy … when a client asks for something silly, just ask this question:

“That revision should be no problem. Let me ask you this, why do you want to make that change? What bugs you about it?”

It is amazing what will come up with some very simple questions. Rather than just taking fast-food orders from the client, you now get a picture into who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. The answer to that question might present you the opportunity to offer a better suggestion … and you would have never known if you didn’t ask!