By Brockett Horne
My daydream is to have complete freedom in my design process and not have to focus on my client’s needs. Some designers, like John Bielenberg, have managed to make my fantasy their reality.
With this brochure and accompanying website, his Project M team has raised over $40K to buy water meters in rural Alabama, not by meeting client needs, but by addressing the lack of flowing water for impoverished families.
Suppose designers were to directly address users without representing the point of view of the client? We could identify market needs, societal problems, and user interests. We could cut out the client as a middleman in the design process.
Risa Ishikawa (of Green Apple Maps), another designer motivated to address users before clients, designed this useful NY map of compost resources for metro environmentalists.
If all designers addressed users directly, our roles could shift from form givers to content shapers. We could become proactive in cultivating more sophisticated, self-defined projects with the momentum of our own causes. We could solve world problems instead of clients’ problems. We might be able to communicate more passionately, sincerely, efficiently, effectively. In his year with no clients, Stefan Sagmeister created a variety of experiments, developing concepts for which he then sought clients to produce.
David Wykes and Benoit Collette of Teague created this innovative lamp from a paperclip coil, not for a client but in their dedicated time outside of client-driven design.
In the same way that an artist might create an object and then seek a gallerist, design could also initiate with the designer’s message. Perhaps we can find ways to perform in the roles of designer as author, designer as client. My daydream: innovation will result in our client-less pursuits, uninhibited and profound.
Ten ways designers can work without clients
1. Create conceptual solutions, and then seek clients who could implement them (a la Sagmeister).
2. Write and publish books!
3. Like architects, enter global, sponsored competitions that change the world.
4. Sell objects online (The Shirt Project, Etsy Threadless).
5. Create work for trade.
6. Apply for grants to support your independent projects.
7. Utilize paper company promotions to produce pieces that you truly care about.
8. Become a blogger. Tell the world how you feel, free, with support from flickr and blogger.
9. Spend time in the community to find out what users need, and what you can contribute.
10. Identify problems that you can solve single-handedly rather than waiting for a client to bring them to you.
Great post! I think most designers who LOVE design want to do more projects like these. This is the reason we got into after all, to make OUR creative designs reality and not just to help sell products. Finding a balance is important. Always set aside time to work on your own personal work and not only will it be more rewarding but you’ll actually be more energized when you do client work.
Attending a one or two day convention like An Event Apart is a great way to re-energize your passion for web design and learn from some of the best designers out there. What’s even better–you may be able to get your company to foot the bill.