Oh, it has been crazy around here! My whole family has been sick, passing a cold back and forth between us like a hot potato. First one kid stayed home, then the next, then the third, and then back to the first again. Then Steve and I got it too. On Monday, only one person (Lena) went to school. All the rest of us were home with sore throats, runny noses, and aching heads. I think that might be a Hathaway family record: 80% of the family sick at the same time!
In the midst of all this, I did, somehow, manage to go live with a new website. This one was a first for me: a high-end beauty salon. I must confess I was a little shy at first about taking on this project, just because I am so NOT their target audience. :-) But it went completely smoothly, the salon owner was great to work with, and the result is a tidy little website that I like very much.
Query: does it make any difference if the designer herself is a member of the client’s target audience? Should it make a difference?
4 Comments
Nope. It makes no difference. And, it shouldn’t make a difference in most cases.
One of few professions where it will make a difference is a person who is a political consultant. Obviously, Karl Rove wouldn’t help a Democratic candidate and Donna Brazile wouldn’t accept business from a Republican candidate.
But, absent the partisan issue, I think a good consultant researches the client’s target audience and comes back with a killer campaign.
As I look at the website, I see warmth and a mildly funky, urban environment. The dim/natural lighting, friendly personnel photos and picture of cute kids are all clues that they seek regular, local, customers who don’t seek glitz and glare.
Most of us aren’t upscale sophisticates (is that the target group you couldn’t identify with?) but almost everyone likes the regular, local, non-glitzy image, I would think. So maybe you are their target, in some ways.
I love the opening line about not hearing everyone else’s conversation in the salon. This is something that bugs me about my current haircut venue. I feel like I’m in a factory farm, some days.
Nice work!
Fred, good point about politicians! The thing is, the research is easier if you already know something about the client’s field. I’m thinking of one of my first clients, a sports management agency. I am so clueless about sports I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a professional track star. I thought track was just something people (other people, not me) did in high school and college. Now, I don’t know if my cluelessness actually hampered me or not — the project turned out fine — but it was definitely a learning experience for me.
What, Sara, you don’t think I’m an upscale sophisticate? I’m shocked! ;-) Seriously, though, I think you’re right. I used to get my hair cut at a place that was a total zoo and it was awful.
I love the look of this site (and the salon itself…wish I lived just a wee bit closer to A2 :)
My son is a graphic designer, and he builds web content for all kinds of things. The further afield it is, the more interesting, he says!