How to say no...

Somewhere amid the lofty, snow-clad Himalayas, Goddess Parvati is upset with Lord Shiva. In an attempt to placate her, Shiva gifts her a pair of sparkling diamond earrings. As soon as he opens the jewellery box, Parvati's anger melts – pretty much like mountain ice does to form rivers.

Kitsch? Regressive? More fodder for banal protests? Well, the copywriter thought so too and scuttled the idea to promote a jewellery brand as "unrealistic in the limited budget". But it wasn't easy. Telling clients off is a tricky job – it is, in fact, an art that advertisers, architects, stylists and other creative brains have to necessarily master.
The two worlds – that of the eager moneybag client and the 'design' professionals behind ads, clothes, buildings and what have you – clash ever so often. And while compromises happen, designers often have to say no on grounds of rank bad taste, even at the risk of losing business. 'Angry Parvati' is just one of the many "never-done-before" ideas that come up in the mad, mad, mad world of advertising where enthusiastic clients often vie with copywriters to come up with creative gems — which they then want executed! A lot of advertising, therefore, has to do with managing people rather than creating something new, say those in the business. "It's an uphill battle," says Agnello Dias, or Aggie, the award-winning co-founder and CEO of TapRoot India, "and more difficult than doing the creative work."

Convincing clients about creative work is difficult, he says. Not everyone is necessarily creative and so it is not possible that everyone visualises a concept in a uniform manner. "Clients will often say they cannot see how a brief or an idea will transform into something else. And it is not always possible to explain what you have in mind or how the brief will really translate," says Aggie, best known for Airtel's har ek friend zaroori hota hai commercial.

Just say it
When clients come to him with bad ideas, Aggie politely tells them that what they are proposing will not work and is not good for their brand. "But more often than not, clients don't listen. So, in reality, very often, we just keep our mouths shut, move on and try to do the next best thing," he says. But isn't that a compromise? "Sure it is, and we tell our clients that too, but they are happy to live with a compromise rather than see reason."

Rajiv Rao, creative director of O&M, says there are different ways of avoiding a fiasco or making sure that a client's terrible idea doesn't see the light of the day. "I've to decide whether to be honest or indirect or lie," says Rao, the brainchild behind Vodafone's Zoozoo campaign. "If it is someone whom I know well, then I honestly tell them that I think it's a bad idea. At other times, I have to be diplomatic instead and say that what is being suggested will not work for such-and-such reason. Not everyone takes it in the right spirit."

Divya Thakur, creative director of Design Temple, a design firm that does brand logos, brochures, stationery and more, feels that being objective while dealing with clients is the key. "But if it's purely a matter of bad taste, then I override the client's demands," says Thakur, who has been commissioned to work for Indigo restaurant, fashion studio Ensemble and Taj hotels. "Recently, a new jewellery brand from Jaipur wanted us to design their logo, typography, colour palate and other design elements, but they wouldn't take our suggestions into account. The owners wanted us to do something outdated. I tried to reason with them, but when that didn't work, I had to let them go."
Barring a few difficult ones, Thakur claims to have had "sensible clients," such as filmmakers Mira Nair, Ayaan Mukherjee and Karan Johar. But isn't it difficult to override ideas when they come from such high-profile personalities? "Of course! There've been several instances when I've disregarded their inputs and done exactly as I have visualised with Tina Tahiliani's Ensemble or Malini Akerkar Indigo's. And soon enough, I get calls or messages from them saying: 'Babe, you were right'," she beams.

Not happily ever after
Such happy endings are rare in the creative business. One area where the design chasm invariably widens with client-designer being on different sides is the big, fat Indian wedding industry. Catering to brides and grooms for their D-day celebrations is not only difficult but a creative person's worst nightmare come true.

Designer Anjallee Kapoor of the Anjallee & Arjun Kapoor label tells us about to-be-married couples who insist on sporting the same colour on their wedding attire. "If the bride is wearing red or maroon, they will insist that the groom too have the same shade on his outfit. Can you imagine a man wearing dark red or bridal maroon? It simply doesn't work," she says.

While Kapoor works around this frequent hiccup by introducing a touch of a deeper, more earthy shade, blindly doing what the client says is out of question. "After all, the couple represents our label and we don't want the onlookers to get a wrong idea about our work."

Scouring Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages, bridezillas also go about collecting reference pictures to create a look for their D-day. "They come to me with multiple ideas and inspirations, demanding that all of it be put on one stage. Colours that look awful together, clashing themes, outdated ideas and what not. In such cases, I simply put my foot down," says Candice Pereira, co-founder of Marry Me - The Wedding Planners.

Tact's the way
Stylist and former Big Boss contestant Andy Kumar, who has styled several brides and leading Bollywood actresses, uses more tact. "A lot of brides ask for traditional colours such as green and red. I always tell them, 'Honey, that's the colour of a Christmas tree'!"

He narrates an incident when an actress insisted on a particular colour for a red carpet event. "The colour didn't suit her. So I had to tell her, 'Oh, try this (another) colour, it suits your complexion better and goes well with the carpet's colour'."

Kumar's tactic is to introduce something midway between his and his client's taste and then make them bend to his will. "The kernel rule of styling is to never say out loud what you disagree with," says Kumar. "Never give-in fully to what they like, because you styling needs to have your stamp on it. Otherwise, it's somebody else's altogether."
Architect Rajiv Saini, among India's most coveted architects for private residences, echoes Kumar. "I hear what the client has to say and acknowledge it. Whether I stall for time or directly object depends on the degree of problem the suggestion is going to create," says Saini. "The trick is to not react or respond immediately. At an appropriate time later, I politely and firmly let them know that what they are suggesting won't work and that I won't compromise on the project."

The architect acknowledges that the work that creative and design professionals do is meant to satisfy clients. "We are commissioned by clients to create. Unlike in the case of artists, we work within the requirements and needs of these clients," he says. "And so it is natural that they come up with suggestions and ideas for what they want. Good ideas can come from any and all quarters, including clients, so you must keep an open mind. But more often than not, they (clients) don't have the nicest suggestions."