Website Commission Request Part 2
If you want to understand this better read Part 1
So it’s been a while and I’ve been trying to post this. Continuing the commission request from part 1, this request was canceled just before Christmas 2010. Note, she did state, when we started this commission that she was using blogger for her blogshop. After the seal rendition the client was happy but not completely yet. So she asked me to make the mouth wider as if it was smiling. So I did as shown here:
So she said it was perfect and to get rid of the eyebrow. So with that finalization I started to ink and color it in. She hasn’t told me what kind of color scheme she wanted with the seal and has told me to choose the colors for it and I did so. This is when she told me she wants the site to be done before Christmas. So with the Seal character done, I went and created a mock up for the site. So after 4 hours of messing with colors and layout scheme then looking at the samples of layout she would like for the site to look like, I came up with this layout.
Layout Mock Up Numero Uno
It was basically almost exactly the same layout template she sent me and I was willing to do changes to it, however the client was not satisfied. She also came off as rude to me for some reason because in every email reply that she sent me and if she didn’t like anything with the work in progress she would start off saying “ummm.” It as almost as if she was saying, “this is not what I said to do,” when all she did was send me links to other site templates and tells me that she wanted the site to look like this this and/or that. So it was the same layout as this site and complained to me that it looked like it was bad quality. Sadly I don’t wish to send HIGH RES work in progress to any client until the job is completed. As well the WIP images are always watermarked, plus it’s faster to send low res files than high res files. She then decided to change her mind on the layout because it didn’t suit what she wanted. She also stated that the Seal character was not working as well and told me to make it a puffy cloud character instead. That’s so far three characters so far she’s requested to do. That’s about $50 dollars worth of character design art each character so far for a $150 website design.
She said it would be the LAST change, as well as asking me to do a whole different layout scheme with the new character. So I emailed back saying that the more changes she ask me to do and redo layouts and characters the longer it’s going to take to get the site done. It might not even be done before Christmas at this rate. So she says she understands the situation cause of her not knowing what she really wants and then sends me more samples of how she wants the site to look like. So took a deep breath and churned out another layout template mockup as well as a new mascot character. This is my 2nd website mockup:
As it looks like this site’s main page. Everything to her specifications on the redo, and I even went and searched for the exact font that she wanted me to use. Here is her response to me:
"the cloud and header looks werid ._. D: and also why does it look kinda...um like just a blog skin?instead of a shops kinda thing"
My response:
"You said you were using blogger for your shop. In order to make a webshop on blogger layout I have to make it like a template. and most site layouts you see are templates."
Then she asks about what would be the best place for a blog shop, cause she want me to tell her which is the better one and that she wants the website to look the best it can. I had to explain to her in a huge email about how blogshops and wordpress works.
So after this email she said she didn't know how blogskins work and state she won't do much major change, then ask how much extra she would have to pay to get hosted on my site and get the same results as Kiwiberry. So when I emailed her the new quote, I also had quoted that I am still charging for the characters that she had made me create for her. She didn't seem to like the quote cause I added the charge of the characters designs to it when she doesn't want the character designs and then told me in a final email that she is cancelling the request and that I could keep the $50 prepayment.
So yes a lot work done for this client and have NOT gotten passed the mock up stage of the requests. No where near getting the layout cut up coded to HTML/CSS. It was just a bit annoying to work with someone like this and I was being patient with her all the way through until she wanted another big change to the site. It seemed that I would do exactly what she wanted but she didn't like the way it looked cause I sent her a low res work in progress image and decided to try to force me to copy a layout from another site and incorporate her logos into it.
I have never worked with a client that just can't make up their mind on anything. This was just a dizzy experience.
Either way I'll be posting these layout screens on my dA site to add to the portfolio even though it's not being used at all. As well as the character designs.
Originally published at Song of the Phoenix. Please leave any comments there.