Client’s are at the heart of every project we create — an integral slice of the delicious design pie. So understanding them is massively important, especially when it makes both parties lives a lot easier.

Throughout my time working in a design studio, I have picked up some handy tips that I feel will help designers of any level. It’s super simple stuff, but it can be easy to forget. I give you, ‘Clients: A How-To Guide’.

Presentations — something that can turn even the most confident designer into a shriveling, sweaty mess.

But do not fret, there are ways to bypass the instinctive flight option.

Here are some top tips to holding a killer presentation…

• Practise Consistency — No two presentations are the same, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep them consistent.
• Preparation Is Key — We use different layouts for different stages of presentations. Winning a pitch is, of course, important to us, so being prepared is a key part of that. Concept presentations should be slightly more refined, clearly outlining our thought process behind each concept in a concise manner. If the wording is too long, the concept isn’t strong enough to be explained in a couple of sentences. These presentations include initial sketches, maybe some illustrator mock ups and some reference material.
• Know Your Audience — If you are designing for someone with particular taste, you should tailor the entire process to their mindset, including presentations. Some clients are decision makers and like to have the important stuff bullet pointed. Others like to get into the detail; design accordingly.
• Final Presentations — These should be much more honed in on a specific idea, showing slight variations on the chosen concept. Again, make these changes as clear as possible so that the client’s job of choosing one is made simpler. We want the entire process to be as easy as possible for the client, in turn making it easier for the team.

What’s more important than the precious moments you get to spend with your client, one-on-one, excitedly discussing the direction of the project? You guessed it — nothing (apart from the boss’s birthday).

Fast-paced and full of ideas; your meetings should aim to clarify with clients and gather crucial information.

Here are some top tips for hosting a top meeting…

• Timing is Key — No one likes to be late to a meeting, let alone turn up on a wrong day! Be very clear with your clients when deciding on a meeting time/place, no more awkward moments of confusion. If you can skope out what your client is looking to achieve in the meeting as well — even better!
• Ideas, Not Problems — Extra brownie points for those who can sketch on the spot. Transferring the client’s words to paper in a visual form is a fantastic way to get the client excited about the project and gain their trust.
• Small Ideas Sheet = Big Success — By creating a small ideas sheet and taking it to potential clients it shows that you are prepared and know what you are talking about. Having already thought out the client’s ideas and solving problems beforehand lets the client know that we’re serious about their business and are already invested in what they do. These sheets should be loose, giving the presenter a point of reference, maybe some initial sketches; essentially a conversation starter.

Lack of communication is a big no-no. Having clear communication channels with your client’s ensures that both parties are heading in the right direction.

Here are some top tips to keeping in contact…

Emails

• Make it very clear what your intentions are in the email; clarity is key to communication.
• Always summarise and reiterate what a client is looking for.
• Triple check spelling; especially when it comes to names/subject.
• Communicate in a professional manner, but do not shy away from expressing your excitement on projects and work.

Phonecalls

• A lot of clients are comfortable speaking over the phone, it adds a more human element and the clients are more likely to express their true opinions in this form of communication.
• Phone calls are for less formal/time constrained situations — emails give you important information that is written in text that we can refer back to.
• If the client has made a lot of points, it can be very helpful to send them a summarised email of the conversation via email after the conversation
  for clarification.

Doing the thinking for the client can earn you mega brownie points; additional content can really make their job easier.

Here are some top tips to going the extra mile…

• Stop & Think — Sometimes, doing the thinking for the client can earn you a lot of brownie points. This lets your passion shine through for the project.
• Never Over-Promise — The trust you have with your client will be hurt and they made look at you in a more negative light — understand what you can deliver and make sure it’s on time.
• Additional Material — Supplying the client with additional material that can show them potential directions for the future and will maintain a positive relationship. If there is any area you can improve on with regards to making the process easier for the client then it should be implemented. For example, providing clients with not only the print format for some of their work but also a digital RGB version that has been cropped to social media sizes.

We’re not just talking about secret handshakes here — having a sustainable relationship with a client solidifies the aspect of trust and results in many more seamless projects.

Here are some top tips to going the extra mile…

• Memory Game — Note any interesting points about the client that you can bring up in conversation, i.e. they have mentioned that they are hiring within the company, ask how the hiring process is going and show that you are genuinely interested in their business. Remember names; we will be interacting with many different clients so knowing exactly who you will be speaking to may seem like common sense, but it is something that can have a big effect on client confidence in yourself and the team.
• Make An Appearance — Jump at the chance to meet the client face to face. The difference this makes to the relationship is big, clients will feel much more comfortable talking to you in the future after your first encounter.
• Match Their Energy — Are they excited? Copy this behavior, and then some; if a client is excited about a project, match their excitement, plus 1. This goes for if they are quieter too; don’t bounce around the room with excitement if the client is more introverted — match their tone of voice plus 1 in order to build trust and rapport.
• Our Business — Treat their business as your own; learn about the product/service beforehand and show a genuine interest in what they do. Not only will this bring your passion forward for the client to see, but it makes it easier to work on a project you have an interest in.

Are you a commander, an executive or an advocate? Not a question we regularly ask ourselves but one that we were questioning this month. In an effort to get to know one another and ourselves better we all took part in the Myers-Brigg’s questionnaire and got up close and personal with our personality strengths and weaknesses.

It all started with 16 Personalities — which is a great website for breaking down your personality type and puts it into layman’s terms. Be warned though, it is incredibly fascinating and has become seriously addictive, all my friends and family have now taken the test even with all their protests.

Eager to find out more we invited Christine Penman into the studio to explain more about our personality types and focus on how we can work as a team even more effectively – not your usual Friday morning breakfast meeting! Starting off with a simple task to show how everyone thinks differently, we all closed our eyes and Christine said the word “horse” and then we opened our eyes and shared what we thought of. One saw a black stallion, another saw a horse in Spain and of course, thanks to my other half, I saw a horse in Hawick. Next, we broke down each personality aspect and learnt about what it means to be an introvert or extrovert, use intuition or sensing, are thinking or feelings led and whether you use judging or perceiving when tackling work. The most stand out difference is between being thinking or feelings led. In a task, we were split into our two groups and asked to write about how we deal with conflict when we are directly involved or not directly involved. For the feelings led group, we found that we tend to avoid conflict and can feel quite blind-sided by it. Whereas for the thinking led group, all the emotion is taken out of it and they like to get to the point and “explain to them 3 times why they are wrong.” All jokes aside, the full morning was great and we really did learn a lot about ourselves and each other. Being able to understand each other’s personality types and what each person brings to the team was very interesting and should enable us to work more efficiently as a team.

The aftermath — having access to all this valuable information, we wanted to find a way of communicating this quickly and effectively with each other so Nicola got her design on and came up with cheat sheets for everyone. These cheat sheets take pride of place in our studio and outline our personality stats, our ‘devine’ skills and how we activate these skills in a simple but incredibly effective profile design. They have been a talking point among us and clients, giving them a quick insight into the team and all our quirks.

WARNING: ENTERING THE LOFT MAY INVOLVE TAKING PART IN A PERSONALITY TEST

Check out the test>>>

Laura

I arrived at Kelvingrove Museum representing our team for the MCR Pathways event ‘Bridge to the Future’. Once registered, I made my way up the marble staircase to the museums main hall. The building was immense, but it had nothing on the positive atmosphere created by the hundreds of attendees raring to listen to the events talks.

MCR Pathways is an organisation designed to give a helping hand to disadvantaged young people starting out in life. They believe that having a role-model is incredibly important, and the mentors within the organisation fill this position perfectly, taking time out of their busy lives to help the young people fulfil their potential. I feel that it is the connection to a mature adult that the young people really appreciate the most.

It is a belief that all of us at the loft share, and we were delighted to strengthen our bond with the charity by joining other businesses who have supported the ‘Talent-Taster’ sessions which give young people an insight into the world of work.

As the event began; the crowd was quick to hush as the night was going to be predominantly hosted by the young people themselves. I would say that I am a confident person for the most part, but seeing the young people up on stage with hundreds of eyes watching them, I felt I had a lot to learn. Being that age talking in front of 10 people would be intimidating, so I was very impressed with the calmness, maturity and professional approach that the young people took whilst standing on the stage.

Multiple mentors were invited up for an interview, being questioned on how they have found the process, their best moments and why they decided to mentor in the first place. It was easy to see how much they have enjoyed the programs, with their passion shinning through genuine smiles that was spread across their faces.

Performances by the young people then took place, every piece symbolising different aspects of the organisation that had made a positive impact on their lives. Once again, I was thoroughly impressed by the confidence up on stage. It was clear that the MCR Pathways experience has had a massive impact on the young people and I could see that first hand.

Artist Gerard M. Burns gave a small talk on his piece titled ‘Bridge to the Future’ (of which the events name spawned from). The painting involved two young adults linked arm in arm, both reaching out in opposite directions, almost beckoning on the outside world, stronger united. I felt that it really summarised what MCR Pathways is trying to do for the young people of Scotland; build meaningful relationships to better themselves and their confidence in preparation for life after high-school.

As the talks came to an end, an opera singer and pianist took to the stage with beautiful performance. It was very fitting within the grandeur of the museum. An exhibition opened, showcasing featured work from our very own talent taster sessions that the young people had been a part of. We are extremely happy to have our work placed up on the wall, highlighting the excitement of the young people working in the studio. I felt a sense of pride for everyone attending the event, the energy in the room was profound.

We look forward to continue building a strong relationship with MCR Pathways and are delighted that we could be a part of the experience. It’s eye opening to see the difference that the charity has had on these young persons lives – one which was strengthened by the performance they gave at the Kelvingrove event.

I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Reiss

We always say at the loft, to ‘design-with-soul,’ you have to have a soul so we were absolutely delighted, humbled, honoured, all-of-the-above to have some of the incredibly gifted students from MCR Pathways join us for a Talent Taster. MCR Pathways are one of the organisations that we love helping the most at the loft and it was a real privilege to work with their young students this morning as part of a ‘Talent Taster.’ MCR Pathways are an amazing charity doing great work at a phenomenal pace for the kids of Glasgow and beyond. We highly recommend getting involved, there are details at the bottom of this post.

Just in case, you don’t know…

Who are MCR Pathways?

MCR Pathways are predominantly a Glasgow-based organisation. They acknowledge that there is amazing potential and talent in young people. Varied, unique and inspiring. Is every single one. But for many, that potential has yet to be discovered. Life experience has knocked the confidence out of some, firmly locking away those seeds of flair and hope. It is their aim to uncover, nurture, develop and help to realise the skills and capabilities in looked after young people. They know that each person has a specific set of abilities and passions and they want to see them flourish in the arena that is right for them. MCR Pathways support looked after young people practically. Guiding them on pathways to education, employment and fulfilling lives.

What’s A Talent Taster?

Talent Tasters provide a unique opportunity to experience the world of work in a way that is more engaging and inspiring for young people, and sustainable for the organisation and staff delivering it. The tasters are designed to motivate the young people and help them make positive choices about their future careers.

Think of Talent Tasters as concentrated, high quality work experience. Three hours to get to know more about a company and a particular job it offers. There are 2 other levels to see what a manager does and even time with the boss.

Perhaps it will be the defining moment in a young person’s life. The moment when they say: “I could do this”.

Talent Taster

Wendy Jordan, Project Co-Ordinator extraordinaire for MCR Pathways wrote a blog post this morning. One that is going to appear on the MCR Pathways website later today but we thought we’d steal a march, pinch her words and get it out there as a guest-blog post first. I am sure she won’t mind.

Over to you Wendy…

It’s a clear autumn morning in October. I’m waiting outside South Block, an artist’s collective based in Osborne Street near Glasgow’s Merchant City, for today’s Talent Taster students.

The four young people are from secondary schools across Glasgow. All have an interest in art and creative industries. They’re here for a ‘Design / Web design’ session at The Loft run by creative entrepreneur Benedetto Bordone. Benedetto is going to help the young people design their own personal brand. This is going to be great!

Talent Tasters, by MCR Pathways, are two to three hour sessions for secondary school students who want to learn more about the jobs they think they might want when they’re adults. The Talent Taster team is working with organisations like Wheatley Group, the Citizens Theatre, The Loft and many, many more to deliver these sessions. The aim is to create a spark in the young people that will make them want to stay on in school, gain qualifications and get the job (and life) of their dreams.

Back to the Loft…

We all make our way upstairs to the airy, bright studio where Benedetto and his team work. They work with organisations like Alexander Dennis, Percepta, worldwide software companies, whisky distillers and global automotive companies on their brands, websites, publications and videos. The team of 5 does the work of 20 but they’ve set aside the whole morning to work with our Young Glasgow Talent to help them find, grow and use their talent. We can’t thank them enough.

Benedetto first takes the group of young people on a tour of South Block, showing the youngsters what a creative work space is like. It’s an amazing place – there’s even a ping pong table.

Then he pairs each of the young people up with one of his designers: Reiss, Aiste, Charlie and Adèle. They’re given an introduction to the creative process from mood boards to finished products.

It’s amazing to watch. The young people come out of their shells, start chatting, interacting, engaging, having fun. This is what we at MCR Pathways have always known. Young people just blossom when they get one to one attention from someone who cares. That’s why mentoring works.

The personal branding exercise starts with a questionnaire. What’s your name? What’s your favourite colour? What’s special about you? What logos can you think of? What are your hobbies? This is followed by a creative exercise as the young people start to design their logos based on who they are. Suddenly the room is quiet. You can hear the scratching of pencils. Quiet laughing. Intense discussions between the designers and young people. Everyone is smiling.

It’s time to fire up the Macs – we’re going to use Adobe Illustrator to make the young people’s sketches real. There’s some amazing, really inspired work here. We’ve got one young man whose personal brand is his glasses and hairline. It looks amazing. A young woman on the Taster has created a flowing, stylised version of her first initial – K – cutting through a bevelled rectangle. It’s really beautiful. The designers scan in the sketches by the young people and start work on making the finished, professionally-designed product.

You can see a light in the young people’s eyes – they’re watching the designers closely, taking it all in. It’s such a buzz for everyone. Their designs are becoming real.

And all too quickly, it’s over, but the young people have something great to take back with them – their own personal brand – and a more realistic view of what it means to be a designer.  You get the feeling some lives might have been changed for the better today.

Wendy Jordan is a Project Co-Ordinator for MCR Pathways. She has the best job in the world, helping Glasgow’s talented young people find their purpose in life, raise their aspirations and create an amazing life for themselves.

www.mcrpathways.org
info@mcrpathways.com
0141 221 6642

Get Involved!!

 
At the loft, we get involved in so many different things in and around of design, branding and business and one of those things is ‘Professional Development.’ Growth is actually one of our values and everybody in our company is a learner in one way or another! We love learning and one of the most fun things that we’ve been involved in the last 12 months has been the Glasgow Young Professionals #GYPSeminarSeries which the loft helped to start-up, organise and assist with creative support.

One of our favourite events was several months ago – Alan Meldrum, Global Vice-President for Strategy and Client Services for Percepta, shared some wonderful ideas with the GYP audience about why – in an increasingly disruptive world it’s never been more important for businesses to deliver a frictionless stakeholder experience. It was the 4th part of a fabulous #GYPSeminarSeries at SocietyM and Alan was terrific in sharing his views of a great customer and staff experience. We were so happy with Alan that we asked him to do a follow-up in front of the camera and that camera was very kindly provided by Gylen of Boardman Media. What you are now watching is the first part of a new video series of Alan Meldrum’s #GYPSeminarSeries.

We are delighted to be involved with The GYP team, Boardman Media, The Percepta Team and most of all Alan Meldrum who gave his time and also some brilliant insights into modern-day customer-experience.

Part 1, Vision – At the Heart of ‘Frictionless’

We were very careful to use the word ‘stakeholder’ above as Alan says that empowering and engaging employees is every bit as important as engaging the customers themselves in creating a frictionless customer-experience. He speaks of the need for companies to have a vision with everybody buying in and contributing to that vision. Alan talks about empowering staff and goes as far as saying that sometimes admitting that you got it wrong as a provider and looking to right that wrong goes a long way to building long-term relationships with a brand.

For anybody that is truly interested in any part of the brand/staff/user/stakeholder/customer experience, this is well worth a look and keep an eye out next week for the follow-up in the series.

You can also check out the people who helped to make this clip below…

With thanks,

The Loft Team

Alan Meldrum of Percepta >>>

Boardman Media >>>

GYP >>>