There’s a new trend related to promising quick turnarounds on large scale projects in a week.
Seven whole American days.
Laughable.
Are there more hours in a day? Are people robots now? Is AI in design THAT strong this can happen effectively?
I’m confused. How are we building websites, blogs, and entire branding packages in a WEEK?
We’re consulting, brainstorming, drafting, testing, tweaking, and launching, in a WEEK?
Do I get to sleep during this week? Am I chained to my desk?
If someone approaches me, needing a logo in a week, they will get a rush fee on top of my logo design fee.
Need a website tomorrow? You’ll get a splash page without testing SEO, responsiveness, or anything technical.
Actually, you’re not getting it from me.
I care too much about your brand to throw something together and shrug. When you launch, there needs to be emotion streaming down your face, or at least a tear you’re trying to hold in.
Be excited as if you’re seeing the love of your life on a special day or your first child being born.
It’s not just about you-it’s about me, too.
I’ve worked in environments where I worked 12 hours and napped before returning to work.
The quality of my work suffered because of exhaustion. I knew if I didn’t pump the breaks and got enough rest, my work would continue to suffer more.
Need web banners in a couple of days? Cool, I got you. Need a couple of graphics? That’s doable.
Need a full functioning website that will give you a high ROI? Will not happen in a day. Nu-uh.
I’m sticking to websites because I’ve seen this come up more often than not. “Build your website in a week.” Even with Squarespace, this cannot be done effectively. Can you set up a site in a week? Sure. Can you make sure it’s fully functioning in a week? Only if you’re a superhuman.
Effective design is 50 percent how it looks and 50 percent functions.
Taking away 50 percent functionality makes your work/product pointless. Sure it looks nice, but how is it helping you in the long run?
Can you have templates to guide you? Sure! As a solopreneur, I urge you to have templates and automation in place.
But you can’t template the work. You HAVE to put in the work. Even if you plug-in elements, you have to test to make sure it works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.
Look, if you’re a fellow designer making promises of high-quality work in a week, you’re lying.
If someone is telling you they can turn around work that will drive you the results you want in a week, be concerned.
In the end, if you want something done well, give it the proper time for it develops and grow. This is the best way to maximize your investment and for all parties involved to value the work.
