On being the client

Stephen and I met up this week to discuss an early visual for the Refresh homepage. As far away as this image was from being right (I won’t be showing in-progress site visuals), it was a strange thing to see.

I started work on this project with the view that it should be an interesting little journey. If it repays the effort that goes into it financially, that will be fantastic. If not, it will be a valuable learning experience. This is partly why I asked Ste to do the design work. I know that Ste is talented, reliable and most importantly would be able to surprise me.

I’ve tried not to steer too hard in any creative direction, but I have a clear idea of function and content. The experience so far is giving me a better understanding of my own clients. To have your idea realised for you through someone else’s design is initially disconcerting. You have an gut reaction: “I hadn’t imagined it quite like that”. It’s tempting to fixate on minutiae because you feel compelled to change aspects of the design, to reclaim as your own.

I’m excited to see where this will go - we both understand it to be critically important that the site is user-friendly and looking great if it is to succeed with its intended audience.