For those that haven't heard of it, What The Duck is a comic strip by Aaron Johnson in which the main character is a photographer duck. It's really cool and one of the highlights in my RSS feed every morning. It always makes me laugh and usually it also makes me think. I recommend it to everyone, but it'll be especially enjoyed by photographers, designers, painters, or artist of any kind.
I found this one particularly funny. Having been on both client and agency side, I have to admit I've been in this situation many times. On both ends.
As a client, you tend to kinda-maybe-sorta know what you want (although whatever that is may very well not be what you actually need), and you usually suck at explain what it is anyway. Oh, but you do need to know how much it'll cost right now so you can manage your budgets. It seems terribly silly, but there's a reason for that. Clients hire agencies (or freelancers) precisely for this reason. They have a vague idea of the requirements but rely on the artistic genius of the creatives to come up with the solution. On the other hand, the creatives either want the perfect brief or think they know it all and their "art" cannot be compromised, so they become a pain in the but.
In this create-on-demand world, creatives and clients that understand each other and respect each others strengths will always produce the best results. If only that was as easy as it sounds.
Anyway, direct link to the above strip is What The Duck #725: "Tap Dancing". Go visit. And subscribe.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 9:43AM | in 