How To Be A Good Client, aka Heeding My Own Advice
We often have conversations with our clients, partners, and prospects where we preach a “brand first” philosophy. We stress the importance of how messaging, visual design, and other elements of a brand should be thoughtfully executed, and work to truly reflect and differentiate your company.
When the time came to look more closely at the Durkan Group brand, we saw quite clearly that we weren’t exactly practicing what we preached. We were the cobbler with no shoes. While we were busy elevating our clients’ brands and digital experiences, we were neglecting our own.
But, this was all about to change with our own rebrand. I was determined to be a good client and heed my own advice during all the phases of the project.
“I’m going to be the best client you’ve ever had!”
I quickly learned there’s a lot more to it.
If you’ve gone through our rebranding process before, you may already be familiar with the tips we provide to clients to help them give design feedback like a professional.
Our Design Manager, Chloe, is great at giving pointers for providing objective feedback. Things like:
- Keep the project goals in mind: You might not like the color pink, but communicating the why behind it and how it relates to your brand vs. your personal preferences is important. For example, pink may not seem serious enough to position your company as an elite leader.
- Be specific as possible: Instead of communicating dislike around a particular photo, identifying and communicating the particular elements you dislike about it will help us more easily find the right fit.
- Vocalize clearly and concisely: We’re all guilty of using the phrase, “it needs to pop more.” Straying away from generic buzzwords and giving specific details on what elements may not be working together will give more actionable feedback.
After getting through our own brand discovery, I generally found everything to be going smoothly. I was digging everything I saw. The new color palette was spot on, yet something I would have never come up with on my own. Our new signature teal color, Verity, gave a sense of vibrancy and growth, and made me think of liquid and water, which was fitting as our code bases for solutions are named accordingly —tidal and fluid.
I loved the icon set that represented our tagline, “Listen. Create. Elevate.” as it was one of the key components we were holding onto.
But that’s not to say it was all sunshine and roses. The rebranding journey isn’t always smooth—but it’s always enlightening. While our process had its challenges, we ultimately created something that authentically represents our studio’s spirit and vision.
Reflecting on our experience and the lessons I learned, I’ve distilled four essential qualities that can help transform a stakeholder from a passive client to an active creative partner.
During the rebranding process, you should strive to be:
Curiosity isn’t about being confrontational—it’s about collaborative exploration. A truly engaged stakeholder seeks to better understand the strategic reasoning behind each design decision.
You won’t find individual team member bios on our new site, which was a departure from what I had grown accustomed to. When I questioned why, my team explained the intentionality around being seen as a collective group vs. individual team members moving forward.
Even more compelling, they presented data showing that the team bios on our old site were rarely clicked—less than three times monthly. Most clicks were for Gunther, one of my beloved dogs who is no longer with us (yet another reason for a redesign!). This decision wasn’t made in a vacuum, but led by a researched and intentional rationale.
Curiosity helped me see the reasoning and thought behind the decision. Be curious, but don’t just challenge for the sake of challenging. Pursue curiosity to uncover the “why” and to produce the best outcome possible.
The most challenging—and critical—aspect of rebranding is separating personal attachment from strategic vision. As a founder who bootstrapped the company, I initially wanted our brand to reflect the “grit” and “hustle” that defined our early days.
When I pushed for a grittier logo design, our team listened. Yet, when the concepts were presented, I realized my personal narrative was overshadowing our true identity. The discovery process revealed our team’s true essence: intentional, clever, authentic, and helpful—not raw determination.
Effective branding requires the humility to step back and see your organization through an objective lens. It’s not about holding onto your origin story, but about creating a visual language that resonates with who you are becoming.
This quality was easiest for me, as I have an incredibly high level of trust in my team. But we all know trust isn’t a switch you can flip. It’s a carefully constructed bridge built from shared, educational moments and well-built rapport. In our studio, trust is the very oxygen that allows creativity to breathe and grow.
Finalizing our new brand with rules in a brand guide as the first step made the website design process remarkably smooth. No micromanagement, no second-guessing—just pure, focused collaboration. Each team member also knew their contributions would be valued and their expertise respected throughout the process.
This level of trust doesn’t mean blind acceptance. It’s about creating an environment where feedback is welcomed, where challenging conversations can happen with respect, and where everyone feels safe to take creative risks.
At the end of the day, trust your team. Isn’t that why you hired them in the first place?
Empathy in creative projects is a two-way street—extending to both your team and your end users. It requires that you not only set aside personal ego and unrealistic expectations, but also keep the user experience at the forefront.
Initially, my excitement for our own rebrand translated into impatient demands. “Can we finish this tomorrow?” “Can you just crank on this and get XYZ done in a few weeks?”
My eagerness was overshadowing a fundamental truth about the creative process—that meaningful work isn’t about speed, but about depth and intentionality.
The best creative work comes when we shift from a mindset of transaction to one of connection. Instead of asking, “How quickly can this be done?” we should be asking, “What does this project truly need to resonate?”
In the end, creative work can’t (and shouldn’t) be rushed. Intentional design requires space, time, and understanding.
Embracing these core principles can help you better embrace your rebranding effort. After all, the true magic happens when you and the team you’re working with approach the project with curiosity, openness, and a shared commitment to creating something meaningful.
So go ahead, be CUTE: curious, unbiased, trusting, and empathetic. Your rebrand—and your partnership—will thank you.
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