"The Customer is Always Right"

[JTBoh]

We have an existing customer who had some graphics done by another graphic artist, and they wanted to stick with the theme that is already up in their store. Our GA came up with the version on the left, based on what is there.

After customer came in and "revised" pretty much everything, the end result is on the right.

There is ONE thing that we insisted that she change - initially, she wanted the steaming pile of yogurt to be brown. Didn't have the heart to tell her what it looked like.

InB4 "it burns".

 

[legacyborn]

 

[WI]

I assume you're looking for sympathy here as opposed to professional verification from multiple, independent sources that what your customer produced is, in fact, a train-wreck?

Consider yourself sympathized.

There there.

 

[Gino]

Sometimes, ya just gotta roll with the punches..............

 

[jayhawksigns]

Customer always right, no.

Do they get what they ask for, no matter how much it looks like a steaming pile of brown yogurt, too often.

 

[JTBoh]

I can't look at it without laughing and contemplating suicide.

Also; please note the woodgrain base of the yogurt cup.

 

[Rick]

"The Customer is Always Right" is not part of the design/layout process...

It's a business principle. What I do in situations like this depends on what my bank account looks like, right now I would take the cash and spend it on something stupid, like a new sock monkey onesie that fits better, maybe a new suit, and pay for my speeding ticket I just got.

 

[Gino]

Do they make them in Spandex ??

 

[John Butto]

The customer is always right thing came from, and I could be wrong, a french businessman trying to sell his product. It is not always a good slogan to live by or run your business on.

 

[Rick]

Do they make them in Spandex ??

I'm looking into it right now...

 

[Gino]

Ahhhh... now my eyes are gonna burn. ​

 

[JgS]

You should have made the yogurt brown.

 

[John Butto]

if you had that onesie monkey suit on when you were pulled over for speeding, I am sure you would have gotten out of the ticket. If it was spandex, well you might have been arrested.

 

["Deposit Please"]

...Top it off with a Fly and you got yourself a masterpiece!

 

[Jillbeans]

That literally makes me want to punch someone on the face, not buy yogurt.
Love...Jill

 

[Midwest Graphics]

The Y looks a touch constipated, so I suppose it's nice you can barely see the actual logo in the final version. A friggin' dancing raspberry is bigger than the logo. YIKES!
(Nice Siouxie reference, Jill)

 

[Red Ball]

Oh my.

 

[Mosh]

dancing berries!!!

 

[Jillbeans]

It may cause seizures.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Oh man, that's tragic.

If it's customer supplied work, we address each job differently. But if it's really bad, we will try to talk the client out of using that design and hiring us to design something new.. If they won't budge, we may turn down the job. It just kind of depends.

Now here is where we run into problems. If we do the design work and they want to change our design for the worst. Since we get paid in part before we start doing design work, it's not always easy to say "my way or the highway". So I've got a 3 strike rule. I'll try to push the design in the right direction a few times, but the third time they don't listen to my advice, is strike 3, then I go into "whatever you say" mode. I'll only fight for a design to a certain point until I realize I've been hired to move the mouse pointer around the screen for them and NOT to actually design something for them.

 

[Jillbeans]

^ I did this all last month with a client.
Was excited to get the job (logo and painted signs together)
By the time it was done I felt so ashamed of the product I produced that I would never ever show it to anyone.
I hope nobody knows I did it.

 

[Joe Diaz]

By the time it was done I felt so ashamed of the product I produced that I would never ever show it to anyone.
I hope nobody knows I did it.

That's so true. I hope to God no one finds out. But some people just won't budge, and I don't want to refund their money after all the work I put into it. So I'm not left with any other choices. Before I started the three strike rule. I'd get so worked up about them changing what I thought was a great looking layout into their ******* of a design.

I would fight them and fight them and fight them, but there is no winning with some people. And after the first few times of trying to do the right thing, it's easy to figure out who those people are. So I just disconnect from the design. Like a switch. Let's get the job done fast, and move on to the next project. At the very least I can use my original layout before they got their hands on it, and put it in my portfolio. It's better for your blood pressure I would imagine.

But really, I rarely have to resort to this. Maybe only a few times a year does someone actually strike out with me. I can be pretty persuasive.

I feel your pain Jon.