| First,
let's dispense with the disadvantages. What is more important
than meeting face-to-face with the client is the ability to
communicate one's ideas clearly and understand the client's
needs prior to moving forward with any project. A prerequisite
to overcoming this handicap is to, early on, agree on an established
procedure to exchange information; whether that be by phone,
e-mail, overnight delivery, regular snail-mail or, some combination
thereof. Of course, this does require that everyone involved
"say what they mean" as well as "mean what they
say" and since graphic design, by its very nature, is meant
to invoke an emotional response in the viewer, the designer
should expect a certain amount of frustration
and, therefore, make allowances to be patient with the prospective
client.
A second obstacle to overcome
is the difficulty in reviewing any materials used by the prospective
client in the past. The ability to examine these items often
provides keen insight into the client's needs and wants. Just
looking at old materials and having the client say, "I
liked this." or, "We hated that." can save
hours of work by avoiding the mistakes made by previous designers.
Again, careful communication coupled with a fax machine, scanner
or the mail is the key to getting around these pitfalls.
Finally, the ambiguity of working
with someone whom you will perhaps never
meet in person can heighten the apprehension of working with
someone for the first time. It is, therefore, the designer's
responsibility to make sure that the client is informed at
all times. So, not only must communication between the client
and designer be clear, it must also be timely. Since the client,
in most cases, will not be able to see the progress you might
be making on a project, it is important not only to set a
timetable, but to keep the client well informed as to how
the timetable is being met -- or not as the case may be. If
more time is needed to complete the project, make sure that
the client knows well in advance of the deadline that delays
have been encountered. Explain the delay(s) and then offer
solutions as to how you are going to deal with those delays.
Working with clients over the
Net, however, is not all bad. There are, in fact, many advantages.
First and foremost is the convenience of communicating over
the World Wide Web. For instance, the designer no longer has
to make an appointment to go over the pros & cons of a
particular design proposal. E-mailing the appropriately formatted
electronic version of a design allows the client to review
the material at his or her convenience -- even after hours,
if that is their choice. Second, working from a client's verbal
description of the project allows a certain freedom in how
the designer interprets that description. Certainly the designer
must take the client's wishes and needs into consideration
when creating the design, but working from a mental image
does offer some leeway into how that description translates
into an image. In fact, working in this way may get the client
to consider design options that they might not otherwise have
considered.
In my experience, designing over
the net can be broken down into three distinct phases. Below,
we will follow an actual design project through its various
phases. Click on each image below for details and examples
of our sample project.
|
esign
on the World Wide Web offers many challenges for both the designer
and any potential client. Chief among these concerns is, "Exactly,
how does the process work when you can't meet face-to-face with
the client?" In simplest terms, a meeting with the client
truely isn't necessary and in reality, designing over the Internet
actually offers some advantages!
