Pitching Your Design
March 3, 2010, 1:17 pm - By: Chad Halvorson
We've all seen the online comics about web design. (photo credit) They usually tell the same story; —web designer creates a design, client makes a ton of changes and thus "ruins" your design. While the common theme portrays the web designer as the victim, if objective strategies were applied to the presentation of the design, the outcome would most likely be very different.
The nature of client feedback can be shaped based on how the creative is "sold" to the client. As the designer, you've already sold it to yourself (over and over again). Here are few strategies for "selling your web design ideas".
Present the ideas/designs, don't send a link. Schedule a meeting to present your design, preferably in person. If not in person, then through a NetMeeting session or some other desktop sharing meeting service. The goal is for the designer / creative director to be the gatekeeper of the artwork until it has been properly presented. DON'T EVER send a link or JPG for initial review of creative. There are some exceptions to this, but generally you always want to present the creative.
Tell a story / paint a picture. You've put a lot of thought into the creative and your client has hired you for your expertise. Tell a story with your designs. Start with the homepage, discuss why you've chosen the layout and interaction model and how it works well with the interior pages. Keep your points matter-of-fact. The goal here is to show that you've thought about the entire user experience as a whole and based your creative decisions on the business objectives of the client.
Don't leave your creative decisions to interpretation. Even though you've made decisions based on creative instinct or "just because it looks good", don't leave the method to your madness open to interpretation. Have a game plan. You've made hundreds of decisions during the design process, many of them subconsciously; —defend them objectively.
Be objective even though creativity is typically subjective. Use your noggin, you have experience, you know what works and what doesn't, you know how to use colors to convey different moods, you know about typography, etc. There is always some level of objectivity behind good design.
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