The life and times of a graphic designer

Last month, I designed 11 different themes for a marketing campaign, which were all rejected by our client. Let me start it from the beginning. I am Jonathan and I am working for an online digital agency, actually my company is one of the leading digital branding agency. So, you can assume how much work load we have to manage as individuals. It is not that I am complaining, but clients with minimum knowledge of the design process and working for a brand development agency are really annoying and frustrating.

The other day when I was designing a storyboard for a social media marketing campaign, I was called by our lead designer.

“Joe! What you had in breakfast, when I briefed you about this project?”

He showed me the logo of an energy drink, of course it was for a client. Somehow, I managed to add few extra colors to the logo, which were not part of the brand’s actual color scheme. It would be all fine, if I had not sent it directly to the customer without showing it to my lead designer. Yes, I send it directly to the customer. What was I thinking? He received an email from the client, asking him “Is that a Joke? If yes,then it is not in a good taste, because it is our competitor’s color scheme. If not, then it is lack of professionalism. Please respond!”

I didn't know what my company has said to them, but they finally agreed to give us a second chance. To say I was embarrassed would be an understatement. I was drenched in my own sweat and I was stuttering like hell, thanks to our lead designer’s compassionate nature, he didn't give me any harsh treatment, but he asked me to drop that project, which I gladly did.

So, you can understand it is not all rosy in the life of a professional graphic designer, a simple mistake could lead to a disaster, but it is all part of a learning process. I hope you would have learnt a lesson from my story and would give proper attention to the details to your projects, as I learned it the hard way.