Avoid The Design Mullet

As the saying goes, a mullet is a compromise between long hair and short hair. No matter how you view it, it’s just ugly. Your graphic design has the potential to fall into the same trap. Here are five ways to avoid the design mullet!

1. Be Sure Of What You Want

Before you pick up the phone to your designer, do your research. Be confident in the direction you want your project to take. The clearer the insight you give us into your vision, the happier you will be with our solutions.
 
Once the design process has started, be direct and honest with your feedback. We don’t expect you to love everything we do. If something isn’t working for you, communicate that, just don’t be a jerk about it. We have been receiving constructive criticism since our first pitch in college. We can take it.

2. Write It Down

This is collaboration! Do your part, so we can do ours. Once you decide what the objectives are for your project, write a design brief. Be clear and concise about your goals, your message and your specific design requests. Your job as the client is to clearly define the problem for your designer. Our job is to find the solution.

3. Leave Your Taste At The Door

This is hard to do, but try not to bring any personal biases into your design decisions. We all have a favorite color, food or song, but save that for your personal life. Unless you are marketing yourself (it’s possible), remember, you are not your business. It is a separate entity, with its own goals and needs. Remember what those are, and stick to them.

4. Opinions Are Not Created Equal

Like Simone Elkeles once said, “opinions are like ***holes, everybody’s got one”. That might sound a little harsh, but it’s true. When you ask 10 different people what they think, you are going to get 10 different answers. If you want some outside feedback, chose carefully whom you ask, tell them what your objectives are and ask them specific questions.

5. Your Design Mutt Is Not Cute

Some things just aren’t meant to go together — Peanut Butter on a Hamburger or Cheetos and milk. Avoid disastrous combinations in your design requests too. Don’t ask your designer to mix multiple designs. If you like certain elements in different designs, clearly communicate what you like about each and let us figure out how to precede.

Design is a collaborative process between you and your designer. Develop that relationship and learn how we communicate best. Thorough research and preparation, excellent communication and focused constructive feedback will help you achieve design success and avoid that mullet!