Introduction to Typekit from TheWebSqueeze on Vimeo.

Happy Camper

Recently I had a conversation with a young designer who told me something like “When my client approves my design, I’m happy, even when I know it can be better”. This inspired me to write this post, because I think he’s wrong.

The client

Usually, clients hire you, because they can’t design their own website. This can be for many reasons like, no interest in computers, not having an internet connection (trust me, it happens), they lack creativity or they simply don’t want to learn. They come to you, because you’re an expert in your field, or at least, that’s what you made them think, ’cause why else would they choose you over someone else? Anyway, they chose you, because they trust you doing a better job than they could.
A happy client is someone who likes what you create for him, but better yet, likes the results, like having customers that tell him “I found your place through your website”.
The other category is the client that was being pushed into getting a website by others, but doesn’t really want one, because it’s costing him money. This is the client that’s likely to tell you “yes” to whatever you design for him.

Both these categories are valuable clients!

Show others

9 Out of 10 times I run my designs through other designers to make sure I didn’t miss crucial design elements. When another designer tells me something is wrong, or there’s something that could be better, I change it, even if my client approved the design already. Of course, I show the revision as well, making sure he still likes it, but a designer’s opinion is worth at least as much, if not more than the client’s.

Why, you ask? Simple: clients don’t see the difference between 10% opacity or 15%. They don’t notice the 1px width-difference. If their site generally looks alright, they’ll be fine with it. Now, again: why is designer-feedback so important? Because it makes yourself grow as a designer, it makes you more of a professional, and your next designs will look better because of the feedback you get from your colleagues. It also makes you more credible as a designer. When you put the site in your portfolio that’s “meh..” because one client thinks “it’s good enough”, other clients may notice the flaw(s) in the design and will not hire you because of it.

Paul Boag mentioned one time: “It’s simple to ask the client for his opinion, but that’s irrelevant. You should ask what his target audience will think of the design”.

Like Andrew Locke says: “Marketing is everything, and everything is marketing”, and that is so true. People can’t tell you’re a great guy to work with from looking at your portfolio. You have to impress them first. Once you’ve achieved that, Mr. Nice guy kicks in.

Let me know how you handle critique from clients and other designers. Do you show your designs to others, beside your client?

While doing this, I noticed there are a few sites that have a horrible css.

What does your website look like in Comic Sans? Leave a comment with the link to your website in Comic Sans (make a screenshot).

I posted this comment:

I already have a stack of business cards, so I’d got for the canvas.
I think it will look pretty professional if I have a canvas on the wall of my office with my company logo on it. I’ll add a little tag with the text “brought to you by @andysowards”, like they have in art galleries.. but without a price

Andy thought that was worth the canvas, so a few weeks later I got in this gorgeous print, provided by the awesome UPrinting

Image 1 to 3: how the canvas was wrapped (good job guys!)
4th image: The canvas!
The 5th image is to illustrate how big it is. The dot in the middle is a Canadian 2 dollar coin.
The last image is to show that I kept my promise.

I thought that was a great idea, and I started investigating if I could get Skribit on my site. Turns out the service is free! (well, unless you want pro-features like modify your own theme and moderation).

So, please, if you like reading my blog, and have suggestions for me, for let’s say a tutorial, review or any other kind of article, let me know through that little tab on the right side of the site. Thanks.

Jay Hilgert from Bittbox.com is one of those guys, expert in the field.
He had an “Ask Bittbox” question round on Illustrator and Photoshop on Twitter, so I sent in my question, and it got posted on Bittbox.com

2) deluzione asks:

How do I convert and illy doc from 72dpi to 300?

Answer:

Good question. This is one of those settings that you would think you should be able to find under “Document Setup,” since it’s a setting you choose every time you create a “new” document. However, our friends at Adobe thought it should be in a different place. You’ll find the “Document Raster Effects Settings” under the “Effects” menu.

Just change your setting to 300dpi, and click OK.

Read the the rest of the questions on Bittbox.com

Thanks again, Jay!

One of the most difficult issues is figuring out how to use less than perfect photos sent from clients for their website. This tutorial explains how to improve an image in Photoshop using the lasso tool a little feathering as well as hue and saturation. Within minutes you will go from having an amateur photo to one that is very professional.

This video will show you how to make a square with 2 rounded egdes corners in Illustrator. (Somebody had to rain on my parade, and tell me it’s not “rounded egdes”, but “rounded corners”. Oh well, I think you know what I meant )

Notes: Topic I’m talking about in the video on The Web Squeeze.

Square with 2 rounded edges – Illustrator – Tutorial from Mark Poppen on Vimeo.

(If I pronounce things weird, or if a sentence is backwards, that’s because english is not my first language )

My "wooden" shoes.

… oh, here they are

Niki asked designers to submit our shoes to make a blog-post out of it. As I kinda had a feeling where this was going to (colorful designer shoes), I thought I’d submit something different.

When I moved to Canada with my wife, my aunt gave us a little present at the airport, just before boarding the plane. Fluffy slippers in the shape of wooden shoes. Mine has an image of my provincial flag, and my wife got a pair with an image of a Dutch windmill.

Anywho, I made it in another list