“I’m scared of designers.”
I was once asked who are the people I am most afraid to work with.
To do what I do, I’m constantly looking for new collaborators.
They’re how I avoid repeating myself. New people bring new perspectives, new approaches, and new energy. They keep projects fresh.
Choosing them isn’t difficult. I look at their work and trust my instincts.
Working with them is the hard part.
A simple website. The designer wanted a low-fi prototype first, then a 15–20 person focus group.
A logo refresh. The designer wanted a positioning workshop before touching it.
Moodboards before any real work. The designer wanted visual alignment before exploring concepts.
Four product demo zones. The designer wanted one cinematic narrative to connect them all.
Now, these are all reputable designers. They’d produced outstanding work, and that’s why I approached them in the first place. But good designers tend to have a working formula that’s brought them success, and hence, they are reluctant to work differently.
Sometimes this creates conflict.
I hire someone because I admire their work.
What I don’t see is the process that produced it.
More than once, I’ve realised that while I loved the outcome, I wasn’t comfortable with how they wanted to get there.
And sometimes it becomes painful.
The client doesn’t always need a low-fi prototype. It would be nice to have, but it isn’t what really could move the project forward.
Sometimes the client simply want a skilled brand designer to refine an existing logo, not to spend weeks rediscovering the brand.
Sometimes a client just need rough sketches because time matters more than the number of options.
But no. Some designers refuse to abandon their processes.
Aren’t designers supposed to be adaptable?
Surprisingly, no.
It’s easy if the designer has an ego issue – you can cancel the project and walk away, and choose not to engage again.
The hardest ones — are the genuinely nice people — just married to a certain way of working. Most of them try to make it work — by trying to work differently. Some find the experience rewarding and start incorporating this new experience into their workflow.
And some, just fail.
And when that happens, it brings regrets. The exact thought is — “Could have been nice, if it worked out.”
Not too long ago, a client (whom we have worked with since 2017) gave us honest feedback.
“Working with you guys is tough. You ask questions and you want clarity in objectives and purpose for the projects. Which is really good, because many others just jump straight into design options and layouts and all. But sometimes, I just wish you could give us the benefit of the doubt – keep things open, explore and try some options. When I see it, then perhaps it brings more clarity to me on what I really want to do.”
That feedback hit hard.
Maybe the problem isn’t other designers.
Maybe it’s all of us.
I am no different from the designers who scare me.
I am also married to my own processes.
