Presentation for Kutztown University Student AIGA chapter about how to work with clients and some tips on designing once out of school.

1. And other fun and helpful tidbits.

2. College teaches you
how to learn.

3. You learn more in your first two years out of school
than you did the four years you were in.

4. The greatest thing I’ve learned

5. The greatest thing I’ve learned
is the importance of forming
Client Relationships.

6. The greatest thing I’ve learned
is the importance of forming
Positive
Client Relationships.

7. The greatest thing I’ve learned
is the importance of forming
Positive, Honest
Client Relationships.

8. The greatest thing I’ve learned
is the importance of forming
Positive, Honest,
Respectful
Client Relationships.

9. The greatest thing I’ve learned
is the importance of forming
Positive, Honest,
Respectful and Professional
Client Relationships.

10. Throughout history,
design has changed
and evolved. Yet one
constant has remained:
The need for Clients.

11. “Maybe it’s about something else, something that
hasn’t changed, something to do not with money
but with the very structure of the relationship
between designers and their clients…
The designer-client relationship can and should
be a partnership. It’s time to stop blaming the
client when it’s not.”
Michael Bierut, “Waiting for Permission”, 79 Short Essays on Design

12. It’s fun
to poke fun.

13. It’s fun
to poke fun.
*TheOatmeal.com is effing hilarious btw.
*

14. The client isn’t always right…

15. The client isn’t always right…
…but neither are we.

16. Clients can make the difference
between
L ving your work
and
L sing your work
:(

17. The “Real” World
my first job
*but hey, I had a cool desk, right? RIGHT?!

18. vs.
“What
Yes. do you need?”

19. LOTS of clients =
*some* Clients from Hell.

20. LOTS of clients =
*some* Clients from Hell.

21. A Few Tidbits:

22. A Few Tidbits:
• Who {or what} are clients?
• How to talk to clients
• Client vs. Designers

23. Clients are people.

24. His name
is Robert Paulson.

25. Kill them with kindness.

26. Lead the conversation.

27. “Cause it, like, looks
cool. Ya know?”

28. Be a professional.

29. Be a professional.
not a snob.

30. Clients aren’t designers.
That’s our job.

31. We are problem solvers.

32. If your design isn’t solving
the problem, it’s simply art
and as a design, is useless.

33. …sometimes

34. …sometimes
you just have to polish turds.
-Mike Janda of Riser Media, Salt Lake City, UT

35. You are now in the
Bubble of Awesomeness

36. Make it BIGGER.

37. Make it BIGGER.

38. Make it BIGGER better.

39. Have a Life.
Do things that don’t
involve design.

40. “Be culturally literate, because if you don't have
any understanding of the world you live in and
the culture you live in, you're not going to
express anything to anybody else.”
Paula Scher

41. Make new friends.

42. Enjoy what you do.
Even if you hate it.

43. *a good* Attitudeand Confidence
will take you farther than even the
strongest design-skills.

44. *a good* Attitudeand Confidence
will take you farther than even the
strongest design-skills.
This is not
the design
you were
looking for.

45. Do what excites you.

46. Do what excites you.
Because you can.

47. Books I’d Recommend:
79 Short Essays on Design -Michael Bierut
Make it Bigger -Paula Scher
How to Be a Designer Without Losing Your Soul -Adrian Shaughnessy
How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer -Debbie Millman
Designers Don’t Read -David Howe
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People -Stephen Covey
Poke the Box -Seth Godin
Blink -Malcolm Gladwell

48. Thank you :)