Which one is more important?
I got to thinking about this especially while analyzing my wedding preparations and all the vendors I had to deal with. I know vendor might sound like a harsh word in Romanian, but this is the term used in English. In all the cases here I was the customer.
But I’ve also been in the other situation while designing clothes for my friends. So I think I kind of understand both ends.
I’m not gonna bore you with all the details, I’ll just write down my conclusion.
It is evident that the main judge of the end result is the client. He has to like the outcome because he commissioned it, he’s paying. And the artist/vendor, especially if he is at the beginning of his business, besides getting paid, he also gets to building a portfolio so he actually gets a great deal out of all this. So if the client really knows what he wants, then he needs to get that.
I was just discussing this with some friends the other days and we came to the conclusion that the greatest vendor of all is the one that doesn’t care that much about his vision/style or at least it doesn’t shove it into the client’s face: “Oh I can’t do this hairstyle/dress like you want it cause it’s not my style”. A great professional would be one who before beginning his work would try to figure out what the clients want and who they are. Would be one who didn’t give you any trouble during the preparations and at the end you would see that he read your mind.
I experienced this with my wedding decoration vendors. I had absolutely no push back from them, they listened to everything I wanted (I actually had a clear vision of what I wanted :) ) and at the end they surprised me.Everything was just like I imagined it or even better: like they’ve read my mind. They didn’t come with any claims about their vision, their style; their style could have very subtle been seen into my vision, but my vision was what mattered to them. And yes, because they were so great, I am going to work with them again and recommend them to others.
From the vendor’s point of view, I could say that I wouldn’t be able to accept a request from a friend who came to me and asked me to make her a very classic office suit. These kind of clothes are not really my style, at least not yet, so I am going to say “no” from the start. But after I accept a commission from anyone, then I am going to make sure I’m designing her what she wanted or if the client doesn’t know exactly what she wants, then I’m going to try to figure her out and see what would fit her best.
Glam glam!
