So I got this job making a comic style illustration for the Italian government. It was for a tech conference, and it was supposed to be a comic showing Italian businessmen the steps behind getting an U.S. patent. The job paid well, and as usual for any freelance gig, went back and forth over and over, until the finished product was watered down beyond recognition. To be honest, I'm not fond of the results, but the client was happy and that's all that matters in a freelance gig.

you were right, it was so much more visually appealing w/ desks

--mza.

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I think it's totally ugly. The desks would have been completely different from what's here, and it would have looked great. But what we think doesn't matter, ya know? We ain't payin' the bills, and this isn't for me.

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no matter: it looks great on el gay

--mza.

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what was the suggestion between steps four and five?

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Big cartoony heads, Einstein hair, colorful suits.

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aaaw they nixed the chubby dude! but he's the poster boy of all offices!

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Right?

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They have very bad taste.

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Ha ha.

But in other news.... WOW Italian Government! I am proud of you Mr. Swain!

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It was good money!

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Very cool! I am happy to see you getting paid for art again!

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No way would I ever call that art.

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Ha ha. Right. Well draw-ings. At least that. It's a start, no?

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I like every version much better than the Italian gray-suited hipsters standing on intestines, but it's still a cool project.

The best ideas never seem to survive contact with the client.

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That's a Golden Rule of design.

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Preferences cannot be explained. The desks give the whole image context.

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Dude, everyone knows the U.S. Patent process is a road that starts off white and becomes a darker shade of green as you progress down it. As that is the color of money. Also, everyone knows that there are no desks involved, and certainly no chubby dudes with glasses behind those desks.

I'm glad those Italians made the picture make a lot more sense. I look at the finished product and think, "Hey! This is telling me exactly what the U.S. Patent Application Process is like! It's like I've already lived it!"

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Heh. That's a good explanation.

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The lack of perspective on the final drawing and the flat coloring makes it really difficult to focus on any one part of that flow chart. It makes the most immediately engaging things the sign posts and the note paper the guy holds up top-center. The first version also makes it seem less like the meandering path of a schitzophrenic's mindstate.

I'm doing graphic design at a post house right now, designing DVDs, amaray cases, and logos, etc. I think people generally won't accept what's right the first time. It has something to do with ownership, and a fanciful sense of artistry through vague negation and vaguer suggestion.

I had to design the amaray wrap for a lady's sixteen minute film about a dog protecting its owner by making her time with a male interest problematic and later playing sick to keep them apart. The voice of the dog was done by Joe Mantegna, and the lady insisted that I put "Featuring the voice of Joe Mantegna" in the case art. After numerous revisions, and after my politely suggesting, over and over, that she fix a grammatical error in her log line, we ended up with an incredibly lame color gradient with paw prints on it and the three characters (lady, guy, dog) giving each other funny looks.

I think I keep shooting for high design, or something at least more cleverly packaged, with an engaging reason for the look and feel of the artwork, and you're right, it always gets watered down. I'm the only one doing what I do at my company right now, so we have no working philosophy to sell in that regard, no M&C Saatchi raw simplicity to espouse, and it's basically just like working freelance.

I've also learned that I, without any notable exceptions, always learn to resent the people who are giving me money.

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since you know they will never accept the first thing you present, no matter how great it is, it would be great if you could master the art of doing the crappy version first, and then through the negotiation process, tricking them into ending up at the good version.

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I definitely would, but I suspect something in the crappy version would linger in their minds, like a mongoloid ghost, or like an idealized image of themselves singing karaoke, which in reality is grotesque and derivative.

If I had time, I would have four versions at the beginning, working backwards from the most caricatured and industrial/commercial one. As it is, though, it's hard to manage a process like that without seeming like you're just ignoring the client, which is what you'd like to do. When they say, "I have to sell it with Joe Mantegna," you just want to hear, "This movie is better than a vomiting dog with a Jersey accent, pushing along a cliched plot with its cute little snout." But alas, those words never break the air.

This lady is a script supervisor, and she gave me the phrase "the extent of which an animal will go". She was nice, just flighty, and difficult to speak with due to a lack of focus. I could go on, but it gets exponentially less interesting.

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Every client thinks they have a "good eye." And they almost never do. That's why it's a treat to work with really creative people who actually have good sense.

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