I much rather put more work into 1 good design then split the same time into 3 quickies. Doing my home work first and listening to the client, this has been very successful.

The other day when I completely missed the ballpark with a new logo was when from the meeting the clients had said bronze/gold/copper for colors but the reaction to the design idea then was ‘oh, nothing spoke to us, I thought we are going to use cobalt blue and bright yellow’…

Clients hire designers to carefully establish custom solutions for the client’s audience. I’d think of it more as if you were designing your own car from scratch. Sure, you’re using mostly pre-fabricated parts for functionality (e.g. an engine for search, wheels for navigation) but the design, the body that holds the vehicle is molded by hand, with each design consideration taken into account.

I know I’m idealizing this process quite a bit here, but it’s to make a point. What we do should be most valuable to the client’s audience. (That’s who is making them money and who they should ultimately care about.) We are tasked with the goal of protecting this intimate, complex relationship.

I know I want a car that has 4 wheels, power everything, cruise control, a sun roof and air conditioning. That’s what I want. Now I have to figure out what color I want. Do I want a Chevy or an Audi? Am I more like a Impala, or an A6. Different car makes and models are like different concepts presented to a client.

Now, is that to say that you should present 5 concepts and have 4 rounds of revisions, NO, not even close. I think 3 concepts are the max you should show, and if you can’t get a design right in 2 or 3 rounds after the concept is chosen, then there’s obviously a communication breakdown with the client.

As for frankensteining, it’s just an unfortunate outcome sometimes, but should NEVER apply to function. If one concept has a search and the others don’t, then somebody didn’t do their job. Sometimes clients just don’t like color combinations or image choices. You can do all the research in the world, ask the client 100 times what they want, and when you do it, they might not like it. Design leaves so much room for interpretation, you rarely nail what a client wants with one attempt.

That being said, the best compromise I’ve found is a clear statement of roles at the beginning of the relationship, as well as consistent reminders throughout. Couple this with rapid design iterations in a browser context, and most ‘designers’ can be persuaded to allow you the elbow room you need to do the work at hand proper justice.

We recently held our ground on only one design concept. It was due to a really tight timeframe, though. The client went to someone else who agreed to do multiple concepts and asked if we’d execute the winner. We declined. He probably won’t make his deadline, which we would have guaranteed. It was more important to him, though, to have 3 concepts.

Frankensteining sucks but it doesn’t have to be either or. A few concepts can be created AND the client can be educated. Successful outcome hinges upon the relationship and its footing moreso than process.