HOME | ABOUT | CONTACT | Magazine
Search:

Inspiration for digital creatives

NEW! Topic Zones

Digital Arts cover

Buy latest issue NOW!

NEW ADVENTURES IN DIGITAL PAINTING
REMIX YOUR ART
VINTAGE HALFTONES
COMIC ILLUSTRATION
SURREAL PORTRAITS
WATERCOLOUR VIDEO EFFECTS

PLUS - £300 OF STOCK IMAGES

EDIGIT SIGN-UP

The twice-weekly newsletter with all the latest creative news, reviews, and features



More info...


ipad

The Complete Guide to the iPad

Packed with tips and tricks, the top 50 apps you must download & over 80 pages of step-by step tutorials.
Buy NOW for just £5.99, a saving of 40% off the retail price.

Cuddling up to clients

Monday 31 Oct 2005

Whether you’re inspiring a brand or walking on eggshells, handling clients is as much of an art as design itself.

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> Forget creative challenges of operating in the design industry, the real challenge is handling your clients. In a design-led business, is the client always right? How can you retain creative integrity in the face of commercial pressures? Sure, you’ve got to handle the everyday stuff, but how can you do that and dazzle the client with your creativity? </p> <p> Right from the start you have to be careful when handling clients – after all, if it wasn’t for them, you’d have to get a boring job. </p> <p> “First and foremost, do your research,” advises Michael Berthon, creative director at English & Pockett. “Make sure you know your clients – their organization and their market.” Initial contact with the client is the first hurdle. </p> <p> A face-to-face meeting is the only way of clearing it safely. “Forget conference calls or video links,” says Berthon. “Whenever possible, a face-to-face meeting is the single best way to establish a relationship at the outset of any project.” </p> <p> It’s crucial to set the tone for the relationship in the initial briefing session. Ideally you want to be the one guiding those decisions so it’s important to be informed, intelligent, confident, and calm. It’s also important to have the key decision makers at every meeting, or nothing gets agreed. </p> <p> <h2>Nice to meet you</h2> </p> <p> <div class=inlineimage><img src=@digital_arts on Twitter.


Submit to: DiggDigg deliciousDel.icio.us redditReddit

What is this?


Promotions

alt content

Corbis Introduces £5 Web and Mobile Resolution Photos as New Research Finds Interesting Pictures Make Online Ads More Effective.

Click here for more information

Search features

Latest Features

Back to Index...

Latest News

More news...

Latest Tutorials

More tutorials...

Latest Reviews

More reviews...

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> <h2>A match made in heaven<BR> Clients do come good sometimes...<BR> </h2> </p> <p> Andrew Brown, creative director at Swamp, says that the relationship between agency and client can produce good ideas. “On the latest Products section of the Umbro Web site, we really wanted to try and show products in a way that brought them to life and wasn’t just a shirt that you could spin around,” he says. “We began talking through with the client the possibilities of doing 360-degree photography, but as always necessity is the mother of invention and there wasn’t the budget to get the cinema effects we wanted. </p> <p> “By giving ourselves the space and freedom to speak to the client at any point and jump up and go outside with the digital camera and try things, we developed a way of stop motioning an actor that proved to be a really effective way of showing off the kit. The client at Umbro would randomly receive large animated GIFs in her inbox, followed by excited phone calls. </p> <p> “It felt like we achieved a real creative flow and an idea was developed and grew organically directly as a result of bouncing ideas between the team and the client.” The resulting work is pictured above. <a href="http://www.umbro.com/evolutionx/" target="_blank">www.umbro.com/evolutionx/</a> </p> <p> <div class=inlineimage><img src=

Top10

Top10.com: broadband & mobile phones
Looking for cheap broadband or mobile phone deals? Compare offers on broadband, mobile broadband, mobile phones and more. Top10 is the UK’s most popular telecoms comparison site. Compare & Share at Top10.com

Shutter Stock

Picture it Found
Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Every day we add thousands of photographs, illustrations, and vectors to our outstanding collection of premium, royalty-free images. 10% off your subscription with coupon code: DER410

Job Board

Online recruitment for the UKs creative sectors
Recruiters: Search users CVs and portfolios or post your job all from the online comfort of your desk.
Candidates: Find 100's design, digital, creative, new media and web jobs or upload your CV and portfolio and let employers find you!

HOME | TERMS & CONDITIONS | ABOUT | CONTACT | ADVERTISERS | All contents ©IDG 2010 by IDG Network
Top of page TOP