Have you ever refused to do an ugly design?

Mocha Rose

Mocha Rose

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Aug 1, 2006
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Tomorrow's wedding is so awful that I'm embarrassed to have my name associated with it. The bride is off the wall and thinks she is a designer (even better she is a lawyer in real life). So she came in with sketches that she drew of her "sculptural bouquet". Yes, this bouquet is exactly like the sketch- colors and all. She wouldn't change her mind when I told her it was awkward and and that the colors wouldn't look great together.

If someone was dead set on an ugly design, would you still do it?

Just for kicks, I've posted the bouquets below. Believe it or not the camera does them justice. They look much worse in real life. I'm dreading delivery tomorrow.
 

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Wow, My first thought was "Cat in the Hat... Especially with your striped sleeve. Or where's Waldo? I try to go with what the customer wants - no matter what. Did she come in for a sneak peak? That usually eases my mind. Best wishes for a smooth Saturday April.
 
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It's full of personality and you, the pro, made her vision become reality. Good job.

There's plenty of times we've made arrangements to customer specs when we knew there were more attractive ways to accomplish the goal. It's OK. Customers were happy and we got paid. :)

Nothing says you have to tweet out her bouquet or add it to your portfolio. :)
 
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Yup, they're pretty special.
since she's a lawyer i would have her sign an "ugly" waiver stating that you are not responsible for the design HE HE
Emily
 
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Nope never refused, just do you best with it and hope itis all ok....

usually it is way uglier to us that anyone else, especially if well done and professionally designed...

Please tell me the girls are not wearing the peacock teal color that is so hot this year!!!!
 
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Yesterday I refused someone.
she wanted a single snapdragon in a bud vase with babies breath and no greens.

I (tactfully) said that was going to be the ugliest thing she'd ever seen.
Then she said she only wanted to spend $5 (bud vase $2, snap $2.50, babies breath $3 plus labour....hmmmm)

Would you be interested in a nice african violet?
 
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I am on the fence with this............In one respect I see the dilemma of having our business, our reputation, attached to a hideous design.......yet I also see the desire to please the customer and for us to render the best customer service and give them what they want.

I am assuming that you did your best to dissuade them from making the choices they did............barring that, then we as professionals and as business people have an obligation to render for them the best interpretation that we can do of their wishes, desires, and wants.........no matter how tasteless or hideous they may be. Now, as Cathy so eloquently points out...........there is nothing that says we have to claim that item.........do you have to enclose your business card with those designs......Do you have to use your labeled packaging.........Do you have to blog about it, tweet about it, retweet or do anything to show your involvement with that.........No,No, and No.

If your customer is happy........and you get paid........then what you do with that is entirely up to you.
 
RWK said:
I am on the fence with this............In one respect I see the dilemma of having our business, our reputation, attached to a hideous design.......yet I also see the desire to please the customer and for us to render the best customer service and give them what they want.
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I would rather ONE customer did not get a design I would not put out, than to have 100 people see it.....
 
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There's a neat blog post from Preston Bailey about this very thing-(I didn't post all of it here) I think if she was happy- then you did your job perfectly :)

Frequently Asked Questions: What do you do if you think your client has bad taste?

Posted by Preston 03-02-10
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I am always cautious, and yes, resentful, of folks who enjoy putting down their client’s taste. Guess what? You are designing for them not yourself. When a client comes to use my services (and most likely she is going to make a HUGE investment), she is allowed to have all the “bad” taste that she wants. My job is to get her information and create something beautiful she can relate to......
Click to expand...
 
BOSS said:
I would rather ONE customer did not get a design I would not put out, than to have 100 people see it.....
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one.

In weddings, blogs are huge. Photographers, DJs, Videographers and sometimes even venues post pictures from the weddings they do and credit the associated vendors. If this wedding ended up on a blog, message board or anywhere on the internet, I would be horribly embarrassed to have my company associated with it.

In hindsight, I would not have agreed to do this wedding. The good thing is that it an extremely small and informal event (30 guests and I believe no professional photography.) The flower bill was under $400. In my mind, putting my business reputation online for $400 is not worth it at all and I'll probably stick to my guns next time.
 
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Guys, we did an over-the-top wrist corsage this week with yellow roses, red feather, red gem stones and glitter by special request. If you just looked at it, you'd say "OMG what were you thinking?" but it was exactly what the customer wanted and was for a celebrity who you would all know by name - and fitted her personal style perfectly.

Would I add it to a portfolio? No way, not unless I could name drop, too. But it was perfect it its own way, and just what the cash-paying client wanted.

It's not about us, it's about them. If they're happy (and this customer really was) we've gained a fan and future business. :)
 
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I agree, as long as they take bragging rights for the design itself!


CHR said:
Guys, we did an over-the-top wrist corsage this week with yellow roses, red feather, red gem stones and glitter by special request. If you just looked at it, you'd say "OMG what were you thinking?" but it was exactly what the customer wanted and was for a celebrity who you would all know by name - and fitted her personal style perfectly.

Would I add it to a portfolio? No way, not unless I could name drop, too. But it was perfect it its own way, and just what the cash-paying client wanted.

It's not about us, it's about them. If they're happy (and this customer really was) we've gained a fan and future business. :)
Click to expand...
 
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