Conference Room Confidence

Sitting in a corner conference room, with light from two walls of windows streaming in, we just finished making our presentation.

There’s always that moment before the client speaks when fingers are internally crossed and you’re holding your breath, wondering whether or not your concept is being received well and hitting the mark for it’s intended audience.

“If we sent this out with the rest of our materials it would totally fit. You really get us.”

Exhale. It’s always a satisfying to hear that kind of feedback, but I got to thinking afterwards how that kind of moment doesn’t simply happen.

I think we all know that it’s not a given that clients are going to love everything that you do. However, are there practices and approaches that you can put in place to increase the likelihood that clients will receive the work you do well?

Would you like to have more confidence when entering the conference room, office, or coffee shop to present your work? Let’s look at a few things to keep in mind when working on a project so that you can grow in confidence as a designer.

Start With Listening

Designers are problem solvers, but how can we solve a problem if we don’t first listen? We need to listen to our client and understand what it is they are wanting to accomplish. We need to understand the audience our design is trying to reach. We need to listen to how the materials we design are going to be used.

Once you have listened to what the client has to say and asked all of your questions so you have a complete picture of the project and goals, take all of that information and create a filter in your mind as you design.

This filter helps you make decisions to stay on target with your design.

For example, if you are creating signage that will be displayed in warehouses for the purpose of communicating safety tips to teams of people that work there, each time you select a font, color, or make decisions regarding layout, you should run it through that filter to verify that it will solve the problem and communicate to the intended audience.

Picture your design hanging on a warehouse wall and think of the type of people who will be seeing it. What do they value? What will help them? What will cause them to stop and read this poster? What are the conditions where they will be viewing the content?

If there is anything that doesn’t fit when you run it through that filter, then it probably isn’t a solution.

When you take the time to do this work, you will significantly increase your confidence in the work that you present to your client.

It’s Not About You

As a designer, you are a creator. Starting with a blank screen you use your knowledge of typography, color, and design to create materials that didn’t previously exist.

While it is definitely possible to bring your unique approach to the design you create, at the end of the day it is not, and should not be, about you. The choices that you make should serve the content, ultimately solving the problems that were identified in order to reach the intended audience.

I have seen many designers who look at their work as an extension of themselves, which can result in them being highly protective of what they design. While there is nothing wrong with being passionate about what you do, you don’t want to lose sight of your role as problem solver.

One of my teachers in college said it like this, “Be passionate about your work, but don’t be precious.”

Bring your full self and passion to the work you do, but don’t get so attached to your work that you lose the ability to be objective about when it works and when it doesn’t.

Be Careful of Trends

It can be so exciting to see the various trends happening within the design world.

“Gradients are huge right now.”

“It’s all about infographics”

“Have you seen the PANTONE Colors of the Year?”

However, as a designer, we want to make sure that we exhibit restraint when it comes to these trends. That’s not to say that it’s always a bad idea to incorporate a trend; however, you want to be sure that it is actually solving the problem, while still fitting within the established brand of your client.

I have had many conversations with clients who have talked about frustrating encounters with designers who seemed more concerned about creating “eye candy” that will pop in their online portfolio, rather than making sure that they are mindful of how the materials they design will serve the client.

If you do the work of actively listening to your client, remember that the work is not about you, and exhibit caution before jumping on the “trend train”, then you will set yourself up for finding solid design solutions that clients will love and will serve them well.