Design is always subjective. Knowing the difference between your taste and your audience’s taste, as it relates to the solution, will be important information for you and for us.

You’re paying for our creativity, for our ability to create order from chaos, to communicate your message, not for the time we need to solve your specific problem. The time it takes is our burden, not yours (so long as we meet deadlines). Is a brilliant logo worth less because we had the idea during our initial meeting? Is it worth more because we

A young colleague was asked to submit a proposal for a job he really wanted. No budget was given, leaving him agitated about having to make a wild guess. He decided to submit a very low bid—he landed on $5,000—hoping that after they saw how awesomely talented he was, he could raise his fees on the next project. The next day he got the job, but in

Vision is not a group activity, and the group inevitably interferes with the possibility of greatness.

consider yourself lucky if you can get two out of three. Getting them all is a near impossibility because: If it’s GOOD AND FAST, more people need to be involved—so it won’t be cheap. If it’s GOOD AND CHEAP, it will take longer—so it won’t be fast. If it’s FAST AND CHEAP, it’s probably not going to be good.

Be prepared.

As Atticus Finch said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”

the contract should include project scope (all services and deliverables included), fees, project and payment schedules, number of revisions, expenses, and final product ownership and usage rights. It should also include a “kill fee” in case the collaboration isn’t working out and you want out (see No. 59, “If It’s Just Not Working”). Hope for the

it’s crucial that key stakeholders agree on the contents of the brief.