So a friend of mine who is a fellow designer forwarded me an email. It was a request – excuse me – a demand for a new logo design. Some of the details have been changed to protect the innocent and make the guilty harder to identify, but it pretty much went like this…

I need a logo this week. A cannon pointing up and to the right. A capital letter “B” in the top left, and a “G” in the bottom right. Not too old-fashioned looking – like a WWII Howitzer, not something from the Civil War. Maybe with smoke rising from the barrel, maybe not? OK. Get someone on it ASAP, please. I will pay you. Thanks!  Oh, and please work quickly. Text me if you have questions.

So the client needs a logo and is willing to pay. What’s wrong with that? Well, let me ask you this: How would this kind of prescriptive direction fly with other professionals?

Dear Doctor,
I need open heart surgery this week. An incision down my chest, a little left of center. A stitch on the bottom left and a stitch on the upper right when you’re done. Use strong sutures. Maybe in a cross-stitch pattern, maybe not? OK. Get someone on this please, ASAP. I will pay for it after you’re done. Thanks! Oh, and please operate fast. Text me if you have questions?

Dear Lawyer,
I need to win a court battle this week. You can question my wife and my sister-in-law. Use manipulative language while talking to the jury. Maybe make up an alibi, maybe not? OK. Get someone on this please ASAP. I will pay after we win. Thanks! Oh, and please be quick about it. Text me if you have questions.

Dear Batman,
I need to use your Batmobile this week. We need to foil one of The Joker’s plots, and then stop The Riddler from poisoning the city’s water supply. Maybe we could use the Bat-tering Ram, maybe not? OK. Get Alfred to shine it up ASAP. I will cover any damages. Thanks! Oh, and please get it to me right away. Text me if you have questions.

I’m not sure what some people think of when they think of designers, or creative professionals in general… Do they picture us lying in our office hammocks, the breeze blowing through our hair while we patiently wait for their next set of logo-making demands?

As designers, we all have our processes for solving client problems. These are always impacted by the constraints of each specific project, whether it’s for a logo, a brochure, a website, etc. Our Peopledesign Method guides much of the work we do here. The client relationships that work best– and result in designs that are most effective – are the ones that are built on trust. Clear direction is always appreciated, but in situations like the one my friend found himself in – when the client believes they’ve already solved their design problem – what do they even need a designer for?

So, if you’re ever in the position of hiring a designer, be warned. Firing off an email like the one my friend received isn’t likely to get you a better logo design for your organization. It may, however, get us out of our hammocks at least long enough to forward it to our designer friends, some of whom might even write a blog post about you.