[thelist] FW: Client Relations re: 'design by..' line

[Palyne Gaenir]

Wow. It's been interesting to hear the discussions of this 'designed-
by' concept.  This has really got me thinking.

I can see web/design firms who hire other web/design firms to do 
their websites certainly not wanting to post a credit, but I think 
it's pretty pathetic if someone whose speciality is in XYZ can't do 
XYZ for themselves anyway, so my sympathies are limited there.

In terms of very large companies, it's true that if some executive 
sees a site and likes it he will find out who made it, from code or 
from inquiry.  But I work with executives and PhDs both all the time 
and for all their brilliance, most of them completely disintegrate in 
front of the monitor if a link doesn't have an underline or something 
comes up in a new browser window.  I would not expect any of these 
people to look at the code to see who made a web site they liked.  

And it's a convenience issue; in front of them, they might write it 
down or send a quick email; obscure, they might like it or think 
about it but not get back, forget to bookmark, or someone else walks 
into the meeting with a name already, so....

Now if I had fortune 50 companies sending me roses regularly this 
wouldn't matter much to me, but as it is, my clients are a little 
smaller, to understate it.  (I worked inhouse for a F50 firm for a 
couple years.  I prefer independent work, no doubt.)  And while I can 
honestly say that all my current clients are "word of mouth" 
contacts, much of the word-of-mouth came about because they saw one 
of my icons/name at the bottom of the site of someone they knew, and 
brought the subject up with them at some point.  I can't really say I 
wouldn't have got the client were it not for my tiny credit, but I 
can say it seemed to facilitate getting it.

If I hire a graphic designer for something, I always give them credit 
on the site.  It never occurred to me this was unprofessional or 
looked cheap and tawdry, as some have suggested.  I'm going to have 
to think more about this.  I don't want to hurt a client's image, but 
I'm really having a hard time imagining their image being hurt by 
this.  (Visualize, Palyne....)

Palyne


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Palyne Gaenir
ScienceHorizon Web Media
http://www.sciencehorizon.com
palyne at sciencehorizon.com
Toll-Free 877-316-0763