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Commercial Art VS. Fine Art

So the other day we had a client ask for some changes to their project
that…well, went against our better design judgement. We went through
the customary defense of the design, why it works and why their idea
was less than optimal in achieving the goals set for the piece. All
that said, we did what the client wanted because we are Commercial
Artists.

The term Commercial Artist was really used prior to the
introduction of computers in the design world. This was back in the
days when we were tradesman and what we did was a craft. Then came
computers, desktop publishing and all the good and bad therein.
Somewhere along the line the word “commercial” got dropped…and
forgotten.

Now I’m all good with the name change, but the problem comes
when designers forget. How many times have we all seen a designer
making their masterpiece come before the goals of the project. “Oh, I
saw this great technique in C.A.”, they’d say…or “I have been dying to
use PMS 130 in a project, I’ll use it here.” 

Ultimately we  like to
make our projects look as good as they can.  We want them to be art.
But at the end of the day this is supposed to be a business. We offer
our professional opinion, the client takes that in and makes the
final decision.  I’m not saying to just cave on a design, but we do
need to keep in mind that clients are renting our time and we can’t
realistically explore every option under the sun.  

There are some
things you can do as a designer to minimize the stress associated with
a difficult client such as writing a creative brief prior to any design
work.  Get the client to agree on the goals for the project and THEN do
your designs.  It’s much easier to explain how your design meets these
goals…that you both agreed upon…than it is to simply present the
creative. 

I want to make my projects as cool as they can be. But I also
understand that if I want complete creative freedom then I’ll work on
my fine art projects at home.  

I know that there is a lot more to be
said regarding this topic, and I’ll probably write more about it in the
future.  I’d love to hear from other people about their experiences in
this struggle.