Sometimes the low budget, smaller clients give you better bandwidth for creating fun and inspiring pieces of digital delight
Have you noticed how the bigger clients with bigger budgets usually have a lot of restrictions and stages in their process to create something with you? Maybe it’s the stakes involved, or maybe it’s just that they’re used to micro-managing, which is strange since I’d think you’d want to delegate and leave things in the hands of experienced creators. Perhaps it’s the more formal structure, or a traditional bent of mind, or at times it’s just a personality type that needs to have control over everything.
And then there is a breath of fresh air, when you find the client who doesn’t have much of a budget, because perchance they run an animal shelter. Like the Anubis Tiger Foundation client. She wanted to revamp her old, clunky website with something fresh and new that showcased all the good work they were doing getting abandoned breed dogs new homes. They also wanted to raise funds for the shelter through donations and the sale of t-shirts with cute doggie photos on them. It’s a cause close to my heart so I made sure that we asked for just enough to pay the developer/designers; I didn’t make anything from it.
Our design for Anubis Tiger was classy, fun and smooth; the client loved the site in the first showing. Always a happy start for us creators. Further additions, corrections and changes were made over a period of a few face-to-face meetings – always better than over WhatsApp or email. And within three months the site was ready to use.
The crux here was trust. The client trusted me and the designer/developer to do a good job and to give her the best advice. She knew we had the experience and creative background to deliver something she could be proud of and that would help her achieve her goals.
In contrast to this, I’ve worked with a client where the budget was more, corresponding to the amount of work of course. But the process was lengthy, belaboured and sometimes a bit stressful. Multiple edits and changes, excessive micro-management and creative cuts are never a happy time for creators. It’s understandable that not everyone has the time to devote to a project like a website as they may be busy with their regular work. But knowing you’ve hired professionals (who can still make mistakes sometimes but willing to correct them) who are engaged in creating something they want to be proud of, should put you at ease. Trust that they know what’s good for your product. Of course, constructive inputs are always valuable but when they begin to erode at the creative process that’s when you lose momentum as well as motivation.
My aim has always been to create unique and interesting designs for the digital content we produce. I don’t know all there is to know about the technical aspects which is why I delegate to my developer to see the client gets the answers and solutions they’re looking for. What’s necessary from the client is usually a clear goal and a heart for good design. Timely feedback and delivery of materials for the site usually helps us get things done efficiently.
I’m not saying big budgets can’t be fun projects to work on, and produce great creatives, but this can only happen when people trust the creative process as well as the people they hire to make a difference to their business. Because whatever the budget is, we want to make stuff we can be proud to showcase.
Sailesh Ghelani
