Told a client their logo looked like a baseball team logo and they doubled the budget

I had this restaurant client and their first draft was basically a bat hitting a pizza slice. I casually said it gave off minor league vibes and instead of getting mad they asked me to redo it for $2k more. Anyone else get a weird win from being brutally honest?

2 comments

2 Comments

blaker757d ago

The real angle here is that brutal honesty works best when you've already built up some trust with the client beforehand. Like if you just met someone at a networking event and told them their logo sucks, you're getting shown the door. But if you've been working with them for a few weeks and they've seen you deliver good work, they'll actually listen because they know you're not just being a jerk. I've noticed the clients who double down after honesty are usually the ones who secretly hated their own design but didn't know how to articulate it. You basically gave them permission to fix something they already knew was broken.

the_sage8d ago

Five years ago I did a logo for a plumbing company and told them the pipe wrench looked like a cartoon walrus. They laughed and paid me double to start over with a totally different concept. I actually don't think brutal honesty is a magic trick though. Half the time it can backfire if the client has thin skin or takes it personally. You probably just got lucky that they had a good sense of humor and trusted your eye.

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