Freelance Week 11

My work does not define me I was confronted with those six simple words, again, this past week. Usually when someone approaches me with a project, the process goes really smooth. But I hit a wall this week where I could not deliver what the clients needs were. If you've ever experienced this then you'll understand my frustration. Not with the client, but with myself. A lot of doubt, fear and frustration ran its course through my veins this week.

For the purposes of sharing what I'm learning, and without divulging any private information, here's a little peak at how this project has gone thus far:

1. Client shares great insight about their vision for the project with samples of what kind of style they want to capture for the brand.

2. I tell them how excited I am to work on this project and that I will have something to show them in a few days

3. I send over an email with the rough sketches to show what I've come up with and see if they like the directions I'm headed

4. Client rejects first round of rough drafts. Less typographic and more illustrative in nature is what they're looking for.

5. Awesome, I say. Back to the drawing board.

6. A few sketches later and a quick round of iterations over skype left me feeling less confident. (Side note: Don't do feedback sessions over skype. Pick up the phone.)

7. After a good heart-to-heart over the phone we agreed to move forward on the grounds that if they were happy with what I did next we could continue working together, otherwise we would go our separate ways. Not that I want this to happen, my goal is to always deliver the best work to fit my clients needs, but sometimes it's just not a right fit.

To be clear. I am not angry with the client. I only want what's best. No hard feelings. No grudges. Nothing. I can not afford to take this personally. Instead I choose to learn from this experience. I don't expect to be perfect. My hope is to always work through these problems in a professional manner. And that's what I plan on doing this week as I prepare my final attempt for this project.