As a designer, I’ve noticed one fact that seems to encompass every area of design. It is simply this: “Graphic Designers are terribly misunderstood in business.” Talk to a designer and he will tell you the hardest part of the job is dealing with clients. To remedy this problem, at least between my clients and myself, I’ve written the following to articulate a designer’s point of view.

Before you hire me, you should know. . .

I am a designer. I am not a set of hands. I am not a tool. I am not someone who simply knows how to use graphic software or how to program a website. You are hiring me for my ability to send specific messages and communicate through visual media. How I do that and what I use are subordinate to that fact.

I may dress casual, but that does not mean I am unqualified or uneducated. Nor does it mean that my craft requires any less amount of discipline. When I read a book, I observe the margins, the leading, and the typeface selection to evaluate its readability. I stare at magazine advertisements for several minutes, understanding their form and hierarchy without reading a word about the product. I reverse engineer the best brands and advertising campaigns whenever I am exposed to them. While I pump my gas, I stare at the pump and decide what changes should be made to improve its user interface. You might leave work at five and be yourself for the rest of the night, but not me. Design is not a career path; it’s a way of life. I am a designer all day, everyday. Taking that out of my life would be comparable to stripping someone of their religion.

Yes, design is a big deal.

What I want

If you are looking for a one night stand, you’re in the wrong place. Design – good design – is not object oriented. It is not about making a ‘logo.’ Instead, it’s process oriented. It is about visually communicating the attitude of your business to a specific demographic of customers. Logos, brochures, websites – these are only physical manifestations of that process. So if you simply need a ‘logo’ and aren’t worried about any of the deeper process (which I’ll admit, sometimes that is the case) then don’t come to me. Go to a crowd sourcing company. They have plenty of designers working the corner that will get you the quick fix you’re looking for.

I’m here for the real thing. I want the relationship. I want to understand your brand, your business, and your consumers. That understanding will be the foundation for the correct and most effective graphic design.

We will disagree

If you’re looking for a graphic designer, chances are that you’re an owner or, at the very least, someone trusted to make important decisions in your company. It’s likely that you’re in that position because you are assertive and take control of situations. You are bound to disagree with some of my decisions, and your instinct will be to ask for revisions and to take control of the project. I challenge you to suppress those tendencies. Trust my knowledge and my experience.

“Your wife’s favorite color has nothing to do with your company’s corporate identity”

This doesn’t mean I’m opposed to change and revisions. All I ask is that those changes are grounded in solid and unbiased concerns. Your wife’s favorite color has nothing to do with your company’s corporate identity. If you want a change, you better have a good answer when I ask you ‘why?’ Likewise, you are entitled to ask me why I did something. A successful designer knows why he does everything.

Do your homework

I don’t like meetings. I don’t want to waste my time while you figure out exactly why you need a designer. Make sure you know those things before I get involved. Understand what your company is good at, why you need graphic design, what your goals are, and who your customers are. The more those things are articulated, the more effective the design will be.

Still interested?

If you’re thinking, ‘yeah, this makes sense,’ then we should talk. You are the client that I am looking for; a client that understands the importance of visual communications and of entrusting those decisions to a specialist. If you’re thinking ‘Who does this guy think he is? This is a load of bollocks,’ then I’m not your guy.

But we can still be friends 🙂

Ah, the holidays. A time for giving. A time for friends and family. A time for jovial laughter and merry nights. As I have grown up in life, I have noticed something. We, as a society, through the hustle and bustle of the commercial world that we live in, tend to forget something. This something is poor, innocent Tom Turkey. Between Halloween and Christmas he just gets forgotten, and it just isn’t fair!

“How could this happen?” one might ask. Well, it’s simple. Around the beginning of October we start getting excited for Halloween. We see the little displays being put up in the supermarket, decorations go up on houses, and candy goes on sale. It’s the beginning of “The Holidays.” Before we know it, Halloween comes and goes. The day after Halloween, you go to the store and what do you see? You see Santa Claus! Red, green, and white! Banners in parking lots! Special packaging on products in an attempt to capitalize early on the Christmas holiday! Thanksgiving? What Thanksgiving? I don’t see any Thanksgiving! It must not exist, right?

Out of all the Holidays, Thanksgiving is one of the last that we should forget. Why is Thanksgiving so important? Well, there are all of those sappy answers like thanks, self reflection, and putting differences aside. However, this is about more than a harmonious day celebrating pilgrims and Indians. It is about on thing – the turkey, the mascot of Thanksgiving. Poor Tom is overlooked, where Santa Claus is the Tom Hanks of the Holiday World. Even the Easter Bunny is more popular than Tom. But both Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are sellouts. They don’t back up their holiday like Tom does. Tom believes in his holiday so much that he dies for it. That’s right, dies! He’s sacrificed! Decapitated! Just so that you can enjoy your holiday. Is that commitment, or what? I don’t see Sant up at the guillotine!

Santa steals November right out from under Tom’s nose, and who gets the fame and glory? Santa. He gets it from being some overweight, poorly groomed old guy, who works elves in sweat shops all year while he sits on his duff passing Judgment on poor children that don’t know any better. He works only one night during the whole year, in which he even has the luxury of using magic or something, and he breaks into every home on the planet. But Tom, he’s not like that. Not at all. He doesn’t have any cool magical powers to make life easy. He works all year to make himself just perfect for your table. He doesn’t have a pack of elves to help him either. No, he does it alone… a silent and thankless job.

One can’t help but notice the irony. That fact that he gives us a wonderful holiday to be thankful, only to get nothing in return. Not even a thank you. What comes from this selfless act? A loss of memory. We take the cooked, stuffed, juicy turkey sitting on our table for granted. That just isn’t right. Tom deserves more. A little recognition. A thank you. Maybe even the month of November back. Is that too much to ask? No, it’s not too much for me. I will ignore the Christmas propaganda for a month. I will savor the turkey on my table. I will enjoy my Thanksgiving break. I will properly celebrate Thanksgiving. And above all, I will say thank you.

Thanks, Tom.

An honor, not an expectation

Feathers are about to be ruffled. I can think of few things that cause as much controversy as the protocol for tipping in a restaurant. If you were a waiter or waitress at some point in your life, this will probably offend you. So, go ahead and roll up your sleeves now.

Tipping has become a huge defect in our culture. Stop to think about the last time you were out to dinner. Chances are you left a tip. Why? Do we even stop to think about that anymore? Was it because of a social expectation, or because of excellent service? If it was for any reason other than excellent service, you shouldn’t have done it. Tipping after receiving bad service is like giving a school bully a candy bar for getting in a fight. All it does is encourage bad behavior.

I can feel the waiters and waitresses getting angry already. “Hey! We only make two bucks and change as an hourly rate! And we have to divide up our tips between other employees! We deserve a good tip!” My answer to that is this: Do you? Do you really deserve a good tip? Are you proactively trying to make sure that my dining experience is comfortable and pleasant? Because if you’re not, I won’t tip you. If you have a problem with that, get a different job. With any profession, there is a relationship between ability and salary. It doesn’t matter if you’re a waiter, an architect, or a dragon slayer. The people who do it better, get paid more. A good server deserves a good tip. It’s not protocol. It’s a tip, a reward. If you wait tables and consistently get bad tips, it’s likely that the problem lies with you. Instead of complaining about a stingy table, it might be more beneficial to evaluate your own performance.

So, the next time you find yourself out for dinner, stop to consider your server’s behavior. Don’t give in to the social expectations, the pressure from other people at your table, the dirty looks from the server, or even your own conscience. You know if the server deserves that tip. If they do, tip them. If they don’t, don’t tip them. I know, it’s hard not to. You feel dirty and pompous inside. But if you take that money and spend it on something you enjoy, soon your guilt will be drowned in self gratification. Trust me, it works every time.