My customers can not wrap their heads around the idea of keeping things proportionate

[IvanDD]

So we print a lot of text and the most asked question I get is "instead of this text being 60" wide and 12" tall, can you make it 60" wide and 30" tall. I know for us this is common sense. Yes, I can do that but its going to look stretched. For some reason my customers (purchasing wall decals) can not wrap their heads around why I cant or why I shouldnt change the proportions of their text. How do you guys explain this? I'm thinking about just making a youtube video that explains this with pretty pictures.

I know it seems like a silly issue, but I deal with this all day every day.

Thanks!

 

[gabagoo]

When people ask crap like that it really shows how low their intellect really is.
If after you explain to them that it would look bad and condensed and they still don't get it...hang up:Big Laugh

 

[J Hill Designs]

 

[jfiscus]

I always try to replace the font in cases like this.
example: if the have "helvetica regular" for their font and the want it taller, I switch it to "helvetica condensed" or "bebas" before I stretch it taller. Or if they want it wider, then change it to "helvetica extended" first.
Customers that want it stretched out normally don't care if you substitute a font.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I usually just ignore people who don't trust my professional judgement.

If you have to appease them to get work your just as dumb as them.

 

[kanini]

And I thought it was just me getting all these "let's try doubling the height of the text and see what it looks like. What do you mean with it going over the neighbours storefront window as well, you should just double the height, don't touch the width! Gah, I knew I could do this better in MS Word myself..."
This forum is great! :Big Laugh

 

[eahicks]

And it's always "make my 2' x 3' banner layout into a 3' x 15'." Try as you might, you can't explain how this doesn't work without rearranging/redesigning.

 

[nikdoobs]

This is great.

 

[JgS]

Just do what they want and move on the the next paying customer.

 

[Marlene]

of course they don't get it and that's why you see so many sign shops who just take the money and do as they are told putting out signs that look like bar codes. was riding behind a school bus where some genius made a sign that said something but crushed the letters so much I was just a lot of black lines.

 

[Mosh]

I used to care and try to educate...now I cut it out and cash the check.
You know you have made it when you start to hate your customers!

 

[DesireeM]

That's why we always get approval of the layout. If they don't understand the concept of scaling proportionally they will get it once they see the proof. And if they still want to move forward with it all stretched and skewed then who am I to refuse their money.

 

[IvanDD]

Damn. I guess we're still a new enough company that we actually talk to our customers and work this out for them. I wouldnt dare send out something that looks like **** unless they knew they were getting **** (low res).

Anyway, thanks for the funny picture.

 

[Billct2]

Only problem with that illustration is the client that says "Great, that's just what I want!"

 

[CanuckSigns]

Try saying this to them:
" Remember when you were a kid and had that toy with the different shapes and the holes that matched, remember how you could never get the rectangle in the square hole, this is the adult version of that, and you still don't get it"

This is a pet peeve of mine as well, we print posters for the local university once a year and without fail, every year someone will send me a 8.5" x 11" file and ask me to print it to 36" x 36", these are PhD students...

 

[ddubia]

How many times has a customer wanted a 4' x 8' sign with only their logo on it. Their logo is a square/circle. I've had the hardest time explaining the proportion. If I say the largest I could fit their logo on a 4' x 8' would actually fit a 4' x 4' perfectly they look at me like I'm speaking Chinese.

Another one that drives me crazy is when they want a 2' x2' sign and want it to read: "FOR SALE BY OWNER. NEWLY REMODELED. NEW FURNACE. CALL 123-456-7890" in 3" letters! "I think 3 inch letters will be tall enough for them to read don't you?", they ask.

 

[Graphic Destruction]

Kind of like when they show up in their Prius to pick up the 4'x8' sign they ordered. And can't understand why it's so much larger than the car.

 

[Berferful]

Try saying this to them:
" Remember when you were a kid . . .


i start out the same , but I use the "silly putty" analogy. You know when you press the putty on newsprint then stretch it one way or another. They seem to get that.