We are all aware of many client horror stories. In fact, there is even a website called “Clients From Hell” dedicated for it. A place where designers alike share their outrageous client experiences such as font substitution (“Use Comic Sans.”), page layout (“Fill ALL white space! I want my money’s worth.“), and logo enlargement (“Make the logo bigger!“).
Those are just some of the most cringe worthy things you’ll hear from clients. But what about horrible designer stories from a client’s point-of-view?
We believe that there are designers with terrible characteristics and behaviors. They may have bad habits seen on their working styles, personalities, or thought processes. Each and every designer offers a different approach to the same project. In this article, we listed down some types of designers you want to avoid for your next design project as a client. If you’re a designer, you also may as well read through them and try not to be fit into any one or more types.
1. The God
Designers of this type are those who believe they know everything about everything. Because of their experience, they think they’ve seen it all and that they can handle any situation. These designers
deify themselves for their wisdom that makes them mentors and inspiration to young designers. People will often avoid them because they think
they’re always right and everyone else is wrong.
2. The Safe-Player
These are the designers that don’t stand out much or not at all. Designers of this type have
basic skills and they usually produce
“okay” designs instead of daring to take risks. Clients often avoid this type of designers because they’d rather choose a fully qualified designer that can deliver a project much better and produce high quality outputs.
3. The Perfectionist
Perfectionist designers are often obsessive with their projects. These designers have neat and organized work spaces. They hunger for perfection on all things and they
won’t stop if one thing is out of place. Although being a perfectionist is good, dealing with them can also be a challenge. People tend to avoid them because
they sometimes ignore instructions and prefer to do things according to what their will tells them to do. Their flawlessness may also cause them to see themselves as superior to other designers.
4. The Turtle
Designers of this type are those that are
extreme nervous wrecks. They envision negative feedback from their clients prior to actually presenting the project. These designers totally lack confidence, they think that everything they’ll do is bad and people won’t be happy about it. They are
insecure about their talents and are often hiding under the comfort of their shells, a characteristic similar to that of a turtle. They are content to work behind the scenes and let others to take the appreciations for a well-delivered project. Clients avoid this type of designers because
they may lack the necessary self-esteem to push themselves to their limits, and deliver an excellent job in spite of their abilities.
5. The Hoarder
This type of designers collects a
couple of projects simultaneously. They
forget to set priorities and often have many ongoing work-related, freelance, and personal projects at the same time. These designers have no balance and need to work on their time management. You may want to avoid this type of designers because
they tend to not deliver their projects on time. The quality of their product is also affected because
their attention and creativity is not focused one task at a time. The
output or result is usually substandard and will only be a waste of money, time, and effort.
6. The Copycat
A designer of this type tend to surf the net for design inspiration or pegs, but he/she just end up
copying (sometimes stealing ) designs that they’ve browsed through. A good long look through their portfolios will reveal familiar design styles or even works that you may have seen somewhere else before. You certainly want to avoid them because
they are simply cheaters and unfortunately unoriginal. These designers should learn to do their own research, and use trends without duplicating existing works to prevent a bad reputation.
7. The Pretentious
Designers of this type are
show-offs. They love
bragging about skills they don’t actually have. These designers pretend that a design project can be easily done and that they can deliver it in no time. Simply put, the pretentious designer
“talk the talk” and
“dress the part”, but
can’t produce high standard design work. People often avoid this type of designers because
they are basically fakers, and they’re just killing their careers by pretending to be good.
8. The Slug
These designers are the “
lazy” type. They tend to get
very sluggish and this is the main cause of why their projects are often delayed. The “slug” is the opposite of the “flash” designer who breeze through design projects without missing deadlines or even finishing ahead of time. Being a slug is not bad as long as you produce good work instead of sacrificing quality to speed. Clients avoid this type of designers because as we’ve mentioned, they mostly don’t meet deadlines and will only waste time and money due to their
constant procrastination.
9. The Soloist
Designers of this type are
not good in project collaboration. Although working on a collaborative project,
they think that their designs are absolutely better than the rest at all times. These designers don’t listen to feedback and instead of attracting clients, they further drive them away. “
Their ways are a tad superior to everyone else’s and they will talk until everyone sees it that way as well.” –
xheight.co.uk
10. The Flash
A designer of this type is a
fast worker. They deliver projects quickly,
often ahead of deadlines, and present to clients on time. Being a “flash” designer lets you accomplish several or more tasks than that of a “slug”. Although having the ability to work fast is a plus, clients often avoid them because they
can sometimes produce substandard output.
“Haste makes waste.”
Each of these types has their own positive and negative traits. The question is who will deliver the best and who would you avoid? If you’re a designer and you found yourself fitting into one of these types, take a good look on your working styles and try to become the designer that clients want to hire.
We’re pretty sure we’ve forgotten other “Types of Designers You Want to Avoid”, so feel free to share your thoughts through the comments box below!
Sources: medium.com, webdesignerdepot.com, graphicdesignblog.org, 1stwebdesigner.com,
xheight.co.uk, designerbooster.com, omnificdesign.com.au
Credits: Patrick Jude Ilagan (Illustration), Gian Bautista (Animation)