Difficult Clients

There is nothing more frustrating than dealing with difficult clients. Most of my clients have been pretty good. But there are some people that prove difficult for some strange reason.

This makes me think. What makes them difficult? The projects are not that different, and even some of the demands are not so unfamiliar. What makes some projects dreams, and others nightmares?

Here's a short list why I think this is the case.

Difficult clients tend to

• pay very little, yet be the most demanding.
• dabble in design (mess around in Photoshop), and call it expert experience.
• have unreasonable deadlines, and wonder why they should pay you.
• hold little regard for the graphic design profession.
• have no clue what designers do, and are unwilling to learn.
• expect designers to read their minds, and get angry when you don't.
• bring unknown others into the design process, and let them make approvals.
• insist on their design vision with no imput from the designer.
• have little respect for the designers time.
• give nothing to the designer to work with, and wonder what's taking so long.