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I personally would let it slide since they are a regular client. It sounds as if it was a communication issue, so you may want to let them know somehow, "Hey we removed this item from the invoice due to a misunderstanding, but please note that our design fee is XXX for furture reference." That way they are aware, and you look like the "good guy" to a good ...

This was going to be a comment turned out to be quite long, so here it goes: I don't want to sound rude, really. But how do you expect people to believe in something YOU don't believe in? You are going to be designing, how are you going to make the design decisions about something looking this or that way? There is a theory behind our options when creating ...

I find that if you dig deep enough there's usually a nugget of sense in even the craziest client requests. The words they use to express what they want are usually wrapped up in a hodge-podge of what they've seen and what they think is normal - but every profession has its own flavour of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing". It could be worse, we could ...

If you have your customer's IP, you can have a flashing marquee just for him... Jokes aside, this is one of those things where the customer is wrong and where you have to go over the purpose of the website with the customer. "I am concerned that this might distract the customer from buying your product because his attention would be called away from your ...

Scott's answer being great, I'm just going to add on top it. Since you have mentioned that the client is a close friend, I think you need to talk to him/her and help him/her understand it comes with a price for various reasons. First, as Scott has mentioned, cutting you out of the design loop means you just lost a potential job in the future. If the ...

It is customary to include additional costs for native files. How much of a mark up is really up to you. It can range from 1/3 the project cost to 300% the project costs. I, personally, price native files very high. The only rationale for any client wanting native files is to cut me out of the design loop. That in itself is fine. However using my work to do ...

Morning @MDMoore! First off I'd like to apologize knowing first hand it is a bear to have multiple people's input on a design process. Your first idea, have one primary contact is a great idea and I would definitely go this route but knowing first hand when multiple people have a say it can still back fire down the road. That said I would require one ...

The only problem I see with "footnote" and "reference" is that these are slightly restrictive words. "Annotation" is the all-encompassing term for ALL the types of marks you are referring to: footnotes, endnotes, corrections, and captions are all annotations. So seeing as how you want to avoid over specifying, "annotation marks" is the least leading phrase ...

There are valid, objective ways to show and describe why one particular design solution is better than the other. It's really about the business of selling--which Graphic Design is a big part of. There's also the fact that one needs to be confident in what they are presenting, and that's a bit of the salesmanship side of things. Some incredibly talented ...

Your question just reminded me of Hoefler and Frere-Jones in the film Helvetica in which they describe typography with subjective qualitative terms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9zW5EuMtE Notice how they use cultural references to describe design. It's this kind of awareness of and emotional connection with the cultural world past and present, which ...

theres also a concept called modular based design as we do in programming. whole design of site can be separated into modules and assign the different mudules to each individual. its like a new concept. but the great team work can make its result outstanding. and yes Committees = great for brainstorming, terrible for implementation.

Have you tried running a design charrette? This works really well in situations where the design process is very egalitarian/democratic. Here's an article to get you started: http://mblongii.com/collaborative-sketching Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about running a charrette. Good Luck!

A few suggestions: your first idea is excellent. Have them elect a single point of contact for you. have them prioritize all requests. That gives everyone a chance to have their say, but also requires them to think pragmatically and really decide what is critical vs. what is just nice to have. sell HARD. You need to come to the meetings where you present ...

Theres really no way to answer this specifically. It all depends upon the dynamic. But in general here's how I handle "committee" assignments..... It's a given with most designers that "design by committee" is no fun. However, input from a committee is much better than input from a single individual. As a designer I find that having as much input from every ...

THREE. Also be consistent. What would you do with other clients? A weeks work should not go unnoticed. Let it slide, still appearing on the invoice by charging it with the used amount of time but $0,00, copyright remaining yours. In case similar things appear a year from now, you and the client should have something to refer to. If your design becomes ...

I personally don't like them, but the present day equivalent of a <marquee> element is the animated image slideshow/slider. They often have poor usability (can't be stopped or paused to allow the visitor to read the full text, show images containing large blocks of text inaccessible to screenreaders and can't be copied & pasted, lack controls to ...

You're asking the wrong question. The question is: How do I get a client to focus on business needs rather than personal wants? The key way to handle that is to never ask a client what they want on their web site. Instead, ask them what their customers need. What are their customer's goals? As soon as they start talking "I like purple and animated ...

I think it's great that you want to understand more about how people you work with think and talk. There should be more of that! I'm more familiar with resources on the print side, but I think some of the following could be both useful and fun: Maura Keller and Michelle Taute. Design Matters: An Essential Primer. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2012. ...

I'm not sure I know what you mean by "talking like a designer" but using the words a designer understands can be learnt. There's a glossary of design terms here. Searching for 'design glossary' also brings up others with different terms, though the one I've linked to seems to have the most definitions from the ones I've briefly read.