Picky beggars are like a plague that infects every possible area, from asking free favors of a relative to random people on the internet to businesses and freelancers.

To learn about their behavior, specifically in the realm of business and freelancers, Bored Panda reached out to Vimal Sharma, a graphic designer, who shared his firsthand experiences and what difficulties he has had to overcome when dealing with such people.

“As a graphic designer in India, I encounter this every day, from relatives asking for free logos for their startups to people saying I’m charging way over the ‘market rate’ (whatever that means) without having seen my work. To them, graphic design is something you create using templates in an hour. Earlier, this used to bother me a lot but over time I’ve realized that most of these people don’t value the importance of good design and there’s no point arguing with them. And because there are people willing to make them a logo for 5 bucks, they think that’s what I should charge too without realizing the difference in quality of work and experience.

No matter what the project cost is, I want to give my 100% to each project because the output carries my name. So I just refuse the projects that I know I won’t be able to give my 100% to, either because of the price or because of the client’s attitude.”

As Vimal perfectly summarized, such beggars don’t value other people’s time or expertise. These people also exhibit other common traits and behaviors that Vimal listed:

“There are a few common red flags that help me identify whether the client will be trouble or not:

Being disrespectful towards your craft: I’m very clear about the kind of work I do and share my portfolio early into the conversation. And if the client says stuff like ‘Your work is basic’ or ‘You charge way too much for these logos’, I respectfully decline the project. Just because you don’t find my work fascinating enough does not mean you get the right to diss me.

Haggling over money: Some clients usually try to put you down in order to make you reduce the price. Others just say that they aren’t willing to spend this much on ‘just an illustration’. Either way, the client not having the budget for the project is not the designer’s problem. I’ve worked with clients who were slightly short on budget but were understanding of the importance of my work and were respectful, and I’ve refused projects for clients who were willing to pay more and were disrespectful.

Treating you like an employee: As a freelancer, I work ‘with’ my clients and not ‘for’ them. But some clients treat you like they own you, asking you for extra work, and getting mad when you decline.

Impossible deadlines: Some clients want the work done in a day but aren’t willing to pay more for you to put aside all your other projects and work on theirs. They say stuff like ‘It’ll only take you 10 minutes’ or ‘You get to make this much for just a day’s work’. They don’t realize that such deadlines mess up your workflow and other projects, and it’s only fair to ask for compensation for it. It’s not the designer’s fault that they are on the verge of missing their deadlines.”

Being a graphic designer, Vimal has to deal with all sorts of caliber clients every day. Some may be more involved and get picky with every draft he sends, while others trust the creative choices that the experts make. We were wondering how Vimal balances accommodating his clients' preferences while maintaining his artistic integrity and vision.

“My clients have the last call on the project’s output. But most of my clients also trust my expertise and value my professional opinion. Just like how you won’t argue with the doctor about the medicines they’re prescribing, it’s important to find a designer you trust and then value their work and advice because they are the expert and not the client. I personally like to keep my clients in the loop during the design process and make sure everything I present to them is visually stunning with a proper explanation of my research and thoughts behind the choices I made. I also like to have a good conversation with my clients before the project starts to know their preferences and to make sure we’re on the same page. Eventually, some clients will want changes to the output, and as long as it's not an outlandish request, I’m happy to make those changes,” shared Vimal.

Vimal also shared whether he had ever had to navigate a situation where a client expected high-quality work but was unwilling to pay a fair price, and how he addressed this challenge.

“This one time a client wanted me to photoshop him into other photographs and was unwilling to take some high-quality pictures of himself. I told him the photographs he had sent me were barely usable and the output might not be as good. I also mentioned that he’d only get 2 free revisions, in our agreement. And just like I suspected, he was not satisfied with the output after 2 revisions. After the second revision, the guy sent me a new high-quality picture of himself and asked me if this would work better. I told him yes, but because the free revisions as per the agreement were exhausted, it’d cost him more for additional revisions. He said that my work wasn’t good, and I had to remind him that it was his fault for not sending in the high-quality photo before. I charged 50% before the project and told him that if he didn’t like the work, there was no point working on the project further and that I’d waive off the rest of the payment(I just wanted the project to end at this point). After this, he insisted I work on the changes and that he was willing to pay for the additional revision. He ended up liking the final output, and we’ve worked together multiple times since then,” wrote Vimal.

Vimal shared his opinion on some misconceptions that picky beggars may have about the artistic process or the value of art.

“I think some clients have a few major misconceptions about art and design:

Value based on time: Some clients think that the value of a project is decided by the time spent working on the project. So if I can do a project in a day it should cost less and if I stretch the same project for a week(even if I still do it in a day) should cost more.

Market rate: Some clients think there’s a standard rate that should be charged by artists and designers when quoting for a project just because they ‘researched’ on Fiverr what the job costs, without considering the difference in experience, skill, and processes.

Importance of the work: Some clients really undervalue the importance of good design and artwork in their business which leads to them reserving tiny budgets for their design needs."

Vimal continued:

Unrealistic deadlines: Some people think that art and design are as easy as copying someone’s work and modifying it a bit to create a usable output in an hour. If you want a good output, you need to consider the timeline. For example, If I’m designing a logo, I need time for research, moodboarding, sketching hundreds of possible logos, then taking a step back to gain a fresh perspective and selecting the one that fits the brief, finalizing the output, and then create a whole deck to present it to my client, and then based on the changes(if any), repeat parts of this process. All this needs to be done and I still get requests from people asking me to create a logo for them in a day.

AI can do what we can: Some people overestimate the current AI tools and think they can get AI to do the job. The final output is just a part of the design process, and maybe AI can do that. But behind the scenes, designers and artists make a bunch of professional decisions that impact the output in ways that can make or break a business. I use a bunch of AI tools in my design process but my clients understand that I am the brain behind the project and not an AI that’s regurgitating existing works.

In regards to advice, Vimal shared some tips and tricks that will be helpful when dealing with any client.

Always have a contract in place: Be clear about the scope of the project deliverables and other key details like the deadline, project cost, and revisions. Make sure your client understands this and you have a signed contract in place with all the details mentioned in the text. If a client is hesitant to sign a contract, you’re better off refusing the project.

Always charge some money upfront: I personally charge 50% of the project fee upfront as a ‘Project Initiation Fee’ to ensure the expenses I incur during the project are covered.

Get on an intro call: Before the project is signed, get on an intro call with the client to understand the project better and also to gauge the client’s attitude. After an intro call, it's easy to understand whether the project is worth doing or not.

You have the right to refuse: If a client is disrespectful, or putting you down, or doesn’t value the work you do, it’s better to just refuse the project because such projects end up being a nightmare for the freelancer, impacting your mental peace and sometimes even impacting your other ongoing projects.

And lastly, Vimal added: “It’s impossible to work for years and not have to deal with difficult clients. But it’s important to keep your cool while dealing with such clients because how you deal with them impacts your reputation as well. You don’t want to be known as someone who is rude to the clients, but you also don’t want to be known as a pushover. There’s a fine line between being firm and being rude, and it mostly boils down to your language and tone. And while it may be infuriating to deal with difficult clients, you need to stay professional and find available solutions to navigate tough situations.”