Graphic designer complies with client's vague demands to make his logo more "noticeable" by submitting pitch deck with 80% increased size

Nothing says "ask, and you shall receive" quite like this under-appreciated graphic designer's choice to maliciously comply with his entitled client's vague instructions about increasing the logo size. 

It's safe to say that if the client had entertained the designer's follow-up questions, then this pitch deck wouldn't have ended up being such a disaster

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  • A graphic designer makes adjustments to a logo for a client's pitch deck.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A graphic designer makes adjustments to a logo for a client's pitch deck.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Client wanted the logo "more noticeable." I made it more noticeable.

    This happened about a year into my freelance career when I was still being way too accommodating with revision requests and not pushing back nearly enough on vague feedback.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • I had been working with this client for about three weeks on a brand identity package.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Small business, friendly guy, generally easy to work with except for one thing: he could not give specific feedback to save his life.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Everything was "make it pop more" or "I want it to feel stronger" or "can we try something different." I would ask follow up questions, he would say "you know, just more like, you know." I did not know.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Two businessmen review the designer's mockup.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Two businessmen review the designer's mockup.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • We all know what it's like to receive vague instructions from managers and clients. You want to put your best foot forward and do the best work possible, but it's impossible to know how to do that when what you're hearing is unclear and even counterintuitive. Reading between the lines doesn't always work either. The last thing you want is to assume something that ends up being categorically false. So what was this graphic designer left to do?

    He tried to ask follow-up questions but was always met with ambiguity, resistance, and, in some cases, straight-up silence. The fact that this client had the audacity to keep critiquing the designer's work while being completely unable to offer specific solutions just goes to show that he likely just wanted to seem important and in control. He didn't actually know what he wanted. If he did, it wouldn't have been so difficult to discern what the vision was.

  • We got to the logo revision stage. I sent over three concepts, he picked one, we went through two rounds of tweaks.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Font adjusted, colors refined, spacing cleaned up. I thought we were close. He came back with "I like it but the logo needs. to be more noticeable on the page.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Can you make it more noticeable?" That was the entire brief. More noticeable. I sent one follow up question asking if he meant larger, bolder, higher contrast, or repositioned.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • He replied "just more noticeable, you're the designer, you tell me." Okay then. I scaled the logo to fill aproximately 80% of the mockup page.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • It was enormous. It was undeniably, aggressively, historically noticeable. I exported it cleanly, put it in the deck, and sent it over with a professional note saying "increased the logo prominence as requested, let me know your thoughts." He replied within ten minutes.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • "Haha okay that's not what I meant, can we scale it back." I wrote back that I was glad to adjust and that it would fall under the next revision round per our contract, which he had signed and which clearly stated that each round of revisions after the second was billed at my hourly rate.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • He paid it. We landed on something good. He actually left me a five star review.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • A difficult client assesses the designer's work while speaking over the phone.
    via Sarah B

    A difficult client assesses the designer's work while speaking over the phone.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Thankfully, this story ends well. Not only did the client come to understand that his vague instructions were the reason why the pitch deck ended up looking like a total mess, but he also paid the designer to make further revisions. That extra charge was something the designer had planned and anticipated. He knew he would likely have to make more changes, but he also knew that, according to their contract, further revision meant another significant invoice. 

    It turns out that the designer got more than what he expected here. He pulled off some classic malicious compliance while collecting another chunk of cash in the process. Talk about goals! Keep scrolling below to check out what several members of this online community had to say about this graphic designer's successful plot.

  • I still have that enormous mockup saved. I look at it sometimes when I need a little joy.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • raf_boy As a graphic designer myself, I don't mind clients like this. The wishy-washy feedback (which drives me crazy!), I can do without. The fact that he kept to the contract, paid and left a raving review is golden.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Contrantier "You're the designer, you tell me This guy does not know how to talk in a way that garners respect. If you're the one leaving feedback as a client, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO TELLS THEM. Not the other way around. He's making the feedback. Not you. He can tell YOU what needs to be done. He's the one requesting, so he can make that request legible or he can buzz off and stop wasting your time. If he doesn't specify, that's how he gets the response "you have refused to clarify your feedback, u
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • bi_polar2bear I would be your customer, because I have zero creativity. I can fix almost anything, but when you're asking for what to change on a logo, that's Greek to me. All fonts are equal. Contrast, what's that? I being facetious of course, but I can look at something and know it's not right, yet can't tell you why or how.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Toratchi888 Your joy embiggens my own this morning.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • perolap I totally understand your frustation. But you should also know that designers that can translate a half written "feeling" to something tangible are worth the big $$$ for the client and usually a pleasure to work with.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Nunov_DAbov Sounds like an interaction I heard on Judge Judy recently. JJ: "Specifically, what is 'your stuff' that you want the defendant to return?" Plaintiff: "ALL my stuff." Rinse and repeat until JJ dismissed the case. Humans have had spoken language for many tens of thousands of years but sometimes I think I get clearer interactions from my cat.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • Leading-Knowledge712 An ad executive I know says she's happy to make as many rounds of revisions as the client wants since she charges a high hourly rate for each round of revisions. Generally after being dinged for multiple revisions, the client decides the work is satisfactory and stops asking for more changes.
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • FixinThePlanet "you know, just more like, you know" Lmaooo this bit gave me terrible flashbacks to when I worked in architecture and design haha
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • faster People seem to be able to be fairly specific about physical architecture, but when it's software or visual design they forget how to describe things. I love this slightly exaggerated parody. https://www.smart- words.org/jokes/if-architects-had- to-work-like-programmers.html
    via Chr0noGizmo
  • nosecohn Good on you. Clients who describe what they want this way are so frustrating. It's even worse in audio.
    via Chr0noGizmo

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