In the beginning of my career, I had this mad idea that good design work would come directly, in one step, perfect, shining, from my brain to the world. And it would be directly understood.
The client would know great work when s/he saw it.
If s/he wanted changes made, especially when it came down to details, it was basically for one of two reasons: s/he (inexplicably) wouldn’t let us do our job, and thus was a rather hopeless client.
Or I wasn’t any good after all, and even the most untrained eye was better than mine at judging how big a logotype should be.
One is deeply frustrating, one is horribly scary.
I wasn’t very relaxed in presentations.
But that’s not how it works.
To make good work, you need to gesso it first.
‘Have you gessoed it?’
Gesso is what you use as priming for paintings.
Gesso makes the surface stiffer.
It prevents paint from soaking into the canvas, paper or wood.
And it gives the surface more texture, so the paint sticks better.
Traditionally made of animal glue – skin, bone or cartilage – mixed with calcium sulphate (a form of gypsum) or calcium carbonate (chalk), it’s pretty, well, intimate stuff.
‘Stop! Have you really gessoed it?’
So, gesso.
The gesso is the client relationship.
It’s the trust you build.
The feeling the client gets that s/he’s in good, professional hands. That s/he can stop being scared – because s/he’s terrified – and with good reason. S/he’s bought something from you that’s so important to get right, something that will define how others see him/her, something that can make or break him/her, without seeing it beforehand. Terrified. That’s why s/he instinctively wants to regain a little bit of control, by telling you to centre the logotype because s/he’s asked around a little and a guy in Sales said he just doesn’t like it to the right. Or by treating your best, bravest ideas like they were a separatist group’s demands for independence: like something that should be negociated down until it’s completely toothless. Handling fears.
That’s why, if you haven’t been covering your canvas with client confidence building, calming gesso, your work will end up an ungessoed painting.
Difficult to get right, those expensive and carefully mixed oil colours sinking into the canvas, turning out dull and uneven.
And the surface cracking.
No matter how great this piece of art was in your mind.
So gesso. Understand, inspire, motivate, involve your client. It’s the groundwork to your masterpiece.
P.S. Obviously, not all client critique is down to bad gessoing. It’s often very insightful stuff. But with proper gesso, it will be easier for the client to find that relevant input. And for you to listen to it.
No related posts.
The client relationship – it’s your gesso: http://bit.ly/b9NfgR
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
The client relationship – it’s your gesso: http://bit.ly/b9NfgR
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RT @YlvaLindberg: The client relationship – it’s your gesso: http://bit.ly/b9NfgR
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
[...] strains between IT and Marketing that made me think. Last week I read Ylva Lindbergs post on “Gesso“. Gesso is, apparently, what you use for priming paintings to make the color stick, or [...]
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