Abstract
This paper will use examples from research in Australia and the United Kingdom to highlight the relationships between designers and clients. These relationships are sometimes difficult, balancing the needs of both parties can pose challenges for all involved. For example creative freedom can be constrained by financial considerations. For the designer creative freedom can be the most important factor in a job, however for a client, coming in on budget and market effectiveness are more likely to be valued. Salaman mentions sources of intrinsic satisfaction for architects, in a survey of 51 practitioners 63.46% mentioned creativity of work and the opportunity to use design skills as an important source of satisfaction. This factor’s importance can be gauged by the gap between it and the next most popular response, which was variety of work, with 19.23%. In response to questions aimed at discovering restricting factors in their professional practice, regulatory considerations and interference from clients rated equally at 23.8% (Salaman 1974 p. 67).
Citation
Price, A. (2004) Designers and Their Clients: An Anthropological View., in Redmond, J., Durling, D. and de Bono, A (eds.), Futureground - DRS International Conference 2004, 17-21 November, Melbourne, Australia. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2004/researchpapers/5
Designers and Their Clients: An Anthropological View.
This paper will use examples from research in Australia and the United Kingdom to highlight the relationships between designers and clients. These relationships are sometimes difficult, balancing the needs of both parties can pose challenges for all involved. For example creative freedom can be constrained by financial considerations. For the designer creative freedom can be the most important factor in a job, however for a client, coming in on budget and market effectiveness are more likely to be valued. Salaman mentions sources of intrinsic satisfaction for architects, in a survey of 51 practitioners 63.46% mentioned creativity of work and the opportunity to use design skills as an important source of satisfaction. This factor’s importance can be gauged by the gap between it and the next most popular response, which was variety of work, with 19.23%. In response to questions aimed at discovering restricting factors in their professional practice, regulatory considerations and interference from clients rated equally at 23.8% (Salaman 1974 p. 67).