I’ve often wondered why it is that people don’t understand the axiom, “You get what you pay for.”  People who don’t understand a process universally seem drawn to the lowest price.  In the case of a known quantity, such as a car purchase, it makes sense.  If you’re in the market for an iPod, you don’t necessarily need to know how an iPod works to buy one.  You can rest assured that the one you buy is almost exactly like the others of the same model.

What about an unknown quantity?  What if you house needs painted, or you want to have that iPod we talked about repaired?  Now we come to an issue.  You can go with the place that offers the lowest price, and you may get lucky.  Odds are, however, that you will get what you paid for.  About 60% of my clients are what I like to call re-treads.  What does that mean exactly?  It simply means that they went the cheap route and decided it was too expensive.  Write this down.

Price is only an issue in the absence of value.

I don’t know who originally said it, but I’d love to meet him.  Did you write it down?  Well, go back and do it.  I’ll wait…

Future design re-tread

I recently had a conversation with a future client who fell victim to this all-to-common issue.  She went with a guy who talked the talk, but when challenged played the non-disclosure card.  He kept telling her that he couldn’t show her examples of artistic work and SEO results because of competition issues.  This is absolute hooey, but sounds good when you’re on the receiving end.  She has recently decided that the bargain route was too expensive.

Many potential web design clients have the “instant gratification” mentality.  They think that arriving at a good design is a trivial matter that can be accomplished in an afternoon.  This is FAR from the case.  Being able to work Photoshop makes a person a designer the same way knowing which end of a screwdriver to turn makes one a mechanic.  I can do some amazing things with Photoshop and Illustrator, but many of them make for bad design.  The difference between a designer and a hack is knowing the difference.

What happens in nearly every re-tread case is, they eat up most of their budget on the bad design and have to pick and choose features for the re-design.  Here’s a quick list of things to help you avoid this problem.

1. Do your homework: Look at the designer’s portfolio.  If there is no portfolio, don’t hire that designer.  If the portfolio looks like it contains a bunch of work from the late 90’s, don’t hire.  If you don’t like what you see in the portfolio, don’t hire.  Ask for references.  No references…  Well, you get the point.
2. Expect good communication: If you don’t get a return call or e-mail within a reasonable time, assume this will be the norm.  If you value communication, hold out for a good communicator.  Some techies have bad people skills.  This should be pretty easy to spot.
3. Sign a contract: Would you let a builder start construction on a house without one?  So why wouldn’t you do the same for a HUGE part of your business?  If you don’t sign a contract, you’re dealing with an amateur (on both sides).
4. If you see a design menu with prices, run: Pre published price lists may seem like a good idea, but you get the same results as walking into a tattoo studio and picking a tattoo off the wall.  It isn’t yours, and it isn’t unique to your business.
5. Ask questions, expect honest answers: No one knows how to do everything.  If you find a designer who can’t do everything you want, odds are he can sub-contract the parts he’s not good at.  It shouldn’t matter to you, but disclosure should.  Find out what your designer’s strengths and weaknesses are.  We all have them.  If we didn’t, you wouldn’t need a designer.  Remember, if the answers you get sound like BS, they probably are.
6. Know the difference between Design and Development: Designers typically do the visual part.  Developers typically make the site do things.  Don’t hire one to do the other.  Again, ask for the one you really need.
7. Don’t hire a relative: Ever…  Even if it’s free…  Enough said.
8. Tables are dead: No modern designer worth his salt uses tables.  If your designer doesn’t use CSS for layout, you’ll need to redesign very soon anyway.
9. Expect to pay for services rendered: Asking a designer to “whip something up” and let you take a look so you can decide is like asking a restaurant to make you a meal and let you pay for it if you like it.  What would you expect the waiter to tell you if you asked a question like that?
10. Don’t make hasty decisions: The statement, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine” should be taken to heart.  Think things through and realize that there is time to do it right.  If there isn’t, you’ll invariably have to do it again.

You don’t have to hire me, but please, hire someone competent.  I have a list…  If you don’t understand the above, ask me.  There’s a handy little “comment” block at the bottom of this page.  Use it.  Is there something else you want to know?  Ask.  There’s also a contact form you can use if you don’t want anyone to see what you’re saying.  Feel free to go that route.

I like to design websites.  I like it so much, that I occasionally take on a pro bono project provided it’s for a worthy cause (either that or if a friend of mine has a good idea that’s just for fun).  I have a list of friends who are also designers with whom I converse about design related things and the state of the profession.  We even trade work and referrals on some occasions.

Why would we trade work, you ask?  It seems, on the surface, that giving your potential client to someone else is silly, but look at it from the perspective of the client.  Have you ever met someone who you just knew you couldn’t work with?  There are many reasons you might not be able to work with someone, from the person just rubbing you the wrong way to irreconcilable differences of opinion.  In the design realm, it helps to be adult about those cases.

There are a whole slew of reasons to recommend a client to another designer, not the least of which is style.  No designer is everything to all potential clients.  If my style doesn’t match your business model, attitudes or direction, does it make sense for you to hire me?  Networking with other designers gives us an opportunity to make sure the client gets exactly what is asked.  As any decent designer will tell you, style is vital, especially where a company identity is concerned.  A good image can make a company as surely as a bad one can sink it.

Not all logos send the right message

Have you ever seen a logo and thought, “What was that guy thinking?”  There is a question of style that was never asked when you see things like that. The client either didn’t think through what was needed or didn’t understand that a logo is one of the more important decisions that a business can make.

So what’s the deal with spec (speculative) work?  Firstly, we’d have to define it.  If you come to me and say, “Design me a logo and if I like it, I’ll pay for it,” what should I say as a rational person?  I can think of a few monosyllabic replies which would apply, and the only one which is proper is “no.”  If you were a home builder and someone came to you with a proposal like that, I’m sure you could relate.  That’s what spec work is.  Do the work, and get paid if it is accepted.

You can see how shirts could be lost with this business model.  So, why would anyone chose to do it this way?  Well, the answer is simple.  Many would be designers join the various websites which promote this concept and start cranking out work for people they’ve never met and businesses they know nothing about.  They usually do it to start a portfolio, but some do it to see if they have what it takes to be a designer.  Either way, somebody loses, and usually both sides.

Personally, I think spec is a blight on the design industry.  Not only is it unfair to the potentially hundreds of other submitters (the poor saps who didn’t win), but who ultimately owns all that work?  Does the creative who came up with it, or the company to whom it was submitted?

What about plagiarism?  In the spec community it seems to be rampant.  Let’s say that you have a spec contest to design a logo, and award goes to a 14-year-old kid in Plano.  Did he steal that logo or portions of it from a local company?  Maybe.  You’ll find out when the lawsuit papers show up.

Most good designers don’t want to get a client specification followed by a paycheck.  They want to get to know you, your business, your clients or customers and find out what will appeal to everyone involved.  Speculative work cuts out that personal part of the process.  There is no way to nail a design of any kind on the first try, and believing it should go that way is only going to hurt the client.  Most designers will have an open loop, gathering feedback from multiple sources as they go through the process.  That 14-year-old kid in Plano…  Not so much…

I support initiatives aimed at ending speculative work, but at the same time, I know that those initiatives will not completely eradicate it.  There is obviously a market for it, or there wouldn’t be so many places to have it done.  The only way to stop this unfair, unethical practice is to educate would be buyers of the dangers.  Potential lawsuits, potential missed opportunities and potential business failure are all inside the realm, because design and branding aren’t things to just get off the plate.

Think about that when you shop around.  I’m biased against spec, naturally, but if you look past the surface and into the heart of the matter, you would be too.