The blog has returned to normal operation. My sincere apologies to anyone who may have tried to post a comment, but I had to do something to stop the flood of spam.
Doug Norton, Industrial Designer
More on design, and the need of clients to feel that the right decisions are made. Most clients are betting a significant resource in time and money on a product redesign. If that redesign is not received well by their customers, it is a disaster. So there is pressure from several fronts on being right, and because of that, the designer is constantly second guessed. It is a constant battle to fend off people that think the fenders should be more flared, or that the corners should be more rounded, or less rounded. That the item should be made so that it can’t be swallowed, or it should be a more pleasing colour. The list is endless.
Above all, a designer has to have confidence in the design. So much confidence that the designer can confidently speak about the design in such a way as to instill that confidence in the person responsible for hiring the designer in the first place. Lord knows that there will be enough people taking credit for the product if the design is successful, but the line will be non existent if the design is not received well. In fact the only person in that line will be the designer. No one will come forward and say, gosh, the designer was right! We should have listened. Noooooo… What will be said is that the they knew the design was wrong, and that particular designer should have listened. In some cases where the design is very successful, you might not have even needed a designer, because nearly everyone in the company was “the designer” and the designer only carried out their ideas.
Maybe the forgoing is a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. Unless it is obvious that the work you are proposing has problems, stick to your vision, and above all, be persuasive in your promotion of the design. Easier said than done, but nevertheless, a requirement if you are a designer, and value your sanity, and your creative abilities. That is what they are paying you for.