Are You Designing for… You or Your Client?

Every designer—professional or not—has to answer this question at some point: Am I designing for myself or for the client? When ego slips into the process, even good design decisions can suffer. Design confidence doesn’t come from having better taste. It comes from knowing who the work is actually for.

Liking your own work isn’t the actual problem. Attachment is. The moment your personal preferences override the goal of the project, you’ve got issues. Design stops being communication and starts being self-expression—and those are not the same thing. Find other ways to express your artsy side – painting, sculpture, music, cooking, whatever.

When I’m designing, I constantly check myself:

• Does this deliver the message?

• Does it help the viewer understand something faster?

• Would I make this same choice if I weren’t emotionally invested?

If the answer is no, the design needs adjusting. Look, clients don’t speak design. They only know what they feel. When they say something like, “It feels busy” or “I don’t love it,” they’re usually reacting to the emotional “feel,” not aesthetics. Your job isn’t to argue your experience, tell them that you know better, or question their taste—it’s to translate their feedback into something that works.

Being able to say, “This works for the goal,” even if it isn’t your favorite version, is what you want. When ego steps back, the work gets stronger—and so do you.