Gedy Rivera

Major Hiatus

There is absolutely no excuse for me not writing in a while. If I make time to eat and sleep, I should also make time to blog.

The truth is that I have been working on a massive project for the past few months. I have never been busier, sleepier and tired-er than I am now. The work keeps increasing and the deadlines keeps changing. At this moment, nothing is sure and I am so ready to move forward with my life.

There is one thing I know for sure, once this project is over, I’m disappearing for good week. I am way overdue for a good vacation. No computers, no projects, no phone, just me, the hubby and some piña coladas. Seriously.

That being said, I look forward to getting back on track with some of my personal design projects. I have started to plan for those and I cannot wait.

Tootles!

Someone asked: How would you get rid of a pesky client? I provided quotes for projects with revisions, but they are going overboard with changes, want custom illustrations/icons, etc. more time than I estimated and very much a pain. No contract, deliverables already paid.

Kick them in the throat. Nah just kidding. :-/

I first try to speak with them in a very calm and honest manner. I let them know that I want the best for their project but I feel that we might be going off track and I want to see how we can get back in the game. My goal is to always find out what went wrong and steer the ship back to it’s original course. If that direction is no longer working, then we need to stop and see if the original plan needs adjusting. Usually if that is the case, I have no problem with letting them know that because we’re changing directions or because we’re doing more than what we agreed to do, there will be extra fees. I give them a few days to think it over and in most cases, they agree that it’s best to stay with the old plan.

Even though it’s challenging, it is an important part of our job is to manage a project so that it doesn’t get out of control. Believe it or not, I’ve even heard some of my clients apologize because they had no idea it was happening until I brought it up.

I have also had some clients that are a tad bit more difficult and unfortunately, no matter how I tried to help or bring things back to what we had originally agreed upon, they want to take control and change the course of the project, most of the time, without paying a cent. In that case, even if we’re in the middle of the project and they have already paid, it is up to me to make a decision. Do I want to continue working with someone that has no respect for my time and experience? Do I get that nasty feeling in my stomach at the sight of one of their emails come through my inbox? Is this causing me unneeded stress? Would I rather keep up with their nonsense just for the money? Asking myself these questions helps me determine whether it’s time to let go, not just of the client, but also letting go part of the money they have paid (depending on your agreed terms), etc.

In the end, we have to take control. We’re the “professionals”. Even though we’re web designers and project management might not be what we are best at, these are really good opportunities to grow in that area of our career.

A good way to avoid these predicaments, even though they are bound to happen from time to time, is to be 100% clear with your client from the very beginning. Lay it all on the table. Be honest, no bull crap. They will appreciate it. It is also a good chance for you to see any red flags early on and determine what you want to do at that point without wasting yours or their time.

Ask me anything.

Sharing Secrets in our Community

I read an article on the Forbes blog called ‘No You Can’t Pick My Brain. It Costs Too Much’ and was really curious to know how the design/developer community feels about this topic?

In a ‘dog-eat-dog’ world, how much can you share before you start giving away the secrets to your success?

We pay for art school, conferences, books, subscriptions & tutorial sites to be able to stay in the game. But in our community, there is a large amount of designers/developers that give a lot of their secrets away for little or no cost at all.

What makes us different from any other industry out there?

finnsblog1 asked: Do you watch adventure time?

What’s that? :)

H&FJ Typefaces Join the MoMA Permanent Collection

WOW! This is amazing.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has announced the acquisition of four H&FJ type families — HTF Didot, Gotham, Mercury and Retina — for the MoMA permanent collection.

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