I was having a conversation on Twitter last night with the amazing Sarah Hudson of Huddy Design (link) about a project she was working on that almost made her sacrifice her artistic integrity and vision in order to complete. It’s a dilemma we all, as artists run into at one point or another. Make the client happy by doing something we’re not happy with or try to find that happy medium? I myself am of the school of thought that if I portray who am I and what kind of artist I am to the client right from the start I shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything.

However, I do realize that clients can and do often times change their minds about the direction they want to go and that direction might suddenly start to interfere with who you are as an artist. Troubling? Yes, of course it’s troubling. I can remember when I had an intern working with me this summer, he would hand me things just to meet deadlines. When I would ask about whether or not he was happy with the work it was always the same answer, no. I likened this to a chef. If a chef isn’t happy with what he cooked he will start over, have the wait staff address the customer about the problem in a professional way and proceed to make the customer an out of this world meal he’s happy with serving. The same mindset ought to go for us as artists. If you’re in constant communication with a client about the project and notice that the way it’s going isn’t something you’re happy with handing over to them, take a step back, talk with the client, come to a solution and hopefully do something that knocks their socks off and that you’re super happy with.

Never ever should an artist sacrifice their integrity or vision for a client. There’s always a happy medium one can find which makes you as the artist feel a lot better about the work and will make the client that much more confident in the work you’re doing for them. The last thing a client needs or wants is someone who isn’t confident in the project they’re working on.