fired from freelance client
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- DaveO
so I've been doing some work for a freelance client for the past year or so, which is a client I got passed by someone who's rates were to high....
I've been doing around one to two pieces for them per month – club promotion stuff – and have just presented the new years eve concepts. They were totally not sold on one of the concepts and said maybe to the second one
I then get an email today that says they think the standard has slipped a bit recently and they are looking at other people to do work for them. If I'm honest the last two pieces have not been the best but I never actually get feedback from them on what they really like, or a proper brief saying what they want....so it's a lot of guesswork and having to just 'DO' stuff....
But basically it boils down to the fact that the first piece of negative feedback is 'you're fired'....
They did ask if I wanted to present anything else for new year's eve, etc, which I will do, but has anyone else ever had this problem?
- doctor0
Sounds like a classic... Lack of communication to begin with.
- babaganush0
To a greater or lesser extent it's just client retention and 99% of clients want stuff for nothing and to take advantage. If you can manage without a client who treats you like this I'd try to steer clear of them. It won't get better. Sorry to be direct
- rybo0
how can we comment without seeing what they hated and past stuff they liked?
- hallelujah0
about 15 years ago somebody said to me, "you will lose every client you ever had," and it turned out to be a wise piece of counsel
- its_only_me0
If its "club promotion" then I guess your dealing with nightclubs and that sort of mob.
This industry is always like this.
Dont take it to heart dude.
- r3mote0
I've never been fired mid job, clients normally just stop contacting me if they're not wanting to work with me any more. Your situation sounds really sucky, and the client shouldn't be able to do that... got any sort of contract with them??
BTW, love your BC flyers/design work. Shame they never got you in to do the new website...
- monospaced0
on to bigger and better things, my friend
- Ranger0
Your Big Chill stuff is really good.
- jimzyk0
sounds like a client you'd be better off without.
no brief,
no feedback,
not good.
it would get even tougher to work for someone like this after another year i would imagine.like someone else said - i wouldnt take this to heart your work looks great.
- search0
let's see what you did.
- pylon0
Hey man, stuff like this happens.
Sounds like the doctor's assessment; lack of communication. That's a two way street so I'm not going to point any fingers without knowing either you or the client.
Some of the hardest clients to steer are the ones who don't have experience dealing with design and figure the process is best summed as, "I'll know it when I see it."
Getting them to talk about abstract design stuff is sometimes really foreign ground for them. Coupled with the fact that they probably just don't know that they have to help you help them by giving you good, clear information to begin with!
Some of the hardest designers to work are the ones who think that everything should be handed them on a platter so that they can go back and create magic without any other input.- True, very true... I should have been asking for feedback at each stage....DaveO
- OSFA0
talk to them and let them know they have to give you feedback in order for you to understand what they want and be able to give it to them....
- DaveO0
Thanks peeps – this is good.
It's not the Big Chill btw.
The Neighbour stuff is my day job so it's not like I'm out of nice work to be getting on with. Just sucks when you get told that out of the blue when you think you've been doing alright!
Ultimately the club stuff was always an area to play around with ideas and bits of type that I fancied trying.....more of a sketchbook in my folio rather than key pieces.
But yes – people who work full time DJing and whatnot are not known for their organisational skills.....!
- kelpie0
^agree with pascii
I don't go anywhere near club stuff anymore after having umpteen nightmares with various promoters
- Horp0
I haven't got much direct experience of club promotion, but the experiences I have had plus all the experiences of colleagues of mine who have done a significant amount of this stuff is that this is the way it is.
Fuckem DaveO, there'll be other freelance gigs for a designer of your calibre.
- they tend to think they are doing you a favour, added to the fact that by its nature ts really last minute and disorganisedkelpie
- Jimbo820
Club stuff is awful, I've been burnt too many times and avoid it when I can, unfortunately a lot of my mates are in the dj scene so I find myself doing the odd free flier that they then bastardize for later events whilst putting my name on it... twats
- yup, been there 1000000000 timeskelpie
- so true!gustavfive
- Horp0
I have to beg to differ with the view that they are the worst clients ever however. Record labels are, by a very long margin, the worst clients ever.
Book publishers are, by a very long measure, the best clients ever. But they are so nice, and reasonable, so polite, so sweet tempered, so overly keen and not in much of a hurry, so full of praise, so full of apologies, so excriutiatingly in awe of anything you do, even its just picking up the phone and saying hello that THEY DRIVE ME FUCKING NUTS.
- kelpie0
If you've not done club stuff, you know nothing of pain. Child.