Client Changes their mind during the design process for a logo creation? What should I do?

atjgraphics

New Member
Hello All

I have a query about what happens when the client changes her mind midway through the design process of a brand identity.
I feel the work is out of the initial scope and she said she doesn't want to pay any more due to budget constraints.

My brief was to design a creative logo for a client. She is starting her own business about 'Design thinking' workshops and wanted a very simple typographical logo. So my quote was quite reasonable as she didn't want any icons and wanted a very clean, minimalistic, type-based logo.

But halfway through the project, she now wants an Iconic logo and changed her mind.
Unfortunately, that changes the scope of work. She is unwilling to pay more for the change of her mind.

Please, can you suggest what shall I do now?

Naively I didn't take a deposit upfront so I am stuck to either give in as I don't want to lose all the money or keep trying to convince her to pay me more or take money in instalments if she is unable to pay for the full amount?...

Thank you for your help in advance.
 
How much effort have you put into this so far? If it's only a couple of hours work and she won't pay more just walk away.
 
Try and explain to her that it is her that has changed the contract, even if it was a verbal one, and so the original quote has automatically changed,
and she also needs to pay for the work already done. If she doesn't budge, try and meet her half way and maybe do a budget version for the redesign.
You need to get the money up front though, as now you can't trust her.

Call her bluff and say you will leave the job if you don't come to an agreement. It really depends how much you need the job, or just put it down to experience.
 
She changed the brief, which requires a rework on the quote.

I do wonder if she's done this before, and playing on the naivety of the designer to get a lower price, she is after all doing a 'design thinking' business.

Worse case scenario as she has no contract and you have no money, you can walk away and call it a learning exercise on what not to do next time.... remember to get a contract, 'deposit' etc in case this situation arises again.

EDIT after post above... seeing as she's changed the brief part way through, completing it could be a waste of time too because as you have no contract and no money you could end up doing the work and not getting paid... not to mention she's likely to be a complete pain when it comes to the design of the said logo.
 
True. Walking away is the difficult part. I feel like I would be running away and leaving her in a ditch. Which would not be fair I think.
Or I would be leaving as it's the easier route to do.

I want to try to salvage this thing and see what other options I can give her.

Have any of you experienced this in the past?

Thanks
 
Walking away is the difficult part. I feel like I would be running away and leaving her in a ditch. Which would not be fair I think.
You aren't running away or leaving her in a ditch. It is fair. If she changes the brief and isn't prepared to pay then you are not obliged to continue working on the project. Deliver the logo and send her a bill.
 
Your main problem here is your customer has the upper hand, payment in full or a 50% deposit would have made things different and in your favour. As it stands you either do as they ask and get paid something or walk away with nothing.
 
True. Walking away is the difficult part. I feel like I would be running away and leaving her in a ditch. Which would not be fair I think.
Or I would be leaving as it's the easier route to do.

I want to try to salvage this thing and see what other options I can give her.
You're getting things muddled up here, you're not the one messing her about, she's messing YOU about... in fact as I said earlier she is likely taking advantage of your lack of experience.



Have any of you experienced this in the past?
Thanks
Nope but then like most of us here I have contracts defining what they're getting for the money etc
 
Your main problem here is your customer has the upper hand, payment in full or a 50% deposit would have made things different and in your favour. As it stands you either do as they ask and get paid something or walk away with nothing.

This is pretty much it, she hasn't paid anything so she has no financial stake in the job. It's easy for her to just walk away at this point saying she's not happy. Either get payment for what you've done and renegotiate, or get payment for what you've done and leave it at that. Either way, get payment for what you've done.
 
Thank you for all your advice. I really thought she was a sensible and straightforward client and will be easy to work with.
Suddenly she changed. Ugh!
 
So luckily I convinced her and then she was happy to pay extra for the iconic image part of the logo. Eg. Twitter has a bird, Facebook has the letter F.
Groupon has the letter G. Explained that these icons have come from the logo itself. Hence we have to finish a logo first.

After Draft two of our conversations and her being very happy with what I had done so far, she changed her mind and wanted a complete re-route than what we were working on.
She was pushing for a complete rebrand and wanted to start afresh and a clean slate.
I don't mind starting afresh but felt like what about all those hours I already spent on it? It felt like that was a waste.

When I showed her screenshots of what she agreed upon and what she said yes to already, I think she felt hostile and didn't like that.

Her comments were:
"I’m not sure why there is this level of debate for me changing my mind on an option - I must add, I was a marketer before my new role and have worked with many designers in the past, I think change is generally quite normal when it comes to something as important as defining the brand identity and logo for a brand."

"Let's start with a fresh slate with these logos :) I am a lot clearer now about what I have in mind for the logo and the icon to follow."

"The whole reason to hire a freelance designer versus getting a $30 logo done on Upwork (or something similar) is to get a higher degree of flexibility and work collaboratively to decide on the look & feel for a brand."

My comments were:
"Unsure of what you want is understandable for a new logo process. This is why I wanted to make sure you are happy with what you are getting.
So I took it slow and provided you with lots more options than we initially agreed upon.

It is just that you seemed so happy and it was your 'final choice' hence I made that Part 2 PDF. Then the third iteration would be just the colour choices and then be finalizing the work.
Now I feel that I am kind of going back. So are we disregarding Draft 1 and Draft 2 completely? So feel a bit blurry now on what shall we do next?

Changing your mind is an issue here as then it means more work vs time vs money, hence it would be better for you to be a little more careful about your descriptions to avoid future design issues.
I'll also make sure I respect your wishes too."

We have ended our agreement now and she will pay 50% of the agreed quote to cover my expenses.

But I feel worried that maybe I made a mistake here and misread the situation?.................

Any thoughts?
 
Leave it, walk away and put it down to experience.

Apart from sorting the obvious contract details beforehand, maybe you need work on your quoting. Always add plenty for clients corrections and prepare for
the inevitable 'I don't like any of them' or changes of mind. I always try and give a bottom-end quote too, as long as they know there's no leeway in that for
corrections etc. I also try and get them to send samples of work they like that they've seen elsewhere if they can't describe what they want easily.
 
Design is an iterative process, change and improvement is inevitable, but changes come with a cost and a client should understand and expect that. Honestly, I think you're better off without this client. I've had a few in the past that were difficult to work with and I don't regret letting them go at all.
 
Thank you for the support. Just feel very low. I hate it when you feel this would be a great project and then it fails.

I guess I just have to learn to forgive and let her go.
 
Thank you for the support. Just feel very low. I hate it when you feel this would be a great project and then it fails.
You need to separate your 'personal feelings' from your work when it comes to design, especially if you're doing it as a business.

As designers our work is going to be critiqued, it's one of the first things we learn, so we develop a 'thick skin', as a business owner we have to learn to know when it's better to just step away from a project because you may end up costing yourself more by 'trying to please' that one client who wants the world for peanuts. Just ensure you have contracts in place...
 
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