Some clients are just dumb

As I work my way through keying in changes to a brochure design that was screaming urgent two weeks ago, then sat on my clients desk for 2 weeks, I've come to the realisation that some clients are just dumb.

These 2 pages of text changes have been supplied as a scan from a photocopier. Rather than sending me the file, she has scanned the page and sent me a pdf. It's galley copy - not like it was a markup of the original and running OCR over it is generating a bunch of crap because their photocopier is so shitty. I just don't understand the thought process that basically went, I'll type up all this text, then print it out and scan it, then send the scan through to the guy doing the design so he can retype it all in.

Not to mention that these changes are a rewrite of copy that she supplied. And to top it all off, they don't even make sense. The script is full of poor grammar and inconsistencies. If I key them in as supplied, I'm 100% certain they will come back for edits. If I edit them based on proper english, she will likely send it back with a snarky email about following instruction (it has happened before). This client is the marketing manager, employed by a fantastic client who I used to deal with one on one. I can see she's trying to make her mark but is in way over her depth.

I've been in this game for over 25 years and burnt countless hours gently educating clients only to have them move on and the cycle starts again. It never changes. Some clients are just dumb.

Great design resource

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices That Matter) Submitted February 05, 2017 at 12:10AM by natacon http://ift.tt/2jMOhru