Academic and Design Communication - Essay Example

Academic and Design Communication Introduction: Good relationships in business are rarely found, but now the importance of having strong bonds between the designer and the client cannot be neglected, as it directly influences the financial outcome and also affects the business image. Most designers are born with the ability to have adequate relationships with clients, the distance between the two entities can result miscommunication, or even result in bad designs, therefore one of the entities need to be very much proactive in order to gain the information relative to the project. This is the main point to realize that which entity should strive to keep the relationship at least till the project is going on. Following report discusses the need for designer-client relationship with appropriate example of architect designer and how he can keep a good relation with its clients and also the different issues are also discussed while maintaining the adequate relation. Designer- Client Relationship: In order to get the desired objective the designer and client need to work together and focus on a specific goal for the design and finished product. The business theme claiming that the “customer is always right” is applicable in this industry as well, and if the relationship between the client and designer is inappropriate it can cause many issues like delay of the entire project, high cost, and mental frustration for the entire design team, as well as for the client. There are many clients who usually do not appreciate the hard work conducted by architect to meet the client’s desires and wants. Moreover the client also expects from the architect that he will be the one handling the costs, time and also managing the quality issues, whereas the architect does not sell products but they sell services and expertise which is very rare. (Crawford, 2009) The communication and bond is uniquely formed in between the two parties. If miss-communicated, this can cause the lack of ability to deliver what the client basically needs. If the details are wrongly misunderstood by the designers, then the result will be a disaster, freaking out both the parties. One of the entity needs to be very much proactive in order to have a better discernment of the agreed upon goals. The relation between the architect and the client is like any other relation; it requires great deal of understanding as well as requires trust. Moreover the architect since is the expert in the field, therefore he should be competent enough to grasp the idea that is hidden in clients mind, and for this purpose the architect must play a proactive role so that he can develop a strong bondage in between, which will eventually deliver desired results (Crawford, 2009). Improvement of relationship: The first and the foremost rule for any business belonging to any industry is to have open and honest communication with suppliers, vendors or the clients, by this the client is able to trust the designer. With effective communication, the probability of errors is reduced; hence the misunderstanding between the client and designer is also minimized. (Misra, 2002) The second most important element in any relation is the trust, the architect needs to gain trust of clients so that they can rely on the architect’s design and judgment, and by this the designer will be able to design freely and also make a more attractive product for the client. Other more important factors in this relationship are time schedules and commitment. The client must ask for the deadline for particular milestone during the project, the architect must provide them with a realistic deadline, so that he is able to deliver the related desired object, moreover by this the architect will be able to develop trust and faith in the relationship The client must provide with an in detail description of the services that he is providing, and make it sure that he makes the client understand that what will be done in the entire process, also the client must ensure the proper reporting to the client, by this the architect will be able to develop goodwill in the relationship hence providing better opportunities to conduct work. In the absence of such relationships, the entire work for both entities become very difficult and generates frustration, also costing huge amounts of money to both the parties. Usually when misunderstanding between the parties are generated than it results in conflicts, and removing conflicts from the relationships is a difficult job but the architect needs to do this (Misra, 2002). During the construction of this research report it was been analyzed that the client is often not aware of the norms and values of the work, therefore the architect needs to be very much proactive in developing the relationship with clients. Designer Should Play More Prominent Role: Based on the above discussions it has been observed that in order to strengthen the relationship between the clients and the designers, the architecture (designers) have to play the prominent role. This will enable the architecture to ensure that all the clients are served efficiently and the projects are constructed as per the clients’ requirements, standards and expectations. Below are some of the architectural elements that may help both of the parties to create and maintain long run relationships with each other; The performance of any of the construction project is measured and analyzed by the performance of the architects, not the clients. Therefore the architects have to show their potentiality and perfections by producing the positive outcomes. This is core responsibility of architects to ensure that the goals and objectives of the clients are clearly understood and perceived. The clients sometimes do not have any ideas about the projects. Therefore the architects have to act as leading players in any of the construction projects. Since the construction architects are assumed to be the key player in constructing any of the projects, therefore the architects are expected to inform the customers and clients about the products, materials and services that will be required during the entire project. In many cases, it has been observed that the designs of the projects are changed during the initial stages of the projects. Therefore the architects have to be active at all times to ensure that the clients’ expectations are met during the project at any time. A part from the above elements that force the architects to play a leading and prominent role, the architects need to be flexible as changes in law, changes in physical conditions, and changes in the financial position of the client may require that the project be addressed again. Therefore, the designers have to keep well in touch with the client to maintain the strong relationship (Jevenaker, 2005). Having a good relationship with Clients: The clients normally do not have much idea about constructing the projects and they have many questions and queries to ask from the architectures and designers. In order to ensure that the clients get the positive and satisfactory feedback, the designers have to convince the clients through being efficient and active. Since clients just have a rough idea about what they want from the architect and sometimes the clients are very much confused in terms of explaining the entire concept to the architect, therefore the architect needs to brainstorm the client in order to dig out what actually the client want. The most important element that allows both of the parties to maintain the long term relationship is to communicate efficiently. The clients today have many options and can be diverted by others in the same industry. Whereas the designers are facing the serious competition and in order to create and maintain the long term relationship with the client, the designers have to be proactive at all times. To keep the relationship strong and effective for both parties architect needs to play an important role since he is the one who needs to provide the services and explain each and every step to the client. Having a good relationship with clients makes work easy for architect as he knows where to fix the furniture and where to hang the shelf; moreover it prevents the wastage of time as well as of resources from both the parties. Client himself should play his part and should cooperate with the architect and should try to understand what is he saying, since he is the one having the expertise therefore he can realize the fact that which step is need and which can ignored (Griffith, 2011). Conclusion: The bond between client and designer needs to be well maintained so that the client is able to explain whatever he needs and requires, and moreover by this the designer is also able to deliver the services more efficiently and effectively in a timely manner. If this relationship is not professionally managed than it will cost more money, and more time will be invested in the project. For better relationships the architect needs to be proactive and also provide every single detail and knowledge to the client so that client is able to realize the different modes of the project even at different stages. References: Griffith A, 2011, 5 simple tips for improving designer client relationships, accessed on 30th May 2011, available at: http://www.noupe.com/how-tos/5-simple-tips-for-improving-designer-client-relationships.html Crawford A, 2009, The biography of furniture, Journal of Architectural education, Volume 62, Issue 2, PP 40 – 47 Jevenaker B, 2005, On relationships between designers and business, Design Issue, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Volume 21, Issue 3, PP 25 – 32 Misra K, 2002, whose house is it? Exploring user participation in the design process of residences, Journal of System research and behavioral science, Volume 19, Issue 4, PP 301 – 311 Read More