As I reposted an article about how to make a logo today on Google+, I began reflecting on the importance of time with clients.
The article didn’t outline a design process, but instead chose to focus on the business side of working with a client to create a logo. For those who know, creating a logo can be an intimidating process. It must be unique and generate a real relationship within its representation. It must symbolize its owner in every way, but simply.
I am currently in the middle of creating a new logo for my job with UNC Bands, and was reminded of the importance of time by the author. The time one takes to meet with the client, to research the person or business, to gather a familiarity with what you are working with. And I asked myself, “Why does this have to be pointed out? Shouldn’t it be obvious?”
But then I was reminded of the design proofs my step-father showed me by a local designer he was working with. The frilly attire and definite feminity that radiated from his designs made me squeal even as they came up on the screen. “Has he ever even eaten here?” I exclaimed with complete shock. “No….I don’t think he has,” said my step-father. This completely baffled me. How could anyone ever design anything for a business without knowing anything about it, and expect to be successful?
Maybe I am jumbling along in my explanation, but it took me back to my days as a hairstylist. I have thick curly hair and because of that, I’ve had numerous bad haircuts. I’ve told stylists time and again how notto cut my hair, but few have listened. So when I graduated from cosmetology school, I knew what my fiercest tool on the salon floor would be – listening.
th time I learned how to direct those conversations to extract the information I needed in a more timely manner. But the time never mattered to me. When they left my chair they were wearing my name on their head, had to see it everyday, and I wanted it to be right.I let my clients tell me about their hair disasters, about what they wanted and how they felt about their hair. In the beginning it was time consuming, but wi
It’s the same with the logos. And actually, with everything I do.
When it comes to working for our clients, it is our job to take the time to listen – to give them our time. In a fast paced world we forget to stop and we forget that people actually, really, truly do enjoy human interaction. We are, afterall, servants. We are here to serve our clients, to help them find what they are looking for, and often, what they didn’t know they were looking for.
But we are also here to do the job correctly, and to make sure that whether it’s a haircut or a logo walking around promoting our skills, it should be an example of our best.
(Leaf logo sketching on a table…)