C'est Horrible! WILL I EVER GET THE DESIGN RIGHT?

You better WORK!

Sometimes you will have to make MULTIPLE designs for a project.

Meaning: YOU ARE NOT HITTIN' that SWEET SPOT with your Client.

This can occur if your project is:

A. Being designed, "BY COMMITTEE". Basically a group of people who have a variety of tastes, conflicting ideas.

or

B. Your Client is VERY PICKY and has specific ideas about how their product needs to look.

Before you go off your nut about this remember, this is THEIR PRODUCT and THEIR WORK. Of course they will have ideas about how it should look. You have to incorporate their ideas into your work. That is just the way it goes.

The "NOT HITTIN" THE SWEET SPOT" scenario is unfortunately a part of a Graphic Design life. You just have to keep listening and trying to combine all the data into a good design. It is all about really listening and communicating visually.

I will now show you the multiple covers for a single project. Get ready! I am only going to show you just a portion of the covers I designed for just ONE client!

Whether you or I like any of these designs, is not the point. The client did not, so I had to keep trying.

I started off simple. Just text and fonts and 3 colors. Simple and elegant.

I also wanted to make a cover that would give a feeling of an elegant evening at the theater.

I also thought the cover look might look like an old opera or theater program.

My boss said, "try to be more sophisticated, add an actual photo of the opera". So I found this photo from an english opera company (Not sure which one) I am sure this is a copyrighted photo so I need to find my old notes. 

This photo I felt was perfect, and the muted colors and composition was pretty sophisticated looking. I felt sure the client would love this design.

But they said NO! and wanted more color and action on the cover. 

So I made this

Even more action and color. Can you tell I am starting to loose it?

Really starting to go now. 

Once they picked a photo they wanted on the cover. That kinda killed it for me. 

Trying to work with that photo and my original idea, that was one bad combination!

This is spiraling out of control now. Even with the bland colored background. Too many fonts, too much type, too many colors. Of course I think the photo really kills it. But it is what the client wants. It is my job to make it work.

Now I think this black thing might make an interested poster, but not a book cover. 

Still too much and over the top. By now we all give up, even the client!

Weeks later, I thought about trying another simpler approach. 

I wanted a classic egyptian image. So I picked the bust of Nefertiti.

Her silhouette is simple and elegant, feminine and nobel. 

These were the last two covers I made for them. I have not heard anything back as of yet. 

But I am pretty happy with my last two attempts. However, if the client is not.. Here we go again!