tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27606211.post475136598878204215..comments2007-06-15T20:52:22.348-04:00Dick Margulishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10169512038331158003noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27606211.post-15462855836717795902007-06-15T20:52:00.000-04:002007-06-15T20:52:00.000-04:00Steve,<BR/><BR/>In both your case and mine, it has little to do with the potential client looking at design samples and evaluating them. In the first place, any scam artist can steal samples and claim to have done the work or can show samples that he or she made only minimal contributions to. So samples provide partial and unreliable information at best (an aspect of the postmodern dilemma the client faces).<BR/><BR/>Far more important than anything someone might or might not glean from samples is whether the client and the consultant can work harmoniously together toward a finished product.<BR/><BR/>There too, a skilled con artist can come across as quite persuasive.<BR/><BR/>So what it comes down to is creative interviewing (by email or phone), references, a gut check, a friend's help....<BR/><BR/>I can provide editing samples directly on the prospect's manuscript, rather than showing some finished piece I've edited in the past. For typography (whether we're talking about my doing it or your doing it), that's harder, because doing the design work for free would amount to giving away the store. That's why establishing a relationship of trust and respect in the first place is so critical.Dick Margulishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10169512038331158003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27606211.post-90669732176110155932007-06-15T20:12:00.000-04:002007-06-15T20:12:00.000-04:00That about sums up my dilemma in trying to expand my client base. I wonder if I don't theoretically have it easier in that what I do--book design and layout--results in samples that are lot less work for a potential client to get a sense of than your work, editorial, might be.<BR/><BR/>I mean, they can look at a sample of my work and pretty quickly decide whether they like what they see. With your work, they need to read and engage themselves for a bit, taking a close look at the words and sift through them for sense and appeal.<BR/><BR/>But you've given me something new to consider in how I choose the samples I put on my website. That is, shouldn't I put up things that are the most visually engaging pieces of work I've done? But, then, that kind of flies in the face of my stated philosophy of book design: don't distract from the author's words.Stephen Tianohttp://www.tianodesign.comnoreply@blogger.com