designer blogs

Welcome to Designer Blogs, a place to be inspired by others' blogs, learn tips and find resources to improve your blog's design.
Warning Signs

Andy Budd has a great post up with warning signs when approached by clients wanting a website.

I’ll reorganise his comments and include additional ones from myself and his commentors:

* Unrealistic (short) timeline.
* Budget, potential client:
o has no idea about budget (either haven’t done their homework or aren’t serious).
o won’t disclose it (doesn’t trust you).
o wants it as cheap as possible or has a very low budget (doesn’t value their web presence, can be demanding).
o expects too much for their budget (difficult to manage expectations).
o limited budget but offers compensation (e.g. exposure, more work to come, contacts, % of the site’s profits).
o unwilling to pay a proportion of the costs upfront.
* Information, potential client:
o hasn’t provided enough initial information or is vague, e.g. hasn’t filled in design questionnaire fully (may not take project seriously or are window shopping).
o hasn’t told you how many other agencies they have contacted about the project (may be shopping for lowest quote).
o wants a design idea for the pitch.
* Communication:
o No central point of contact (can draw you into project management and company politics).