Shoutout to the client who finally said what everyone else was thinking

I had this one client who kept rejecting my logo concepts for 3 weeks straight. After the fourth round of tweaks, she flat out said 'I don't know what I want, just make it look like a shark ate a rainbow.' I laughed but actually tried that crazy idea. The final design was weird but she loved it and it got shared 50 times on her industry page. Has anyone else had a client's offhand joke turn into a legit creative win?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_jackson2721d ago

Wait did sharkrainbow actually end up looking good or was it just the kind of terrible that works? I had a guy once who kept saying "make it pop more" for 2 weeks straight, I finally just sent him a logo made entirely of neon gradients and comic sans. He APPROVED it instantly and said it was perfect. Some people just need to hear their own joke said back to them in design form I guess.

michaeltorres20d ago

Gave a client exactly what they asked for once too. They loved it.

miles_burns20d ago

Twenty years in this business tells me the shark rainbow story is more about luck than skill, since most clients who don't know what they want will still reject the wild ideas. The real problem is that validating nonsense like "make it pop" or "shark rainbow" trains clients to keep giving vague feedback instead of learning how to communicate their actual needs. A professional relationship works best when the designer holds boundaries and pushes back, not when we treat every joke as a creative brief.