You Do Exactly What They Ask and They Still Get Mad

I work for a corporate identity firm.

Client: “I don’t like it. Make the text in the middle bigger, but leave the blue box around the word the same.”

Me: “I can’t do that. I have to scale the full object, or else it would go against your branding standard and the EPS you sent us. It would look wrong.”

Client: “Those don’t apply to this. Why is this so hard for you, a designer, to understand? Just make the text bigger and leave the box the same!”

Me: “I’m going to have to get you to sign off on these changes before we send them to be manufactured. Please find the attached approval form. Once again, I do not recommend this modification.”

Client: “We need this installed next week. I don’t have time to argue with you! Just make it the way I asked.”

The client forwards back the signed approval form.

Later, during installation…

Client: “This looks horrible! Why didn’t you tell me it would look so different?!”

I forward all the emails warning the client, detailed measurements, the changes from the original EPS, and the signed approval from him and his Vice President for the changes.

Client: “Well, I’m not paying for this. It looks completely wrong!”