There’s a popular site whose content is sourced from supposed actual conversations between graphic designers and their clients, it’s called Clients from Hell … and I hate it. At first I thought it was funny, especially since I’ve been in similar situations to those posted and could relate. I followed it for a bit, laughing and pointing while thinking to myself how ridiculous everyone’s clients seem to be. A little while after first following the site, it started to leave a bad taste in my mouth. There’s a general lack of respect for the graphic design field in most professional circles and this site does nothing except support the idea that we’re all a bunch of whiny, spoiled brats who just sit around and play with our Macbooks and drink coffee all day while bitching about how unfair life is and that nobody understands our vision. Gag.
Having a public forum such as this simply to illustrate how stupid clients are viewed by designers is terribly damaging and does absolutely nothing to dissuade anyone from the unfortunate stereotype that (most of us) are trying so desperately to escape. We are, in general, a group of well-written, intelligent and professional people who love what we do and enjoy working with the clients we work with, who are not the bumbling idiots the site makes them out to be. Like all business relationships, there are ups and downs, but they are akin to those of other professionals such as accountants or photographers. We are educated in the visual arts, whether it be formal or professional, and that gives us the opportunity to offer expert advice when it comes to the field of graphic design. As a client, you acknowledge that expertise by choosing to hire a professional designer to do your work and as with other services that some people choose to do on their own (like accounting or photography) we appreciate that recognition.
The popularity of Clients from Hell saddens me. They recently posted that there’s a book coming out of the site’s posts. I hope that it goes largely unnoticed—to those who would hire us—as the whiny, “poor, poor me, I’m so misunderstood” rant that it is since some of us choose to see client relationships as something to develop positively with education and guidance as an expert in the field instead of trying to make everyone you work for look stupid.