Chapter 2

Hello,

Welcome to another one of my ramblings. This rambling is one of my first lessons as a graphic designer and one of the more bitter pills i had to swallow. I hope you enjoy the read and perhaps learn from my mistake.

Rambling topic: Always ask questions

I remember when I was younger (a lot younger) I was asked to design a logo. Something cheap and quick. I needed the experience and a bit of pocket money so it was a no brainer!!

I remember having a check list of questions to ask my first ever client. Excited, nervous I got a precise brief; the logo needs to be bold, bright and appeal to everyone (very precise for a young designer).

My mind was racing. My first real client, went straight on to my Macbook and booted up Macromedia Freehand (Yes, I'm that old. Note, I didn't mention research of any kind...).?

First section of the brief, bold - I got my thickest font, bold, done. Next, Bright, must appeal to everyone - Primary colours, they're bright and they appeal to everyone. I used yellow and red. To make it even more appealing to all ages, I curved each letter. Niiice.?

What I designed (and I use the word designed very loosely but I was young, inexperienced and proud) was what I can now describe as an 80s McDonald's knock off! But I was ready to present. I couldn't wait for my first design, my first masterpiece. I'm going knock their socks off.

Well, socks were indeed knocked off ... but not in a good way. Their faces and feedback still haunt me to this day.

"This looks like something my teenage son did ... you sure you're in Uni?"

My puppy dog enthusiasm quickly turned into puppy dog poop on the expensive carpet. My stomach was in knots and i wanted to cry. I remember thinking this is the perfect time for the building to collapse on us. The feedback was sharp, short and perfectly justified but back then I thought this is the end of my career, the end of my world.?

This is what I learned that day.

• Ask as many questions as you can. The more you ask the more you understand the client's needs.
• What does bold mean, what does bright imply? Everybody has a different interpretation of those 2 words, so there are no stupid questions. It may not mean thick, yellow font with red outline.
• When the target audience is "everyone" the client doesn't always mean "everyone", I thought everyone meant all ages from 0-100 both male/female cat or dog.?
• Always research, I mean ALWAYS. We didn't have google back then but that was no excuse. I could've used yahoo or even walked round town to see what other cafes were doing.
• Just because you have a terrible presentation it's not the end of the world. Learn from it. Even now, in my 20th year of my career I still occasionally think this is a good time for the building to colapse.?

Safe to say I didn't get my first client, but ... it didn't stop me from putting it in my portfolio! (yes, I was that proud of it, no, I never got any work from it).?

Remember, always ask questions

Thank you for reading my rambling. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. I look forward to my next rambling!