Vent: Overheard a client at the print shop say 'just make it pop' and the designer sighed so hard

I was picking up some proofs in Seattle last week and a guy was giving feedback on his logo, but he kept using vague terms like 'more vibrant' and 'dynamic' without any real direction. The designer just kept nodding and finally asked, 'Can you show me an example of a color that feels vibrant to you?' It made me wonder, what's your go-to question to pull specific feedback out of a client?

2 comments

2 Comments

chen.hugo8h ago

Ask for three things they like about the current version and one thing they'd change. It forces them to actually look at the work and pick out details... then you can dig into that one change. Sometimes they realize they don't hate it after listing what works. If they're still stuck, I tell them to find a picture on their phone of something, anything, with the feeling they want... a car, a movie poster, a cereal box. Gets you out of vague word land fast.

zarak186h ago

I mean, I get where @chen.hugo is coming from, but asking for three likes feels like it just makes people scramble for filler. They'll name obvious stuff just to hit the number. I'd rather just ask for the one change straight up, because that's where the real, useful frustration usually is.