The Design vs. the Budget
“Awwh… do we have to talk about the budget?”
Probably the most difficult thing for a recently graduated design student entering the workforce is the perceived limitation that a budget has on their design. And it isn’t always just the young professional, sometimes the customer is deflated that initial planning has to start with a discussion on budgets. “We don’t want to limit your creativity” is the cry, “Can’t we just let you design and then price it all out?”
The answer is “of course”, but we caution that redesign also creates more design fees and in some cases an extended schedule. And always some disappointment.
So what is the r.o.i. Design solution to managing budget and creative expectations? We focus on the customer:
- Overall, we are open and flexible about product selections, knowing that the budget isn’t completely known on start and change will be needed.
- No design should be dependent on any one element; everything is replaceable.
- We also remind ourselves continually that the perception of quality is a standard the customer sets, not the designer.
- We are happy when our customer is happy.
We sell time, we sell ideas and some of our clients work really hard not to pay for time or ideas. So we bundle it against products, furniture, software, wardrobes, printing, etc. All in the hopes of gaining a return on our time to earn a wage that pays our college loans and makes us respectable bread winners for our families.