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Rant: The client who promised 'creative freedom' then backtracked hard
Had a guy reach out last year for a full brand refresh for his landscaping company in Phoenix. He said he wanted something fresh, totally different, no limits. I was skeptical cause I've heard that before but decided to give it a shot. Spent like 12 hours on three different concepts, really pushed some ideas with bold colors and a custom icon that tied into desert plants. When I showed him, he flat out said 'this isn't what I had in mind' but couldn't explain what he actually wanted. Turns out he saw a competitor's logo that looked like every other generic leaf design and wanted that exact thing but 'better.' I learned that when they say no limits, they usually mean reproduce something safe but pretend it's original. Anyone else have a client who swore they wanted unique work but really just wanted a copy of someone else's stuff?
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veraramirez2d ago
Did they at least give you any kind of direction before you started, or was it just totally vague? Honestly I had a similar situation where a client said they wanted something "edgy" and "modern" for their coffee shop and it turned out they just wanted a slightly tweaked version of Starbucks' logo with their own name slapped on it. I had to redo the whole thing three times because they kept pointing at other brands and saying "like that but for my place.
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grace9262d ago
Totally agree with you @veraramirez, I had almost the exact same thing happen! A client asked for something "clean but bold" and then kept sending me links to Nike and Apple logos saying they wanted that "vibe." I finally realized they just wanted their name in a plain sans-serif font with a circle around it, but they wouldn't just say that outright. I went through four completely different concepts before I just asked them point blank if they wanted me to copy another brand's style. They said yes and I had it done in ten minutes.
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