APE EVENTS: PROJECT + EVALUATION

From one of my clients early on in second year when I branded a clothing company called Noir, I was referred by them to a new client that they knew, who wanted some designs done. The client wanted some music event work done in the form of flyers and a Facebook banner, which I thought would a good opportunity to extend some connections in the music and entertainment sector and also to make some money.

Brief

In contact with this client, they specified that they wanted 

• A6 flyer created for a night called Apesh*t
• Facebook banner
• Pay of £50

Initially the client wasn't very vocal on giving me the details on the event, which hindered my design process and made it difficult to design.

For the Facebook banner the only details that were given was that there was 3 rooms and it was an easter special and also he wanted some coloured slashes in the design. So I made a small mock up of what they wanted.

After that the client expressed that they wanted 'donkey kong' on the banner to symbolise the Apesh*t event, and although I concerns I tried testing this out on another arrangement of Facebook banners. These banners where when I started to gain information about the artists and more details.

Then the client changed their mind and expressed that they wanted to work on the flyer instead as that needed to printed soon. So I asked for some visual references and the client sent these along.

I continually asked for the nights logo, but the client didn't have it and asked me to take it from previously flyers which left it in a really pixilated state. Although expressing my concerns at this stage the client didn't mind. Also the client wanted to use animated cartoons of donkey kong for the flyer but I also did express that this wouldn't really fit in with the night they wanted to promote and they agreed. However they wanted the previous image that I mocked up in my initial flyers, but with the coloured pattern.

The client then said to go back to doing the banner again because that would then be the most important thing to finish off so taking on the feedback I changed the banner again, and at this stage the line up kept changing, and the client didn't provide me with artists logo's but wanted me to find them myself. Also the content of the banner was overloaded with logos and information and I expressed my concerns but the client was dismissive.

At this stage I felt that the process of working with the client was really unorganised and wasn't sure if they knew what they wanted or what they were doing. However with this being a paid brief I wanted to ensure I got the job done!

 

After the banner was made I then transferred the design onto a flyer design, but found it really difficult to make it look professional with the pixilated logo and content overload on one side. So I suggested making it double sided (for no extra cost .. BIG mistake). After doing a few designs for this I was then asked to change the images of donkey kong as they didn't like them anymore which was something I expressed early on! At this stage I started to feel really annoyed after designing a lot of work that was not being used.

Considering this was a paid brief I tried to remain professional and decided to take on a different approach in designing what I though would work better.

I created these designs incorporating the coloured pattern, the visual ape reference with some illustrative features. Thankfully the client liked the design of the flyers. However it didn't match the banner on the Facebook page which the continued to use, although it was just a screen shot development.

After the designs were completed, the client then started to demand more work, with the threat of night not going ahead without out it, so me being nice, I then created another banner for the 

• Skiddle banner
• A0 / A3 Posters transferring the same design across the work.

 (Again, for no extra cost .. BIG mistake)

However when the client started to print flyers he noticed that there was a spelling mistake and even though I asked him to proof read it, I had to again make further changes to ensure that the work would be okay for printing again.

After the changes and work had been done I then mentioned payment to the client and he stated that I would be paid after the event, cause thats when he will receive all the money and I will be paid. At this stage I started to feel uneasy with no down payment and the client getting all they needed, I felt I let myself into a bit of a trap.

Overview 

I waited for over a month after the event to be paid and was chasing up the client, who profusely apologised for the late payment and asked me to work on another project. Although not being paid I started on another project due to the clients harassing nature.

However with working with the client again I forgot how unprofessional they were and that I still hadn't been paid so I stopped designing and said if he wanted anything else I would have to be paid first. The client dodged payments, tried to meet me in person countless time to give me the money and I started to feel really scared. So finally I had to meet up with him with a friend to get the money and expressed that I will no longer be working with him!

The client contacted through phone call regularly at inappropriate times, demanding for the designs to altered for a constantly changing line up. This significantly made the process of working with the client difficult and unbearable due to their unprofessional approach and at times I felt really harassed. 

This is by far the worst client experience and I have learnt a lot from this process, however I am really happy that this happened because it taught me to more assertive with clients and to assess who I work with in the future. I think I was manipulated throughout the process and made to feel sorry for the client and their stress of organising an event, but as a graphic designer that is not my responsibility!

Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

The skills I have developed through this brief is how to work with difficult clients, I remained consistently professional throughout the process, expressed design concerns without being pushy and provided a service that was above and beyond the original brief requirements.

What approaches / methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I have worked on creating a Facebook banner, which is something I haven't really worked on a lot, knowing this not an the dimensions in which to work in, if I ever do a music event that needs this I know obtain the tools and knowledge to execute this.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

My strengths in this project was being patient and forever maintaining a professional attitude to speaking to the client and working against the clock to meet deadlines. I will continue to uphold this attitude in my practice as it will maintain my strong and professional work ethic.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Weaknesses I can identify is spelling, although asking the client to check, I could have also done this throughly myself.

I feel that my work wasn't at my usual standard due to the unprofessional behaviour of the client and them harassing me, which made me loose passion for the project.

Another weakness aside from my work, is knowing when to say NO, sometimes if myself and client aren't working together in a healthy way or I feel uncomfortable, I will express these thoughts or terminate a project.

Identify things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

From this experience I have learnt to never start work with a client, with out a contractual agreement or a arrangement pay date / deposit. This was a valuable lesson to myself if I am ever doing freelance work and will continue to take these values in my practice.